NARALO Trip Assessment 1

My name is Yubelkys Montalvo. I’m part of NARALO and I was selected to participate of the ARIN Conference held on San Jose, California on October 4 to 6, 2017. The selection was made by three NARALO leaders who reviewed the proposals submitted by the ones interested in participate and support the NARALO goals at the ARIN Conference. Travel expenses was covered, including the air ticket, lodging and per diem. The conference venue was the Fairmont San Jose, California. I was able to flight and participated of the conference, although the hectic weather conditions in Puerto Rico due to the hit of María Hurricane.

My proposed goals were based on the NARALO CROP Plans for  FY 18, which were very aligned with my role at my organization, and what we do, like promoting the innovative use of technology to support access to higher education, where the use of the Internet is essential on this. The goals were: 1) learn and network with key leaders at the ARIN event to be able to continue promoting and coordinating events to educate about ICANN, At Large, and NARALO issues, 2) support the NARALO Outreach efforts, and 3) promoting the North American School of Internet Governance, and also promote this efforts among our HETS members to benefit from this opportunity.

Regarding the first goal, we were able to meet key leaders, including ARIN Chairman, that can help me served as a liaison for HETS member institutions. HETS is constituted by affiliated postsecondary institutions in the United States and Puerto Rico, and together our  members have more than 28,000 faculty members and over half a million students, of which approximately 60% are Hispanic. Certainly, this active participation in the ARIN Conference and NARALO meetings is fundamental to continue serving our membership trough educational events that keep them inform about important issues.  Also, we were able to publish photos and tweets to share the most important information though our social media (Twitter and Facebook) that reach our membership, and shared the report on our website under the ICANN logo at the home page. About the Outreach goal, we were able to establish new relationships with three key contacts, who are from Minnesota, Canada and Alaska, who were interested in learning more about NARALO and how to participate. After the conference, we send follow up emails with information about NARALO and how they can get involve. Another important outcome was the collaboration with our colleagues at the Internet Society in Puerto Rico, to promote the first Governance School in North America among the ARIN participants.