[Chapter-delegates] Letter from the ISOC Elections Committee

[Charles Oloo]

+1 Richard

.. 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..........

Charles
Internet Society Kenya Chapter



On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 9:35 AM, 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
>
>
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