Minutes of Executive Commitee - 4 & 5 August 2007

Present:        Pete Macaulay (President), Frank March, Michael Wallmannsberger, Chris Streatfield.

In attendance:      Keith Davidson, Jordan Carter, Simon Riley.

The meeting opened at 9.14pm.

1.         Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting of 19 May 2007, which was used to brief Pete and Frank on the work the Committee has been doing.

Recurring action points:

• New accounts reports, based on the new GL, will be ready for the next Council meeting.
• Include Charitable status application as an agenda item for August Council meeting.
• Establishment of a Foundation – process to be carried forward, Simon Riley to provide a note on next steps to KD. Funding needs to be considered.
• PJM will keep KD advised of any meetings with officials. Ministerial meetings will have a staff member present; formal meetings between heads of orgs and President should have staff; networking will not.
• Peering paper to come to the August Council meeting.
• NZCERT was discussed. Campbell is pulling together information.
  

2.         AGM Outcomes / Thoughts

Pete noted a concern with the meeting going into Committee.

In terms of debrief:

• The turnout for the meeting was impressive.
• The video conferencing quality was not great – 6.00 to 7.30pm there was a lot of disruption, better after but not great. Audio not great; video sometimes hung. This was not reflected in what the Wellington people saw.
• Access Grids are an option but it needs to be connected to useful facilities in other countries.
• Simon noted some work he is doing with EDANZ to spread best practice on this.
• IRC and webcast video operated OK.
• The constitutional changes – third option did not get up through a lack of engagement with and persuasion of members.
  

AP:     Staff to work on options to improve remote participations / telepresence.

(i) Tied votes

• A way for the voting system to deal with tied votes needs to be developed.
  

(ii) Abstentions on constitutional issues

• These should not be allowed – resolutions for constitutional amendment will only be able to be voted for or against.
  

AP:     KD to develop a paper for Council on the above two issues for Council consideration.

AP:     PJM to communicate importance of collective responsibility in Council.

Overall the AGM went “bloody well”.

3.         Structural Review

(i) Transition Timetable

Keith introduced the issue. The implementation could be fast-tracked, or not, or taken very slowly. His view is that the project could quite satisfactorily be completed by the end of the calendar year.

Pete believes no procrastination should be allowed. Keith presented a paper on the process, setting out a timeline for the project and the scope of the work, as well as a draft budget for the implementation project.

(ii) Appointment of Implementation Manager

Keith has suggested Rose Percival be appointed; Michael Wallmannsberger suggested a process for appointment. There was a discussion about this. Michael notes that the job needs to be clear and the skills match verified.

The overall view is that given Rose’s availability, skills and experience, she is the ideal appointment.

AP:     Exec Director to recommend Rose as Implementation Manager to Council.

(iii) Appointment of Implementation Advisory Panel

Keith asked the Committee who they wished to appoint to the Advisory Panel. The discussion canvassed who would be appropriate members, and eventually led to the following names:

• David Farrar
• Chris Streatfield
• Frank March
• Keith Davidson
• Debbie Monahan
  

(iv) ToR for IAG

Keith noted that the task for the Group is to be a sounding board for the Implementation Manager. It does not govern the project and it does not communicate the project to internal or other stakeholders. There was a discussion about it.  Keith amended the ToR to reflect the discussion.

The August Council will approve statement of work for Manager, ToR for Panel, and budget, as well as membership of the Panel.

The Riley Report along with all documentation and inputs from/to the Structural Review to be forwarded to the Implementation Manager.

In terms of the Budget, Keith’s paper will recommend $40,000 from unbudgeted reserves to be approved by Council.
 

4.         Composition and ToR for Committees, task forces, etc

There was a brief discussion about the structure. It was agreed to keep the current structure pending the outcomes of the Structural Review. In the operational sense it is important that the groups contribute to the ED’s work, and if not, how they can be improved.

There was no desire to change the status quo.

There was a discussion around chairing of Committees.

AP:     selective invitations of outgoing councillors for task forces etc to be considered and recommended to Council.

The Committee considered the list of Committees and Task Forces and proposed Chairs and Vice Chairs for each, where applicable.
 

5.         Project Resourcing / Priorities

This session began with Simon’s view of the background of the activity reports. New sponsors were allocated as below for the future, and others will be done after the first Council meeting. Sponsors must be Councillors and are not the same as Chairs.

