[Chapter-delegates] Letter from the ISOC Elections Committee

Wed May 21 12:22:00 PDT 2014

+1 Richard  .

Regards //  Jahangir Hossain
                  Vice Chair, ISOC  Bangladesh Dhaka

On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 10:35 PM, Richard Hill <rhill at hill-a.ch> wrote:

> Dear Gihan,
>
> Thank you very much for your message. I apologize for not having responded
> sooner, but I wanted to consult the full ISOC-CH membership before replying.
>
> I have now done that.
>
> ISOC-CH responds as follows to the two questions you ask.
>
> 1) The issues, challenges and roadblocks you face in carrying out your work
> programme
>
> Financing for special events is a challenge.  ISOC does support chapters,
> but only up to USD 2000 per year.  This is helpful, but the amount is too
> small in our case because of the cost of renting space, travel costs for
> speakers, food and beverages, etc. (food and beverages are costly in our
> case and have quite an impact on the impression we give to the press and
> participants).  So we have difficulty organizing events, even though they
> are the main means that we can use to increase our visibility.
>
> So a greater contribution from ISOC to the chapters would be welcome.
> Perhaps ISOC could contribute a larger amount for a specific chapter event,
> if it is well documented and the costs are identified and explained.  We
> are aware of the community grants program, but that would not be a suitable
> way to seek funding for an event.
>
> Another idea would be that ISOC would consult the chapters in order to
> pick an annual theme associated with our global strategy.  For example, the
> theme for 2014 might have been "mass surveillance".  Then ISOC could create
> a funding pool to be used to assist chapters that wish to organize a local
> event on the annual theme.
>
> To conclude this item, we note that, at times, ISOC takes positions that
> seem more appropriate for a US organization than for an international
> organization, see also comment below.
>
> 2) How ISOC, and the Board of Trustees, can better help you.
>
> Apart from the financial contribution mentioned above, it would be helpful
> if ISOC were to consult the chapters formally before deciding its positions
> on international issues.
>
> For example, ISOC has endorsed the "necessary and proportionate"
> principles, but did not publicly defend those principles at Netmundial and
> did not issue a statement after Netmundial expressing regret that the
> principles were not included in the final outcome of Netmundial.
>
> It would have been good to consult the chapters on this matter (as well as
> other matters).
>
> Further, it may be appropriate to re-think the engagement model between
> ISOC (staff in particular) and chapters.  At present we end up at times in
> a one-way communication where chapter leaders express their opinions but
> the the final ISOC documents don't always reflect the diversity of views
> expressed by the chapters.  Sometimes that is appropriate, since an ISOC
> communication should
> reflect a clear point of view, but sometimes it may be the case that
> reflecting a range of views would be appropriate.  ISOC may wish to
> consider something like a "call for comment" process where, at the end of
> the call, a chapter-support person summarizes the views from the chapters
> and forwards that summary to the Board.  The Board could then decide
> whether and how to reflect the chapters' views in its communication.
>
> And I would add a specific issue:
>
> * Facilitate volunteer work:
>
> Chapters are volunteer, it would be good if ISOC could help to make
> volunteers' time more valuable. I understand that a working group was
> created to review and AMS and a possible CRM tool, so I wonder whether we
> could receive an update on the work of that group.
>
> Thanks again and best,
> Richard Hill
> Vice-Chairman, External Affairs, ISOC-CH
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chapter-delegates [mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org]On
> Behalf Of Gihan Dias
> Sent: mardi, 13. mai 2014 04:20
> To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Letter from the ISOC Elections Committee
>
>
> On 2014/05/13 පෙ.ව. 1:32, Desiree Miloshevic wrote:
>
> Chapter delegates elected Hans Peter Dittler and Gihan Dias. Organization
> members have elected Hiroshi Esaki.
>
> All,
>
> I thank all the chapters who voted in the election, the nominating
> committee, elections committee and all those who worked to ensure a smooth
> election. I welcome this opportunity for me to work with all the chapter
> officers and members and the great ISoc staff.
>
> I am honoured to be elected as an ISoc trustee. I will endeavour to use my
> term as a trustee to strengthen the Internet, ISoc, and the chapters. In
> particular I hope to be able to strengthen chapters both financially and
> organizationally, and make ISoc an organisaton which thinks and acts
> locally in each country as well as globally. We should strive to make ISoc
> the body each government, local industry and the public consider to be the
> authoritative, impartial voice in matters concerning the Internet in that
> country.
> I hope to work with Hans Peter, chapter delegates and the other members of
> the board to make the Chapters Advisory Council a reality within this year.
>
> I invite all chapters to let me (and the other trustees) know:
>
> The issues, challenges and roadblocks you face in carrying out your work
> programme and
>
> How ISoc, and the Board of Trustees, can better help you.
> I hope to be able to meet many of you as possible during my term.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gihan
> Trustee-elect
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>

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