Executive Director's Report to Council 26/05/00

ISOCNZ Executive Director

Report to Council 26 May 2000

Although a lot of work has been done since the last Council Meeting I remain concerned that much needful work is being missed out (e.g. things initiated and not followed up on) or simply not actioned/completed in a timely manner because of lack of resources, e.g. Summit. I have finally begun to take seriously the warning that my recent bout of ill-health signaled, and have cut my hours back over the last three weeks to around 45 hours per week (down from an average over the previously recorded four weeks of 74+ hours per week).

ACTION ITEMS FROM COUNCIL MEETING - APRIL 27 2000

Draft Motions - emailed out May 2
Draft Audio Files - received on CD ROM for processing May 19
Draft Minutes - emailed outMay 21 to ISOCNZ Chair and Secretary.

ccTLD Secretariat Tender

Created Tender documents for ccTLD Secretariat and submitted to AdCom of ccTLD; receipt acknowledged but no further communication despite follow-up. I note that the APTLD "elders" notified the ccTLD that they had decided not to submit a tender.

Summit

Summit work begun - lack of resources to action faster. Venues have been checked and a final decision will be made as soon as costing for Audio-cast in from second premises. I am awaiting an Agenda, suggested speakers list, and suggested sponsors list from the International Affairs Committee in order that invitations can be sent out and publicity be arranged for the June 23 Summit. I note that I asked the Committee to review the idea of holding the Summit on this date, as I believe that my compromise suggestion at 10PM during the previous Council meeting was not a good one. The Committee declined my request.

Audio-recording of Council Meetings

Cr Harris kindly volunteered to translate the audio tapes into MP3 for the web site. This took some time because of the huge size of the audio files and it is essential that direct recording to a digital format takes place at the meeting. Discussions continue on this. The files will be added to the web site once I understand the mechanics.

AGM Preparations

The venue for the AGM is tied to the Summit, so has not been finalised yet. It will either be at the City Council or at the new Stadium. Costings for audiocast are tied in to the Summit also, allowing maximisation of resources. The Secretary and I have worked out a timeframe for proper notices of the meeting to allow for the Domainz Working Group report to be included in the post out.The constitutional requirements are:

1. 30 days notice of Meeting (10.2.4)
2. 14 days prior - copy of Financials (10.2.3)
3. 20 days prior - any motions to amend articles (15.2.d)

Further - although it is ideal to include the full Agenda including notices under #3, this is not required.

What we propose to do to enable maximum amount of submission time is to:

1. Issue an early notice of meeting by email to isocnz-announce, calling for Agenda items and indicating time and date. (done)

2. Issue the 30 day notice of meeting by email (May 23) to isocnz-announce, indicating venue, time, date, and calling for nominations to Council. It will also note that, say, seven days remain to get Agenda items to Chair, for a physical post-out by 21 days prior to meeting - this will include the financials (the Auditor cannot signoff before the 22nd May as is on holiday).

3. Do mail out 21 days prior with Full Agenda, Financials, Nominations, copies of any proposed Amendments to Articles.

I note that the short financial year (six months) has put huge pressure on all WG's and staff, e.g. EoY accounts, Budgets etc again only four months (if you take Christmas out) after last lot.Add to that the potential effects on ISOCNZ operation arising from the Domainz Model Review WG recommendations and the other discussion which is bound to arise over Domainz, and the feeling was to wait on the constitutional amendments and call an SGM about August specifically on changes to Articles if the consultation process and the WG outcomes indicates they are necessary.

This has been discussed with former councilor Farrar as he was the instigator of the series of constitutional amendments and he is comfortable with the process and offered a few positive suggestions.

End of Year Accounts

Final work on the End of Year Accounts took place from May 2 to May 19. This also included the analysis of performance against Budget for 1999-2000 (circulated) and creation of the Draft Budget 2000-2001 (circulated). The draft Budget will be dealt with elsewhere in the meeting.

Administration Manager Position

The day after the Council Meeting I circulated the full job/role descriptions for all paid positions as had been presented to the April 27 Administration Committee meeting. The Chair of the Administration Committee and I met to finalise recommendations after consulting with the Treasurer and the results of that meeting were circulated to Council on May 8. The recommendations form part of the Administration Committee report.

Council Mailing Lists

Meetings were held with the Technical Manager Actrix re new Council mailing lists; mailing list management; quotes and implementation issues for on-line payments. I wrote the AUP's for the lists and the new lists went live on Monday May 15.

UniForum

Two meetings have been held with UniForum representatives, Cr Harris and myself. Cr Harris will report on the meeting with the President of UniForum. Work is underway to integrate the two Conferences pending final sign off by Council.

OTHER WORK

Media

Friday May 5 saw the arrival of the Loveletter worm and a resultant deluge of media inquiries. As I was already receiving calls re the Offensive Names Policy Review and other releases, this absorbed considerable time over the next week. Over ten different media people were in contact for the period - including (day, night, and weekend) TVNZ's nzoom.com; Radio New Zealand; InfoTech; National Business Review; The Independent; The Dominion, The Evening Post, the Waikato Times, The Sunday Star Times, and the NZPA - and most did follow-up calls.

New Premises

New premises are not needed to house the new Administration Manager. However there is value in "future proofing" the organisation's head office, especially if we unexpectedly gain the ccTLD Secretariat. At the Council's request I have investigated rental options.

The Executive Assistant has obtained two sets of costings which would allow future growth (circulated). I would like to speak to this at the meeting. My main comment is that if we are to move at all, then we should both upgrade and obtain enough space for future growth. Smaller spaces are in short supply and are mainly available as a sub-tenancy with another organisation. On the other hand, large spaces are running at a 12% surplus, so negotiation on costs is possible. If the Council decides to allocate the money, then, my recommendation after viewing a variety of premises is the Seimens Building. Note that if the Council wishes to go for this option it will need to move immediately.

Hon Paul Swain

A meeting has been set up with the IT Minister regarding international governance issues and .nz. (June 15)

Internet Insurance

Report from Willis as circulated - Council needs to decide what, if any, action to take.

E-Commerce Summit

I emailed the Ministry of Economic Development re participation in E-Commerce Summit (reply circulated). The Council needs to decide by May 29 what, if any role, the Council wishes to play.

Membership Database Upgrade

This work is now complete.

DIARY APRIL 27 - MAY 21

Tuesday May 2 - Meeting with Willis Insurance and Cr Higgins re Internet Industry Insurance package (circulated); meeting with Cr Stokes (convenor 0867 Working Group) re timelines for Telecommunications Inquiry submissions; meet Chair Admin Committee re progressing new position

Wednesday May 3 - meet with B Leeuwenberg re scoping for web site upgrade

Monday May 8 - meeting with Ephone re Kids Net proposal and Zone Files request; B Miller re database upgrade

Thursday May 11 - meet with Bill Parkin (UniForum) re content of Conference

Friday May 12 -meet with Communication consultants; Telecom briefing with 0867 WG;

Friday May 19 - International Affairs Committee meeting; meeting with Cr Harris and the President of UniForum re Council decision to hold jointly branded Conference.

NOT ACTIONED

March Council Meeting

Action items list not created yet. To be completed by Council Meeting.

Jan Council Meeting

write to Joe Abley to ascertain situation with alternative to Merit. - only half done
write to Actrix and the Beiringer's expressing the Council's thanks. - not done
forward copies of ASA correspondence to Cr March - not done
place moderators names and contacts on web site, add policies when available. - not received - not done
follow up the December letter inviting Corporate members to form the IAGand appoint a Councillor - follow-up to follow-up not done

HELD OVER

Requests for electronic copies of reports to add to Council Minutes.
Status: outstanding: March 31 Meeting : ISOCNZ Chair's Report; International AffairsCommittee - various (Peter Dengate Thrush); ISOCNZ-Domainz Relationship Working Group (Peter Dengate Thrush). January 28 Meeting : Treasurer's report.

TIME OUT

Please note that I will shortly be taking my first non-working break (i.e. no cellphone, laptop, or Internet access) since beginning this contract in August 1998. I will be on holiday in Australia (having hastily cancelled my just-made bookings for Fiji!!) from Saturday May 27 until Sun June 4.

Sue Leader
Executive Director

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