Access Grid – Michael Wallmannsberger.

The Committee considered whether any of the existing activities/projects should be completed, or a new holding category created.

AP:     Pete wants a list of Committees, Tiger Teams and Projects.
 

(i) Staffing

Keith noted Jordan’s absence will constrain some resourcing but Campbell has started. Jordan will be in touch from Europe. Keith is reasonably comfortable. It has been slow to gear up but it would have been difficult to add multiple people at the same time.

AP:     Reporting needs to be improved, on prioritisation, issues, projects and work against the business and strategic plans.

(ii) International

Keith noted two events which he needs to attend, ICANN in LAX and IGF in Rio. Keith was intending to go only to Rio, but the ICANN meeting is becoming steadily more important:

• GAC and ccNSO on the joint meeting agenda wants ccTLD presentations. This is unprecedented.
• PDT has put himself forward as a prospective ICANN Chair, and could use the support.
• IDNs are becoming a bigger issue, with some intra ccTLD disputes about how to go.
  

There was also a discussion about the role of InternetNZ in the APTLD system.

6.         Council

Simon introduced the item by arguing that induction has not been well done in the past.

Keith noted a few points, the need to try for:

• Governance training
• IoD Directors course? (2 hrs Westlake, + offer 1 day NFP)
• Financial reporting? (1hr + offer of ½ day acctg for non-accts)
  

• Councillor accountability (Pete)
  

• InternetNZ & Councillor training (1 hr)
• Resources – 3G cards, etc
• Family / Siblings
• DNC/NZRS (+15 mins each on their roles)
  

These were developed in discussion.

The Committee also considered the Agenda for the meeting which is currently looking quite light.

More to come in respect of business planning processes.

7.         Executive Committee Meetings Schedule

The issue was discussed and the history of meeting schedules (usually a 2-4 weeks before the Council meeting) was related to the new Committee members.

The next meeting will be Friday 14 September 2007, half day meeting, to be held in Auckland in the afternoon.

8.         Council Meetings Schedule

Keith proposed Friday 31 August, Friday 12 October and Saturday 15 December. The Saturday evening would be the Christmas social function.

9.         Communications and Membership

Simon introduced the issue and there was a broad discussion. There are significant improvements that have been made in recruitment and communications, but it is not entirely consistent across the organisation.

Keith noted that it has been quite focused – e.g. the members consultations this year were much better (especially in Auckland) than in previous years.

A whole range of items were canvassed:

• The website needs improvement
• Communication to Council – structured documents. Current is a dog’s breakfast in terms of presentation. Agreed to consider this.
• Projects to Council, new ones – need a template, SR can refresh an older one.
• Networking – 5x5x5s functions – Simon to write up, perhaps partner with ICT-NZ or others.
• Document or working papers on policy issues – short statements that are available as a resource for people to download. Tech bulletins, Policy bulletins, etc.
• Relationship with KAREN
• Outreach – do a roadshow on a number of topics? Joint with DNC?
  

The point is to make this happen.

Membership – this was one of the issues in the elections. The only new idea which emerged was the “join all registrants” chestnut. All the other things that need to be done have been done, and progress is being made. There was a discussion about the benefits of membership, how to recruit, etc.

“Quality recruitment” is the theme that Exec members are comfortable with. Simon noted the lack of a value proposition for membership, which others agreed with.

10.       WSA Awards

Pete noted his conflict as an involved person.

The decision facing the Committee is whether to agree the funding, send it to Council for consideration, or reject it. There was a discussion on what it is, what level of support will deliver in terms of branding.

The Committee agreed the spend of $7,000 as requested.

11.       Bank Signatories

Forms are required to be signed. This is to add Pete Macaulay and Frank March as signatories, and to delete Colin Jackson, David Farrar and Simon Riley from the list of signatories.

12.       Digital Earth Summit

Michael briefed the Committee on this matter. Two issues: Pete, Keith, Judy and Michael to meet with Richard Simpson, Dorothy Wilson from Auckland City to talk about the concept. He believes there is value in looking at it, but only become involved on InternetNZ’s terms.

Simon is not clear what the point of the Summit was last time, in 2006. He thinks other matters are a priority.

Pete thinks the conversation would give more information to make decisions on.

The Committee agreed the meeting should occur.

13.       Frank and Pete

<in committee>

The meeting came to a close at 4.55pm.