IPC Trip Proposal 3

2) Traveler Contact Information and Itinerary:

Outreach to potential new IPC members in the ICANN European region, particularly in eastern Europe.

I understand that, in general, CROPP funding is to be used for intra-regional trips (i.e. for a European representative to travel within Europe).  Unfortunately, no IPC members from within the European region were available to participate, and we appreciate ICANN’s flexibility with respect to accommodating this opportunity.  ICANN engagement and CROPP staff have supported our request, given its unique nature and in light of the very promising opportunity this presents for high-quality outreach and engagement by the IPC to potential new members, in furtherance of the CROPP goals of building local/regional awareness and recruitment of new community members and communicating ICANN’s mission and objectives to new audiences. 

The IPC has traditionally used its available CROPP funding to conduct outreach to potential new members of the constituency within the various ICANN geographical regions.  By providing this opportunity for Mr. Trachtenberg – a long-time active participant of the IPC -- to speak at the University of Belgrade conference, we hope to encourage potential new IPC members to join our constituency and by extension, to encourage new long-term participation in ICANN.  We believe this kind of outreach for new participants, particularly from such an underserved region as eastern Europe, is critical at a time when volunteer burnout within the ICANN community appears to be reaching a critical juncture. 

In addition, we stress that CROPP is a “pilot program” and we hope ICANN will ensure that some flexibility is applied accordingly, in order to ensure that the greatest level of outreach and engagement is achieved through the program, rather than rigidly applying the criteria at the expense of furthering the very goals the program was designed to achieve.

In order to accomplish the IPC’s goals (commensurate with ICANN’s goals), of capacity building, outreach, and engagement we must be able to use the pilot program to explore these kinds of possibilities.  The IPC in particular, like several GNSO counterparts such as the Business Constituency and Internet Service Provider Constituency, often have difficulty in conducting outreach in the developing world; however, the IPC  recognizes the need to build capacity by engaging likeminded individuals from developing countries.  This conference poses a unique opportunity to conduct this very kind of outreach and engagement.  Professor Dusan Popovic, an ICANN Fellowship Program alumnus, has recently joined the IPC as a member, and has offered this opportunity for engagement.  Permitting Mr. Trachtenberg to participate as an expert on behalf of the IPC will sow the seeds for future ICANN participation in the region, and encourage potential future CROPP participants from the region, even if Mr. Trachtenberg is not himself from the European region.

Accordingly, the IPC supports Mr. Trachtenberg’s candidacy to receive CROPP funding to attend the University of Belgrade Conference.  We hope you will too.