Date and time: Thursday, 14 September, 17:00 UTC
This meeting was organized by ICANN staff: Ergys Ramaj, Senior Director, Public Responsibility; Betsy Andrews, Academic Specialist and Senior Research Analyst; and Fernanda Iunes, Senior Administrative Assistant.
Call Agenda:
1. Introductions (5min)
2. Staff update (10 min)
3. Challenges/Opportunities (20 min)
4. Goals/Expectations/Deliverables for ICANN60 (20 min)
5. AOB (5 min)
Attendees:
Agustina Callegari, NPOC
Amicia Mussenden, GAC
Ayden Férdeline, NCUC
Charne LeRoux, IPC
Dusan Popovic, IPC
Isaac Maposa, ALAC
Jelena Ozegovic, ccNSO
Lousie Marie Hurel, NCUC
Marilyn Cade, BC
Martin Silva Valent, NPOC
Olivier Crépin-Leblond, ALAC
Omar Mansoor Ansari, BC
Rapid SUN, GAC
Suman Lal Pradhan, ISPCP
Suraj Adhikari, ccNSO
Apologies:
Kathy Kleiman, NCUC
Lawrence Olawale-Roberts, BC
Beran Dondeh Gillen, ALAC
Esteban Lescano, ISPCP
An open discussion with participants took place, and the outcome recommendation:
Challenges/Opportunities
SUMMARY: Need to put in place a framework to improve communication issues; can collectively address this by having more frequent calls and making sure each group is updated and aware of what is happening
Ayden
- Communication issues – many emails sent, but did not receive replies – people got left behind
- Expected deliverables were not clear and deadlines were not adhered to – no incentive to produce onboarding materials because there were no consequences
- NCUC and BC took it seriously
- Would like to set timeline and objectives for the remainder of the year – what is expected of everyone (there is not a proper return on investment right now)
- What are each constituency’s objectives as it relates to the Program?
Marilyn
- Program is still a Pilot, therefore still have room to learn from mistakes
- BC already has its own outreach and onboarding activities, so mentoring program has allowed for a senior mentor to interact with brand new participants
- Materials and outreach strategies are all being changed because of mentoring program
- Has had emails responded to
- Important questions are: What did you do before and how has the Onboarding Program changed/improved what you do?
- How do you explain why ICANN matters to community?
- Scheduling:
- Mentors and mentees arrive early and have 4-5 hour sessions together is helpful
- Find time to have a second session with the group at the end of the ICANN Meeting to talk about what has been achieved
Olivier (new to the mentoring program for 2018)
- Need improvements on communications (has been a cause for conflict at ALAC)
- Different constituencies are not aware of what others are doing
- Concerns expressed about how mentors and mentees were chosen
- Concern that it was a staff-led program
Omar
- The BC Onboarding team is now considering an analysis of the previous Fellowship programs to consider who then came to BC (only a few have actually participated)
- Should work with people who have previously gone to ICANN meetings via Fellowship or NextGen and understand how they have contributed and how they can become active participants within ICANN’s various community structures
Goals/Expectations/Deliverables
SUMMARY:
- Ultimate deliverable: ICANN Learn course [Marilyn raised a potential objection - one important deliverable could be an ICANN Learn course.]
- What tools are needed to be more effective within specific constituencies?
- Two Onboarding Program sessions during ICANN60 instead of only one short meeting (add one towards the end of the meeting to review what has been done by each group)
- Rebranding – different name for the program to ensure it is more descriptive of the actual work?
Marilyn
- In BC, trying to give them top 3 things to review (the volunteers don’t have enough time to review everything)
- Need to have an introductory segment on ICANN Learn and then a deep dive which may be specific to each entity, and may not be a public document
- Challenge is to make information is relevant/relatable for business users
Olivier
- ICANN Learn primarily targeted at newcomers (need to learn the basics to get started participating in ICANN)
- How do you reach the next level? – having active involvement and participation in policy development (there is a gap there)
- Difference between learning online and learning through a mentor
- There is not a shortage of volunteers, but shortage of volunteers aware of what is going on and that have the ability to be active and help out with the large workload
- Many volunteers come to ALAC and learn the basics, but when thrown into the more important aspects, they need help from mentors
Ayden
- How do we get newcomers to use ICANN Learn?
- What is important collaboration for the onboarding program?
- Scope and scale of collaboration, the means of collaboration and degree of coordination wanted
- Maybe consider rebranding program – different name other than “Onboarding”
- How can we communicate and share a different narrative for people to understand what needs to be done: Goals, deliverables of the program
Summary of Discussion and Next Steps:
- The next call will take place during the last week of September.
- Insert the time and dates for next calls
- Meeting on site with time slot identified – Friday, 27 October from 8:30am-12pm
Attachment
Full list of Participants:
