[Chapter-delegates] Thanks for the very helpful open board session

[Dave Burstein]

Walid, Jason

I'd be delighted if it works out that the Chapters Committee can take care
of business.  I have much more interesting things to do than ISOC politics.
I'm a tech reporter, not a bureaucrat.

So I'd urge all those who care about the issues to join and light a fire
under the Chapters Committee. We particularly need those who can improve
our program for development. If we don't have better proposals than talk,
talk, talk and almost trivial action we should stop pretending we can make
a difference.

It was very encouraging to hear the common sense and deication of the board
members. There is a North-South divide in Internet Policy as well as a
staff/chapters divide within ISOC itself.

We must build bridges, as U.S. Ambassador Phil Verveer said at the WCIT.

Dave

On Sun, Apr 10, 2016 at 10:34 AM, Walid AL-SAQAF <walid at al-saqaf.se> wrote:

> Thanks again Dave for your frank and constructive comments.
>
> The BoT is hearing you and I personally believe that we could together
> work on addressing them through incremental and steady steps to develop a
> WORKING bottom-up model.
>
> As Jason and Gihan had indicated, the start is the Chapters Advisory
> Council, which is heading in the right direction and has our support.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Walid Al-Saqaf
> Member of the Board of Trustees, ISOC
>
> On Sun, Apr 10, 2016 at 11:08 AM, Gihan Dias <gihan at uom.lk> wrote:
>
>> Dave,
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> I wish you all success in this effort.
>>
>> Gihan
>>
>> On 2016-04-10 පෙ.ව. 6:02, Dave Burstein wrote:
>>
>> Folks
>>
>> Bob Hinden and the board heard some important, frank comments. The other
>> board members made clear they are thoughtful, dedicated and want an
>> effective organization.
>>
>> A member of the Puerto Rico chapter declared ISOC is not bottom-up.
>> There are two systems staff & chapters. He asked, "Will ISOC become a
>> bottom-up org?"  Anyone who follows the email list knows this is a major
>> problem. I believe most of the staff and the board agree that is the way to
>> go.
>>
>> But a former board member tells me this has happened every two or three
>> years for a decade. Despite good intentions, decisionmaking remains top
>> down with a few executives powerful. Robert Atkinson explained to me how
>> the FCC is controlled by a permanent government of the staff,
>> "Commissioners come and go but we're still here."
>>
>> So I circulated two proposals that I believe can win support and be
>> easily implemented. Watching the dynamic at the board, I realized it didn't
>> even need a resolution. Bob Hinden as Chair can take President Kathy Brown
>> aside for a few words. Brown has the skill and authority to make this work.
>>
>> Hinden might say, "Many of us on the board want better relations with the
>> chapters. We have two proposals that in general make sense.
>>
>> First, that we review with the relevant chapters policy positions and
>> alliances before they are made, unless there's no time. We have active
>> mailing lists that can make it quick and easy. Every politician knows you
>> get stronger support if you consult the people involved.
>>
>> Second, let's start providing the chapters some minimum funds for their
>> operations. We do that very inefficiently now, with too much staff time
>> involved with the requests. The chapters are unhappy needing to beg and
>> cajole to get even small operating expenses. I think we can move quickly to
>> distributing to the chapters say 3% of our budget. We need to be careful
>> the program isn't abused, but I'm sure you can work closely with the
>> chapters committee and get this well begun over the next month or two,"
>>
>> I hope Bob or some of the other board members make this happen. Even
>> better, Brown has supported the principles here many times. It would be
>> great if she led the change.
>>
>> Kathy, at board direction, has done a great job encouraging members to
>> speak up. But the organization risks becoming a hollow shell if we don't
>> respect our chapters. Let's start by sharing the (very modest) proposals
>> here.
>>
>> I raised my hand too late but will make sure to be early for the session
>> in the morning, (9:15 New York time)
>>
>> Dave Burstein
>> New York Chapter
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Editor, Fast Net News, Net Policy News and DSL Prime
>> Author with Jennie Bourne  DSL (Wiley) and Web Video: Making It Great,
>> Getting It Noticed (Peachpit)
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>



-- 
Editor, Fast Net News, Net Policy News and DSL Prime
Author with Jennie Bourne  DSL (Wiley) and Web Video: Making It Great,
Getting It Noticed (Peachpit)
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