Engaging in At-Large

Immersing yourself in At-Large community Online Activities

At Large online activities are as diverse as its membership. There are various ways to be involved which allows different end users the flexibility to be active at different levels in different time zones. Most of the activities of At Large are done online. The key first step to delving  into the world of At Large is being able to receive notifications of when At Large activities are taking place. 

 

The following are the online activities that one can participate in;

Mailing Lists

The At-Large community has multiple email lists which you can subscribe to, to keep abreast of issues and also to use as a reference as all emails are archived. You can also ask questions on these mailing lists. The At-Large community welcomes such inquiries and is willing to assist you to better understand it's processes and work activities. A list of all mailing lists within can be found here. 

Calendar

The ICANN At Large calendar has a comprehensive list of all At Large activities throughout the year. To keep track of these activities, one can subscribe to this calendar and further engage in community meetings and sessions. 

 

Social Media Channels

At Large uses its social media channels of Twitter and Facebook to share announcements about the community. 

RALO and ALAC monthly calls

On a regular basis, the ALAC and the five RALOs hold teleconference calls which are open to all. New to conference calls?? Learn how to attend here ((add link here)). These calls are meant to keep the At Large community abreast of issues within the ICANN community. All online meetings have a meeting page which includes the agenda. After the call, the meeting page is updated with the audio and/or video recordings very soon after and a transcript of the audio is posted within a week after the call. So you can review the recordings/transcripts of past meetings and can raise questions via email to staff at staff@atlarge.icann.org.

Working groups also have regular conference calls and mailing lists which you can attend in person or review transcript recordings of past meetings. 

Working Groups 

Many At-Large working groups are dedicated to ICANN policy discussions and advice development activities. Many others tackle various aspects of organization building, such as advancing accessibility and inclusion at ICANN, testing communication and collaboration tools, planning outreach and engagement projects, developing capacity building programs for newcomers, and fulfilling operational needs of the Community. Almost all of our working groups are open to everyone regardless of membership status in At-Large. The list of At Large working groups can be found here. By joining a working group, you are automatically subscribed to their mailing list. You also receive advance notice of upcoming online meetings. Meetings can be attended online in different ways to be found here. 

A place where the At Large community documents all this work of the working groups, RALOs and ALAC is on the At Large Wiki. This is a place where all the past and present work of At Large can be found. 

Another discussion tool that At Large uses other than the mailing list is the instant messaging for Skype instant messaging between At Large members

 

Engaging in the ICANN At-Large Face to Face Meetings

ICANN holds three face to face meetings a year. These meetings are rotated among the 5 different regions of the world (Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Carribean and North America). More about the meetings can be found here. The At Large community participates actively in these meetings by holding Policy development sessions, outreach and engagement activities as well as issuing communiques and statements on issues affecting the end user. Most of these sessions are recorded and transcribed to all for later reference by the community. Nearly all the sessions offer remote participation  through Adobe Connect and Adigo. Participants can join meetings via video channels (Adobe Connect) and via audio channels (Adigo) and participate on equal footing with physical attendees. The face to face meeting features Interpretation in multiple languages for many of the sessions. 

For individuals who wish to attend these meetings in person but require financial assistance , funding opportunities are available through programmes such as;

ICANN Fellowship Program

The ICANN fellowship program is meant to engage people from diverse backgrounds living in the underserved and underrepresented communities around the world into the work of ICANN. This gives the selected fellows from around the globe an opportunity to attend the ICANN face to face public meetings where one can attend the meetings of the ICANN At-Large community.

NextGen Program

For students who are interested in how the Internet works and are keen to be part of shaping the Internet's future, the NextGen programme provides an opportunity to be funded to an ICANN face to face meeting. For more information on the requirements click here.

Leadership in ICANN