Re: [apnic-talk] APNIC EC Election Review Panel
On 06/07/2010, at 10:10 AM, Skeeve Stevens wrote:
> Hey William,
>
> My thoughts on the below.
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> - One member one vote. I'd like to agree, but it doesn't fairly represent larger members with more at stake. It also enables stacking.
That can/could/might happen now. The immediate knee-jerk reaction is 'why does a larger member get more votes?' Do they have a more valid opinion of a candidate for the EC? or on other Membership Voting topics?
>
> - Fixed 3 year terms for EC members - one term only. Well, not massively opposed - perhaps 2 terms, but I agree that there seems to be a pattern of encumbants getting re-elected which stops new blood getting in. Maybe 2 terms max for 2 year terms.
Closing out a person for life after any set number of terms looses the knowledge base in that persons head. It also limits them from returning with a fresh positive take on something.
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> - Equal representation across Asia Pac? What do you mean by that?
I think that is undefinable.
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> - Director General Fixed term 5 years only once. Ok, I half agree. There should be a limit, but I do acknowledge that it takes a while to get the experience, relationships and everything involved with being the DG... is 5 years enough? You take one year to go to some meetings and get a handle, 3 years doing the job and 1 year to find the successor. I am a believer that no job should 'be for life', and Paul has been there for 10 years... and it takes a long time to get the amount of experience he has gained on all the committees, organisations and so on that he is involved in. That said, there is always room for improvement and new blood often brings this. So... 5 years, I think is too short, 7 years seems more reasonable. And in no disrespect at all to Paul, but I do support fixed terms with no extension and think that APNIC could benefit from some new leadership. That said, I'm not opposed to former DG's taking on some other sort of role in the organisation.
sigh.. its up to the EC. I'm not a fan of fixed terms without extension. In a not for profit that could lead to gouging by the appointed staff member, ie "I'm only here for 7 years, I might as well get out of it what I can". There have been many examples of these agency costs in history.
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> - Mid-year meeting. APNIC is NOT Apricot, or the other way around. The mid-year meeting has value. This industry is moving too fast to only have interaction once a year. I believe there should be more 'micro' meetings. I'd like to see them quarterly, with a specific focus - maybe only a weekend or something.
>
Thats an interesting idea!!
> - APNIC members fund DG luxurious travel. OK, I do agree with this partly. I am VERY concerned that APNIC staff spend way too much time in business class. The amount of APNIC staff that travelled to KL in business-class was excessive in my opinion. I think that too many staff at APNIC spend way more time travelling in premium seating while clocking up tons of frequent flyer points for their personal usage. I think that all FF points should be owned by the business and used first if possible for travel. The travel budget is way too high I believe.
>
Speaking as someone who does a fair amount of international travel. You need to consider the health and well-being of the employee directed to travel in the name of business. A number of sensible organisations i know of have a policy that mandates business or premium seating for any combinations of continuos legs that exceed 6 hours. That is based solely on the expectation that the employee 1) has a right to healthy travel conditions, and 2) that the employee is expected to arrive in a condition being able to represent the organisation. (and for a company that I am on the board for, that means limited alcohol on the flight)
If you are thinking about the larger concern of the travel budget, then perhaps I would argue that only strictly necessary individuals are sent to international meetings, or perhaps call for some level of collaboration at the NRO level for information sharing such that the duplication of rir attendees at meetings is reduced, perhaps saving all rirs some money.
> That said... when a staff member is representing APNIC and is flying with short notice, or arriving just before they are speaking/meeting - then I'd like to understand the wisdom of not planning travel a little better. Is the difference between Business Class and Economy is significant.
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> Example: Sydney to Amsterdam. Business Class - $4476. Economy $1100-$2000.
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> So would it not be prudent to get there a day earlier to recover/sleep and spend $300 on a hotel room than
trust me.. the extra day doesn't always work. 12+ hours for me in economy is excruciating, stressful, and a health risk - and takes more than a nights sleep to recover from.
> more than $2000 extra on a ticket? Even if you factor the daily wage of the DG/senior staff, the savings here is significant.
So is their health.
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> I had concerns about the travel budgets before the last meeting and asked the DG/EC for a report on the travel expenses which they provided (albeit slowly).
And what was your analysis of that?
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> What I would like to see is something like an Advisory Committee of members only... that the EC can consult on member issues. ARIN has this and I think it would be useful for APNIC to consider it.