• Holistic approach

It will be more productive and effective to coordinate and discuss outreach information material as an integrated entity. Consequently, the team responsible for initial development of Part 2 of the report decided to take a more holistic approach. This is not intended in any way to replace the work being done by other teams on other parts of the report but rather to make sure that any resulting information materials adequately accommodate the interdependencies of all parts.

• Integration with at-large membership activities

Outreach activities are an essential need with regard to the ICANN at-large membership activities. Consequently, it is very important that Working Group E coordinates its efforts with those related to at-large membership along with the associated at-large director elections.

• Simplicity

Information materials should be designed as simply as possible. Simplicity will facilitate the widest possible distribution across the very diverse population to be reached. Simplicity will make it easier to translate materials into different languages as well as to distribute them via various means of communication. Simplicity will also facilitate the processes of distributing information quickly and making it easily understood and absorbed.

• Customization

Customization of information material to local community needs will improve the effectiveness of outreach. Customization can include translation into native languages, integration of information into familiar settings (e.g., web pages, local newsletters, etc.), etc.

• Target specific audiences

Information materials should be designed with specific target audiences in mind. The goal should be to create materials that address particular needs of those who are prepared to receive and use the information. Different materials should be developed for different audiences. One audience that should always be targeted is that of newcomers (e.g., IETF Newcomer Orientation).

• Content

Content of information materials should be centrally controlled. This will reduce the likelihood of intended messages being distorted as they are distributed to different audiences and via different modes of communication.

• Timeliness

Information materials must be kept up-to-date. Outreach materials will be ignored if the content is not reliable and accurate.

• Target currently impacted people/organizations first

People who are currently impacted by ICANN activities should be targeted first. It is very difficult to motivate participation by those who do not currently have any real need. It will be more effective to first focus on those who already have a need and then later target those who may be affected in the future.

• Use existing channels

Using existing channels within ICANN to reach the community is the most expedient way to distribute information and thereby encourage involvement. ICANN channels include support organizations (ASO, DNSO, PSO), support organization constituencies, IP registries, name registries, name registrars, the Government Advisory Committee, etc. Each of these channels represents various parts of the Internet community and each of them (to varying degrees) have existing ways to communicate with their customers. Using these channels to reach out to the community provides the fastest access to community members, is the most cost-efficient and most readily lends itself to local customization of the information. Using existing channels also has a greater probability of capturing the people who have a need to be involved with ICANN. (As noted earlier with regard to all outreach efforts, any efforts to use existing channels should be coordinated with At-Large membership activities.)

• Leverage currently organized Internet events

Efforts should be made to distribute information via previously scheduled Internet events such as conferences, workshops, seminars, etc. Such events provide additional channels to reach the community.

• Use the smallest common technological denominator

Information should be distributed in alternative formats to accommodate varying technical requirements. Information should always be available in text format for those who have low bandwidth connections.

• Evaluate effectiveness

Distribution methods and channels should be documented to facilitate evaluation of effectiveness. Quantitative data should be obtained and analyzed.

• Significant outreach should occur before the first at-large elections. To make this happen, implementation of major outreach activities needs to happen not later than the ICANN meetings in Japan in July 2000.

• Funding for outreach may be limited. If this is true, cost-effective methods should be a high priority.

• Incentives may be needed to encourage ongoing involvement. For example, being able to vote once a year may not be enough motivation for many people so other reasons for involvement may need to be established (e.g., participation in polls, newsletter, etc.). A pilot study and/or investigation of existing research related to this area might be useful in determining what types of incentives would be effective.

• Target audience: potential ICANN at-large members. (It is assumed that potential ICANN at-large members would be likely to be "prepared to receive and use information" because of the upcoming ICANN at-large director elections.

• General characteristics: very cost-efficient; possible to roll out by early summer 2000

• Information should be provided in a layered format so that recipients can select to view the content that is meaningful to them. For example, web-based information could have links for domain name holders, for trademark holders, for users of e-commerce, etc.

• Information should be designed to be distributed via existing ICANN channels (e.g., web sites, email, etc.).

• Customization should be done by the owners of the channels used with the understanding that content needs to remain consistent; Working Group E might consider developing a process and procedures for validating content.

Other priorities could be added that require more time and/or more funding, but in general the highest priority should probably be given to those activities that have the potential of reaching the most people in the shortest amount of time using the least amount of funds.