[bestbits] IGF Open Consultations and MAG meetings in Geneva 1-3 December 2014

Subi Chaturvedi subi.igp at gmail.com
Wed Sep 17 22:50:22 EDT 2014


Hi Bill,

Yes you did. And you're at it again.

First let me address the main session because you share information
selectively.

On the main a seven month process was followed.  With you contributing.
With a list of panelists you would like to see on the panel amongst other
things. Which incidentally were also coinciding with the same names you had
as contributors to your book. All of them came with a lot of expertise.
Some we'd already reached out to and you're aware were on the panel. Just
as you contributed, others from the MAG did too, through online inputs and
in physical meetings towards shaping the main process. It was neither my
intention nor is it possible to privately control anything on the MAG.
Quite the contrary. We work through rough consensus.

Several emails were sent seeking inputs at every single stage. It was a
culmination of months of hard work which resulted in an interactive and
productive main session on the role of IGF and the internet ecosystem along
with strengthening the IGF. I am not expecting my effort and my time to be
recognised but do please stop making wild allegations and your campaign of
misinformation and disinformation.

We may disagree on approaches but as I said that shouldn't stop us from
working towards a common goal which I believe is strengthening the IG
ecosystem through a more robust and vibrant IGF.

I also understand your emphasis on quality and experience for any
contributions to be acceptable at IGF including workshops. I disagree
there, we may be a little rough around the edges, our proposals may not be
well written in perfect english, we may not have all the speakers lined up
months in advance and our issues may vary from a developing country
perspective but they are essential too. We are also a part of the same
ecosystem.  So a little tolerance from experienced members such as yourself
will go along way in not chilling new voices. Others might not be as
resilient or persistent.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Here's the full text of what I had shared with the secretariat and the MAG.

We have an intelligent community, so you do not need to paraphrase my text
or quote it in part, throughly out of context.

Also one last thing before I close this conversation,  not only would I
like to meet the CS members as I always do, I would also like to make the
new members feel welcome. It goes a long way in allaying fears or any
nervousness that any of us may have around each other. It is difficult to
take to the mic in a room full of strangets for some. We did agree tgat we
will make a deliberate attempt to break the club of insiders perception.

I do recall an email I sent to you when I joined the MAG in 2013 seeking
your advice and mentoring. Essentially asking you to show me the ropes. I
understand you're a busy man and wouldn't have had the time to respond to a
new members request.  In person however when I sought you out, you did give
me sound advice to sit in the front row as that would be a good way to
follow what was going on, I took it.

Text of the mail I sent so that the secretariat may organise a capacity
building session and interaction for new members because it is helpful.

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Subi Chaturvedi" <subichaturvedi at gmail.com>
Date: 17 Sep 2014 19:33
Subject: Re: [IGFmaglist] 答复: Open Consultations and MAG meetings 1-3
December 2014
To: "Chengetai Masango" <cmasango at unog.ch>, "Janis Karklins" <
karklinsj at gmail.com>, <Igfmaglist at intgovforum.org>
Cc:
Thanks Chengetai for the clarification.  And as always your support to old,
not so old and new MAG members is invaluable.

There are three ideas on the table at the moment for the orientation for
new MAG members. They are not mutually exclusive.  Some proposals received:

This is an attempt at summarising them and then we hope we can look at the
best fit.

1. We have a general orientation for all the new members with the chair and
the secretariat.  All the present MAG members who wish to join voluntarily
can also participate.
This was done in 2013 and was very well received.  Scheduled during the
lunch break on day 1.

Preceeded by a "meet and greet", round of introductions by all MAG members
stating their stakeholder groups and their affiliations this is done in the
presence of all MAG members and the wider community during the first 15
minutes of Day 1 of the open Consultation and MAG meeting.

Both these activities are a part of the formal agenda.

I support the process because it addresses some of the concerns raised by
colleagues like Angelic and others.

2. We do a seperate break out group on stakeholder basis.

While I see merit in Bill's suggestion I would also like to see all
stakeholders meet and speak with each other as MAG.

Because of a full schedule and a well rounded agenda we do not have an
opportunity to do that. Some team building excercises are in order. Ana and
I discussed this in detail at the IGF Istanbul.

While different stakeholder groups are free to meet each other informally
as they have done in the past,  a joint session which includes all MAG
members new and old has its own merits as all of us need to work together.

We can still do both as we have done in the past.

So that leads us to Option 3

3. As suggested by Marilyn. And I'd like to also volunteer.  We can do this
on day 1 as an additional initiative where we combine a "hello my name
is... followed by these are my expectations from the IGF and this is what I
bring to the MAG by way of skill sets or expertise..

Since time is usually limited and this is mostly informal and without mics
we'd like it to be an icebreaker.

Trust this is helpful for all members to consider. I would however make a
request that the secretariat and the chair, also consider an orientation
session during lunch break and a formal round of introductions on Day1 with
all present.

Regards

Subi Chaturvedi

Regards

Subi Chaturvedi

On 18 Sep 2014 00:20, "William Drake" <wjdrake at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Subi
>
> On Sep 17, 2014, at 6:54 PM, Subi Chaturvedi <subi.igp at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear Bill,
>>
>> First things first. Please do NOT misqoute and misrepresent me. I did
not disagree at all. I have clearly mentioned the need for both.
>
> I did neither.  You said,
>
> On Sep 17, 2014, at 4:03 PM, Subi Chaturvedi <subichaturvedi at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
>> While I see merit in Bill's suggestion I would also like to see all
stakeholders meet and speak with each other as MAG.
>>
>> Because of a full schedule and a well rounded agenda we do not have an
opportunity to do that. Some team building excercises are in order. Ana and
I discussed this in detail at the IGF Istanbul.
>>
>> While different stakeholder groups are free to meet each other
informally as they have done in the past,  a joint session which includes
all MAG members new and old has its own merits as all of us need to work
together.
>>
>> We can still do both as we have done in the past.
>>
>>
> So whereas I proposed something new, setting aside a formal time in the
agenda for new and old MAG members to meet in the stakeholder groups they
nominally come from, you gave them permission to meet informally, as in the
past.  This is the opposite of what I was suggested.
>
> I can understand why you might not want a meeting of civil society people
involved in the MAG, just like I could understand your efforts to privately
control the main session on the IGF in Istanbul.  But please do not pretend
we are saying the same thing when we are not.
>
> Cheers
>
> Bill
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