[Chapter-delegates] Chapter advice on live streaming

[Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond]

Dear Ted,

Thank you for explaining the process by which the Internet Society Board 
of Trustees reached its decision. I question the appropriateness of this 
process, given the formal nature of the request made by the Chapter 
Advisory Council, which included a vote and extensive documentation.

Could you please clarify the rationale behind the decision not requiring 
a formal resolution? Is it not customary for the Board to formally 
endorse or reject formal Advice upon receipt? What measures of 
accountability does the Board have in its decisions if they are based on 
informal processes that lack transparency and traceability? Considering 
the fiduciary responsibilities of all Board members, how many other 
decisions of the Board are subjected to this “informal” process, of 
which non-Board members were previously unaware?

Finally, will you be formally notifying the Chair of the Chapter 
Advisory Council, along with her Council Board members, of the rejection 
of the Chapter Advisory Council’s Advice?

Kind regards,

Olivier Crépin-Leblond


On 13/09/2024 12:36, Ted Hardie wrote:
> Hi Olivier,
>
> The board has an active mailing list and informal meetings once a 
> month (though August's meeting did not occur this year because of low 
> availability).  The discussion took place mostly on the mailing list, 
> along with trustees' edits of a proposal using online tools.  Because 
> this response did not require a resolution, confirmation of agreement 
> was assessed on the list and confirmed at the September informal 
> meeting, earlier this week.  None of those methods generate minutes in 
> the formal sense, but I can confirm that there was consensus for the 
> response.
>
> regards,
>
> Ted Hardie
>
> On Fri, Sep 13, 2024 at 12:16 PM Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond 
> <ocl at gih.com> wrote:
>
>     Dear Ted,
>
>     I acknowledge receipt of your response, which I have reviewed with
>     interest.
>
>     The Chapter Advisory Council submitted its formal request on 17
>     July 2024. The Board, through its Chair, issued its, I assume,
>     formal response on 13 September 2024.
>
>     Upon reviewing the list of ISOC Board Meetings available at
>     Internet Society Board of Trustees Meetings
>     <https://www.internetsociety.org/board-of-trustees/meetings/>, I
>     have not identified any meetings of the ISOC Board of Trustees
>     occurring between these dates.
>
>     Given that this decision was made by the Board, I kindly request
>     the following:
>
>       * The minutes of the meeting during which the Board decided not
>         to reinstate the ISOC.LIVE video production, editing, and
>         archiving services.
>
>     Warmest regards,
>
>     Olivier Crépin-Leblond
>
>
>
>     On 13/09/2024 09:17, Ted Hardie via Chapter-delegates wrote:
>>
>>     Dear colleagues,
>>
>>
>>     One of the items in your recent advice to the board was a request
>>     that the "ISOC funding for the ISOC.LIVE video production,
>>     editing, and archiving services should be reinstated, as well as
>>     ISOC.LIVE should be financially supported by ISOC on an ongoing
>>     basis."
>>
>>
>>     The board's role here is to set the direction for the
>>     organization by establishing strategic goals; the details of the
>>     communication plan are a part of the staff execution of those
>>     goals.  During the budget analysis of 2023, the communications
>>     team analyzed the effectiveness of specific streaming approaches
>>     and found that community engagement was driven primarily by
>>     on-demand viewing.  This matches a broader shift common to
>>     mainstream programming.  As a result of this analysis, the
>>     communications plan shifted away from a retainer-based contract
>>     for live streaming to a project-based funding model for future work.
>>
>>
>>     This was a staff management decision, taken with due care and
>>     analysis. The board's role is to assess whether the overall
>>     communications plan is effective in meeting the strategic goals;
>>     it does not direct the staff to use specific contract types or
>>     contractors.  If the needs of the communications plan change
>>     again to require live streaming on a full-time basis, the board
>>     is confident that the staff will issue the appropriate RFP and
>>     conduct the appropriate analysis of the submissions.
>>
>>
>>     The project-based funding model remains available, and chapters
>>     may, of course, fund specific live streaming events using chapter
>>     funds or Beyond The Net grants.  Any analysis of the
>>     effectiveness of those live streaming events would be valuable
>>     data for any future considerations of the engagement model.
>>
>>
>>     The board thanks the ChaC for its attention to the communications
>>     plan, and we look forward to continued discussion of how to
>>     engage the broader community in the mission of the society.
>>
>>
>>     Best regards,
>>
>>
>>     Ted Hardie
>>     for the Board
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     _______________________________________________
>>     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://community.internetsociety.org.
>>     -
>>     View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>
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