[governance] curious note on nairobi and brussels...

[Ray Plzak]

Carlos,

Well said.

Ray

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carlos A. Afonso [mailto:ca at cafonso.ca]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 9:16 AM
> To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
> Subject: Re: [governance] curious note on nairobi and brussels...
> 
> My notes aimed at just stressing the fact that certain organizations
> and
> agencies from developed countries made a big fuss of the risks in
> Kenya,
> scaring the hell out of would-be ICANN participants (as a result,
> several did not go), and nothing is said about unsafe areas (like train
> stations) when the event is in Europe or another "civilized" country.
> 
> Of course we all know every major city has similar problems regarding
> personal safety. I recall that recently in Geneva, I woke up up at
> 05:00
> in the morning to catch the bus to the airport, opened the room window
> and saw a traveller being mugged in the street by a group two blocks
> from the train station. I went to the bus thinking about the odds the
> same thing would happen to me. This was Geneva, not Rio or Nairobi. And
> I do not want to take your time with another story -- the terrible
> treatment by Belgian officials when we tried to recover our tax refund
> in the airport.
> 
> Not only the treatment in Kenya was far more friendly, but my group
> several times skipped official transportation to get in touch with the
> the real culture of the city -- and it was real great, as I am sure it
> will be great in Cartagena as well.
> 
> frt rgds
> 
> --c.a.
> 
> Roland Perry wrote:
> > In message <BB18CD4D-A7C4-4F65-88DD-C646BEE90469 at cafonso.ca>, at
> > 11:04:00 on Mon, 5 Jul 2010, Carlos A. Afonso <ca at cafonso.ca> writes
> >> Another note on the treatment of participants in Brussels: buses
> took
> >> us from two hotels and the convention center to the "gala dinner".
> On
> >> return nearly midnight the bus drivers stopped in a place near the
> >> convention center, far from the hotels... And this was it. Walk,
> take
> >> a taxi said the drivers
> >
> > Were you in Paris - there we had to get the subway to and from the
> Gala
> > dinner. And with the Brussels convention centre literally across the
> > street from the Central Station, it's hardly in the middle of
> nowhere.
> >
> > The disappointment, if any, was they way they collected (at
> registration
> > and dinner ticket issue) a list of hotels, then pretty much ignored
> the
> > results. If it had been clear from the start that shuttles were
> to/from
> > the venue only, people's expectations would have been set.
> >
> > One of my abiding memories of the IGF at Sharm was wandering around
> > after the sessions and socials exclaiming "Golf" "Golf", while
> looking
> > for the long suffering shuttle bus back to the Martim Jolie Ville
> Golf
> > Resort. For those who weren't there, about half the hotels seemed to
> be
> > called "Martim Jolie Ville <something>" and you soon got used to
> cutting
> > out the redundant words.
> 
> --
> 
> Carlos A. Afonso
> CGI.br (www.cgi.br)
> Nupef (www.nupef.org.br)
> ====================================
> new/nuevo/novo e-mail: ca at cafonso.ca
> ====================================
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