RE: [ga] [fwd] Substance over rhetoric - a constructive challenge (from: edyson@edventure.com)

[Esther Dyson <edyson@edventure.com>]

My pledge is (was) indeed intended towards something that I think has a 
chance of working (such as this proposal). And  I would indeed welcome its 
consideration by the 550 signed-up members of the New At-Large and anyone 
else willing to discuss it ...and ideally, I hope that a critical mass will 
also support it with funding.

So please forward it as broadly as you wish.  Sorry for leaving anyone out 
in my haste yesterday.  And sorry for mis-identifying Alexander.  (the 
overall concept does not depend on Alexander, though I personally think he 
would be good. I was simply trying to be practical and concrete.)

(THis is why someone needs to managing this fulltime, pulling together 
threads from different people and different lists into something more 
coherent.)

Esther




Re ICANN: Indeed it did fund the ALSC, and we may *think* it should 
continue the funding, but as of now it will not.

At 08:36 PM 3/15/2002, Joanna Lane wrote:
>[Apologies for cross-posting - you started it...:-)]
>
>----- Forwarded message from Esther Dyson <edyson@edventure.com> -----
>
>From: Esther Dyson <edyson@edventure.com>
>Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 05:30:04 -0500
>Subject: [icann-alsg] Substance over rhetoric - a constructive challenge
>
>Substance over Rhetoric:
>
><snip>
>ICANN hires Alexander Svensson to manage At-Large outreach for the next
>year.  This position will be funded (here's the challenge!) by my $10,000
>pledge, matched by institutions such as Harvard's Berkman Center (which
>spent at least that much to send its own team to Ghana to observe the
>recent meeting), Markle, Bertelsmann, and the like, and a variety of
>interested companies who at least in principle have supported the notion of
>an At-large membership.  And perhaps even ICANN can allocate a small sum
>with "energy and enthusiasm."
>
>Dear Esther,
>
>Your pledge of $10,000.00
>http://www.atlargestudy.org/forum_archive/msg01908.shtml was made in
>response to Pindar passing round the hat
>http://www.atlargestudy.org/forum_archive/msg01845.shtml.
>
>I'm sure I'm not the only one here thinking that cash pledges were thrown
>into the basket without strings, and that in due course these would be
>allocated by the At Large Membership as they saw fit, as opposed to
>allocation of pledges in kind, where donating Members specified the
>resources and services they were willing to provide. It doesn't seem quite
>right that you impose conditions on your pledge that were not there at the
>time it was made.
>
>There is a wider issue to consider also. In view of the results coming out
>of Accra, the ramifications of which still need time to fully appreciate, it
>may well be that the At Large Membership does indeed agree with you that it
>is necessary to have a fulltime employee, but nevertheless decides to engage
>one person who could pursue a number of representative/ liaison positions,
>of which ICANN would only be one. After all, we are hardly likely to be able
>to afford more than one person, if any at all. Also, there are those who may
>feel that as ICANN has funded Denise Michelle's role, they still have a duty
>to continue to support the At Large at least in that capacity.
>
>Moreover, ICANN's very existence is now questionable and consequently, some
>form of direct contact by the ALM with the DoC may be desirable in order to
>preserve the At Largo's independence from both failures of the existing
>administration, in which it has had no role so far, and any future proposed
>ICANN structure for which there is no consensus support from its membership
>to date. Indeed, it is not impossible that ICANN could be replaced by a
>successor agency in September, so there will be those who do not think it
>prudent to throw all At Large eggs into the ICANN basket. In addition, we
>now have Senator Burns Committee Hearings on the horizon, and it does seem
>sensible to bear in mind that whatever representative spokesperson/ liaison
>officer we seek, ought to have skills to represent the ALM in these highly
>political fora, including before Congressional Committees in the USA.
>
>With the greatest respect to Alexander, this role requires discussion and
>debate, and to be advertised to the widest possible audience to draw the
>best candidates, and it is simply premature to decide who may be the best
>person to fill it. So if I might suggest a more constructive way forward -
>you should lead a forum debate on this matter on Icannatlarge.com, where
>consensus amongst the 550+ members for your suggestion to hire Alexander can
>be documented as well as further expressions of interest/ pledges and
>nominations that may be received in support of your idea. This is what we
>call in Best Practices "A Suggestion" (see forum for detailed definitions),
>nothing more, nothing less, so what we need to do now is establish what the
>Issue is and for me, the issue is about ICANN's refusal to fund any part of
>the At large, and possible conditions attached to your own pledge.
>
>In the meantime, if you would please clarify whether or not your pledge has
>strings attached to it, that would be helpful.
>
>Finally, on a point of Order, Alexander is not Chair of the GA, that is
>Thomas Roessler's role - Alexander is Alternate Chair.
>
>Regards,
>Joanna


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Esther Dyson			Always make new mistakes!
chairman, EDventure Holdings
writer, Release 3.0 (on Website below)
edyson@edventure.com
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