CircleID

I'm surprised at the surprise of the empty public Board sessions.

What would be the point of attending them, for anyone?  The Board does not hold meaningful public discussions.  It is one thing for Board members to publish their reasons for voting one way or the other after the fact, but it would be quite another thing for the Board to hold discussions prior to a vote, during which their views might be understood, and the community would have appropriate time to engage board members in dialogue prior to a vote.

For example, the Board in Marrakech decided to note "with gratitude and affection the commitment and enthusiasm" of Michael Palage.  There was no public discussion of this weighty issue, nor was there a recommendation of the GNSO.  Consequently, it is not clear whether Michael's commitment was noted with gratitude and his enthusiasm was noted with affection, or whether the gratitude and affection was intended to apply to both his commitment and enthusiasm.  Some more discussion leading up to this motion might have brought out quite a range of emotions relating to various aspects of Michael Palage, that might have reflected a deeper consensus of how the community may have, for example, noted various aspects of him with such feelings as "mirth", "bemusement", or "shock and awe".  The GNSO might have even recommended an abstention of the entire Board in Michael's honor.

But, alas, Mr. Palage is left with an ambiguous recitation of two emotional responses to a limited number of his considerable personal attributes.

I agree with you John. The problem is not that decisions are made in comparative secrecy, or that people in the Internet community are lacking in ideas or views, it's that there doesn't seem to be a clear connection between someone saying something and ICANN reacting in any noticeable manner.

These changes do happen - because I follow them as closely as I can - but the route followed from an idea or suggestion to possible alteration in how ICANN works is so meandering and opaque that often the two don't appear to be connected at all.

As for Mr Palage's farewell, the two subjects I would have picked to discuss were why Michael wasn't there and why it was Hagen Hultzch reading out part of the thanks.

Kieren

I have created a page on ICANNWiki for anyone else that is happy to state publicly that they have applied to the NomCom for one of the positions.

I note that Patrick Vande Walle has announced on his blog that he is standing. Hopefully this will encourage more people…

http://www.icannwiki.org/Nomcom-applicants