BC Trip Assessment 2

I represent TAGI in the Business Constituency, at this point,we are the only fully Arabic member, and my interest in participating as a CROP funded representative was to engage with others from the MENA countries, to identify possible other BC members from these countries. I appreciate being selected for the CROP funding, as it supported my participation.

I used this opportunity to meet new people and engage in business outreach activities, especially in the Engagement Booth, but also in general. I was fortunate to have guidance and support from the BC Outreach Chair, who is very well connected across ICANN and establishes some ideas and expectations for both of the CROP attendees at ICANN65, so that we could maximize our engagement. With her support, I also had a unique role in engagement with a special guest team who attended the CSG luncheon event, as I was invited by the BC Outreach Chair, to act as special resource to the visiting team, including the founder, from the Emerging Business Factory.

Overall, the highlight of this ICANN was the business outreach engagement which was organized by ICANN and the CSG Outreach coordinators to a business incubator/ accelerator in Marrakech, Emerging Business Factory. This was a new experience for me during ICANN Meetings to participate in such an interesting and useful outreach initiative. It gave us the chance to meet local businesses and understand their business models. On the other hand, it gave us the opportunity to explain what ICANN does, the ICANN process, and the importance of getting involved with ICANN as businesses, and how opportunities they can utilize getting their voices heard.

I had the chance to meet personally with one of the founders, Taoufik, where we discussed general ideas about the Internet, and ICANN in general, and at the invitation of the BC Outreach Chair, I acted as his unofficial coordinator during the On site luncheon session. As a result, he asked me to help him get more time from the BC Chair of Outreach to continue discussions. With the concurrence of the BC Outreach Chair, we moved to the Engagement booth and had well over 20 people, spontaneously discussing relevant issues, ICANN and the BC. Also, two senior women from his network who were delayed in their arrival, were given the opportunity to speak about gender leadership challenges, to an ad hoc audience of approximately 20 people.  CROP made it possible for me to make a difference in how the BC is understood and viewed by all and in my region of MENA, we need more champions.

The BC Outreach partnership with the ICANN staff was very visible throughout all aspects, and in my report on CROP, I offer only one suggestion that the addition of one day of hotel when the CROP supports attendance at ICANN will enable CROP  attendees to maximize engagement for their community in the ICANN meeting.

The BC Outreach Chair asked the CROP and also the two Business Executive Leadership attendees to engage actively at the Engagement booth,  and my observation is that we played a significant role as ambassadors for the BC. 

• GNSO Morning Policy Briefing
• Business Outreach - Trip to Innovation Lab, Emerging Business Factory
• CCWG IG
• Community Networking Cocktail
• Welcome Luncheon for Business Stakeholders
• Middle East and Africa Networking Reception
• GNSO - New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP WG
• GNSO Review of all Rights Protection Mechanisms in gTLDs

My trip covered two days, Monday and Tuesday (June 24 and 25)