Revised plans for Best Bits gathering - now in Baku

[Anriette Esterhuysen]

Dear Jeremy

Thanks for al the effort so far, and apologies for not participating
actively. I do want to update you on efforts on APC's ends that are
linked to the BestBits

On 16/08/2012 11:52, Jeremy Malcolm wrote:
> Thanks everyone for your invaluable inputs on the proposal.  Here is a
> quick update, following discussions with various of you offlist.
> 
> First, it looks like we won't be able to do Singapore after all.  The
> hotel reported to me yesterday that they are fully booked for the
> weekend prior to the IIC conference, and that for the alternative dates
> after the conference we are on standby.
> 
> Several of you have voiced that you would prefer to do the event in
> conjunction with the IGF in Azerbaijan instead.  Although it has its
> downsides, the big benefit is that we would have to support fewer
> participants' travel costs.  This is important because the budget that
> we have sketched out is significantly too high to be supported by any of
> our prospective funders (and indeed at this stage, it looks like only
> one of them, Google, will be able to offer support).
> 
> On this basis, I have gone ahead and begun enquiries with the hotels in
> Baku about hosting the event over the weekend prior to the IGF.  The
> next thing to determine is who will be in Baku, and who won't.  Amongst
> those who won't, we need to receive and decide upon their applications
> for travel support *within a week*.  Sorry for the short deadline!
> 
> So without further ado, I have thrown up a document in Google Docs (I
> would have stuck with Etherpad, except that it doesn't support tables
> yet) with a table of the groups who were listed in the proposal as
> prospective invitees.  It is at http://bit.ly/SqnzeS
> <http://bit.ly/SqnzeS> . *Your help is needed to complete this table*.
> Please:
> 
>   * If you are on the list (which you should be!) please complete the
>     entry for your organisation by:
>       o Indicating whether you plan to attend, either in person or remotely.
>       o If you /really/ can't make your own way to the meeting without
>         assistance, please specify what kind of assistance you are
>         seeking (for example full or partial flight cost, hotel for two
>         nights or for the whole week, etc).  If you can estimate a US
>         dollar value, all the better.
>       o Indicating how you would like to participate in the draft
>         programme - would you like to speak at or to moderate a
>         session?  Would you like to be part of a working group that
>         prepares "zero draft" text for discussion on day 2, or do you
>         want to nominate someone else to do so?  (Andrew or I may reach
>         out to some of you individually about this.)
>   * Please check the other suggested representatives from each group -
>     there are a few that need adding, those I've listed mightn't be the
>     most appropriate, and there are a few that I haven't completed.  In
>     general, one representative per organisation should be enough.
>   * If you know any of those people, and the "invited" column isn't
>     already completed, please contact them to ask if they are interested
>     in attending the meeting.  I'm attaching a PDF document excerpted
>     from the proposal that can accompany the invitation.  Then add the
>     date when you contacted them to the "invited" column, so that we
>     know they have been informed.
> 
> Once again, the *deadline to complete the table is by next week* - 24
> August 2012.  Whilst the details are yet to be confirmed (for example
> how many delegates could be funded and which hotel will be used as the
> venue), we need to have an idea of the prospective participants first.
> 
> Thanks again, and please let me know of any queries or concerns with
> these revised plans.
> 

-- 
------------------------------------------------------
anriette esterhuysen anriette at apc.org
executive director, association for progressive communications
www.apc.org
po box 29755, melville 2109
south africa
tel/fax +27 11 726 1692