[Chapter-delegates] Letter from the ISOC Elections Committee

[chester at soong.net]

Hi Richard and other chapter leaders,

Honestly, I don't think any local chapter can even survive 
without corporate sponsorship. Membership fee cannot 
practically support both chapter operations and cost of 
organizing events at the same time. Members also have high 
expectation on their membership fees paid and benefits 
getting back from their chapter.

We have very clear guidelines here with the HK Chapter for 
even supporting industry or social events. The decision on 
supporting or organizing any events by the chapter must be 
run through the Board for possible conflict of interests 
or relationship to the chapter's or ISOC's missions in 
general.

Regards,


Chester



On Sun, 18 May 2014 11:42:07 +0200
  "Richard Hill" <rhill at hill-a.ch> wrote:
> Regarding funding from private companies, we are 
>currently discussing this within ISOC-CH, because some 
>concerns have been expressed. Personally, I don't see any 
>problems with sponsorhip for specific portions of 
>specific events, e.g. providing lunch or coffee, but it 
>is important to avoid even the appearance of conflict of 
>interest, because sometimes an ISOC chapter might take a 
>position that is not consistent with that taken by some 
>private companies.
> 
> Also, I think it is important to seek balanced contacts 
>with private companies and I note that indeed many 
>different types of private companies are corporate 
>members of ISOC, see:
> 
>  http://www.internetsociety.org/get-involved/join-community/organisations-and-corporations/list-members 
> 
> Best,
> Richard
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: Chapter-delegates 
>[mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org]On 
>Behalf Of Gihan Dias
>  Sent: dimanche, 18. mai 2014 03:28
>  To: Chapter Delegates
>  Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Letter from the ISOC 
>Elections Committee
> 
> 
>  On 2014/05/17 ප.ව. 1:12, Charles Oloo wrote:
> 
>    Engaging local stakeholders is done at various levels 
>and functions depending on activity or event. The more 
>engagement we have the more we raise ISOC profile and 
>visibility. In most cases, the involvement of the media 
>is paramount if at all one has to reach a wider audience.
>  Charles,
> 
>  Yes. I agree. Could you shre with us some the 
>engagements you have carried out or planning to do so. 
>Also, how you are engaging the media?
> 
>    All these cannot be done without financial resources, 
>and the annual grant of 2000 USD is not adequate for 
>this,
>  My suggestion, (not as a trustee, but based on my 
>experience elsewhere) is to first spend the USD 2000, and 
>then discuss with Christine/Anne about your additional 
>requirements. Often, some funds may be available 
>somewhere.
> 
>    bearing in mind the other equally important events 
>like the annual IGFs.
> 
>  The IGF ambassadors program is separate from chapter 
>funding. Not sure about its status in 2014. 
> 
> 
> 
>    If chapters cannot get or identify other financial 
>resources, increasing visibility and impact in local 
>scenarios will take a little longer, especially for young 
>chapters. And this is a specific area the ISOC BoT, and 
>the Chapter Advisory need to look into.
> 
>  To develop your chapter, you need to get other funding. 
>Since the ISoc name is well known, it is often not 
>difficult to get funding, both from local companies and 
>rom the local offices of places like Google, Cisco and 
>Microsoft. Please let me know what assistance you need in 
>this regard.
> 
>  Regards,
> 
>  Gihan