Revised plans for Best Bits gathering - now in Baku

[Jeremy Malcolm]

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the deadline by which to pre-register
for Best Bits in Baku, for purposes of budgeting.  Next week it should
be possible to confirm what level of travel support will be available to
those who have requested it, and where the venue will be.

Once that is done, we will divide up responsibilities for preparation,
such as contributing briefing papers and working on the zero-draft
texts, and add names of speakers and moderators to the agenda items.  So
far Andrew Puddephatt has offered to write an introduction to the
briefing papers, Bill Drake to coordinate the development of a WCIT
statement, and others to speak or moderate - thank you all; further
details of how you can participate will be confirmed next week.

I also hope that everyone will feel free to use this list to discuss the
agenda or any concerns, so that the planning process can be kept fully
transparent.  This is important to dispel any concerns (that someone
expressed to me today) that there may be a political agenda behind the
meeting, to create a new process or body or to supplant existing bodies
or initiatives.  This is not the case, and transparency in the planning
is the best way to make that evident.

Thanks again to everyone for their support of this joint initiative.

On 16/08/12 17:52, 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.

-- 

*Dr Jeremy Malcolm
Senior Policy Officer
Consumers International | the global campaigning voice for consumers*
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