Participants: D Thompson, W Ludwig, C Langdon-Orr, R Vasnick, E Leibovitch, A Piazza, S Bachollet, H Diakite
Staff: N Asthon-Hart, M Langenegger
The meeting was called to order at 2008 UTC. C Langdon-Orr was the Chair of this meeting.
The Staff was asked to arrange a short meeting with Nick Tomasso, General Manager of meetings at ICANN and Stacy Hoffberg during the summit preparation day on Saturday in Cairo.
W Ludwig gave a short summary of the recent activities of the summit WG. He said that there has not been much activity since Paris but the preparations have been resumed lately.
The Staff gave an overview of the recent developments regarding the location. He said that the idea was to hold the summit in a hotel right across from the Intercontinental hotel in Mexico City where the main conference will be held. He noted that part of the activities related to ICANN’s 10-year anniversary would probably be held in the same hotel.
W Ludwig noted that the summit organizers should take advantage of the fact that the user summit coincided with ICANN’s anniversary and make sure that the message gets out.
The Staff suggested that the events were published early to make sure they wouldn’t conflict with other major events.
Draft session schedule for the summit prepared by staff
W Ludwig thanked the Staff for the documents and noted that the draft meeting plan was sufficient at this stage.
A discussion was held on how the sessions were to be designed to be able to have informed discussions and get the most out of the summit. It was mentioned that the sessions should neither be superficial nor too detailed.
E Leibovitch noted that the summit should not only be a learning experience. He stressed the need to include the users from the very beginning and include them in the planning.
W Ludwig suggested having an additional evening “market session” where people would presewnt their activiteis. This event should help to create networks within At-Large and allow better cooperation between ALSes from different regions. This idea seemed to receive general support.
Summit questionnaire
W Ludwig proposed that the deadline for ALSs to return their questionnaires should be extended. His proposal was accepted.
It was decided that the deadline for the summit questionnaire submissions would be extended until October 22nd. D Thompson, A Piazza, W Ludwig and H Diakite will follow up on the questionnaire in their respective regions.
The Staff will set up up a meeting planer to have a call to assist the AFRALO summit preparations. This call should be in the week of Monday, 29 September. M El Bashir, F Seye Sylla, N Ashton-Hart, W Ludwig, E Leibovitch and the ALAC ExCom will be invited to this call.
Staff will arrange a small teleconference for LACRALO including Carlton Samuels, Sylvia Herlein Leite, Andres Piazza and Vanda Scartezini.
Contact Mexican ALS
S Bachollet noted that it was important to have the involvement of local ALSes and noted that he had been in contact with the president of ISOC Mexico while he was in Geneva last week.
S Bachollet will approach Mexican ALSes and ask them to join the summit preparation efforts.
Next Meeting
The Staff will set up a doodle for a next Summit WG meeting in the week of Monday, 13 October preferably at 2000 UTC.
