Meeting Strategy Working Group

Meeting Strategy Working Group
Status:	Closed
Issue Areas:	ICANN Meetings
Date Established:
Charter:	WG Charter
Workspace:	[ Community Wiki]

The Meeting Strategy Working Group (MSWG) was a cross community Working Group comprised of members from the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), Address Supporting Organization (ASO), Country-Code Supporting Organization (ccNSO), Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), and the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). It was formed in 2013 to discuss and propose a strategy for the structure, purpose and locations of future ICANN Meetings beginning in 2015.

Subjects

The MSWG was formed to deliberate about the future of ICANN Meetings. The following topics were up for consideration:

• number of ICANN meetings per year;
• other types of meetings and conferences (Global, regional, topic, stakeholder…);
• objectives of the Meetings and conferences;
• organization of the Meetings and conferences;
• localization (including rotation) of the Meetings and conferences;
• role of local host;
• visa and travel support;
• role of hosts and sponsors;
• expected language services to be provided at ICANN meetings and conferences;
• remote participation;
• outreach (during the Meetings and conferences).

Members

The working group was chaired by Sébastien Bachollet.

It was stated in the group's charter that the MSWG was to be composed of Board members, staff and community representatives. 2 to 3 Board members including the Chairman of the working group will be members of the MSWG.

ICANN published a Call for Applicants looking for volunteers for the MSWG. On March 21, 2013, he Selectors of the Meeting Strategy Working Group (MSWG) announce the composition of the working group:

• GNSO:
  • Donna Austin
  • Michelle Chaplow
  • Paul Diaz
  • Poncelet Ileleji

• ALAC:
  • Satish Babu
  • Tijani Ben Jemaa
  • Eduardo Diaz Rivera
  • Sylvia Herlein Leite
  • Sandra Hoferichter

• ccNSO:
  • Keith Davidson
  • Margarita Valdés Cortés

• ASO:
  • Dmitry Kohmanuyk
  • Douglas Onyango

• GAC:
  • Tracy F. Hackshaw
  • Suzanne Murray Radell
  • Ana Cristina Ferreira Amoroso das Neves

Sébastien Bachollet and Chris Disspain composed the Board.

ICANN's staff members were Sally Costerton, Chris Gift and Nick Tomasso.

Outcome

On February 25, 2014 the MSWG posted a draft document for public comment that outlined it's recommendations.

After the publication of the draft, the Report was open to Public Comment. The overall recommendations made by the MSWG for public comment were:

• continue the three-­‐meeting schedule annually, but evolve the structure of the three meetings (defined as Meeting A, B, and C) to better address meeting objectives, scheduling conflicts and to use the time in a most effective way;

• continue regional rotation for all meetings and coordinate rotation to balance global coverage on a multi-­‐year cycle, but evolve the rotation strategy to take advantage of the smaller mid-­‐year meeting (Meeting B) to rotate through new geographic locations previously unavailable to the meetings due to the attendance and logistical requirements of the current meeting structure;

• continue to allocate adequate time for SO/AC work, but evolve the format of the meetings to afford greater opportunity for cross-­‐community engagement and outreach;

• continue with the public forum at the first and third meetings in the cycle, but evolve the format by splitting the time into two portions with differing focus.

Public Comments closed on April 4, 2014. The Board received the working group's Final Report on April 26, 2014. ICANN then reviwed the MSWG Final Report and developed an implementation plan based on the group's recommendations. ICANN was directed to proceed with implementation for the calendar year 2016.

As per the group's charter, the group would be terminated three months after delivery of its Final Report.

At-Large Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN related to the interests of individual Internet users (ICANN Bylaws). Not to be confused with the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group.

Address Supporting Organization. Advises the Board with respect to policy issues relating to the operation, assignment, and management of Internet addresses (ICANN Bylaws).

Country Code Names Supporting Organization. Develops and recommends to the Board global policies relating to country-code top-level domains (ICANN Bylaws).

Governmental Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN as they relate to concerns of governments, particularly matters where there may be an interaction between ICANN's policies and various laws and international agreements or where they may affect public policy issues (ICANN Bylaws).

Generic Names Supporting Organization. Develops and recommends to the Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains and other responsibilities set forth in the Bylaws (ICANN Bylaws).