[CS Bureau] Back to work...

[Robert Guerra]

Renate:

In regards your earlier message - all i'll say is that i'm concerned 
by the fact that not too much is known about the details of the - 
secretariat - as mentioned @ the cape town meeting. Surely, if 
there's a staff person  now available - there's a terms of reference 
and a set of tasks the person is responsible for. Personally, i think 
more should have been shared (either on, or off the mailing list).

I think I know you well enough to believe that the intentions are 
good, however others who don't know you, or who don't know your and 
CONGO's involvement to-date might think otherwise. Being proactive in 
regards to releasing details will prevent unnecessary criticism in 
the days ahead.

In summary - The matter of fact approach of setting up the 
secretariat, and now obtaining the "staff" person  - well, isn't too 
transparent. Though well intentioned , great care must be taken and 
more information needs to be provided if you don't want to  subject 
to  criticism.

In regards to the Cape Town meeting:

* Again i would like to thank those who were able to secure funding 
to bring us all to cape town. Please let me know if personalized 
thank you letter to the funders might be useful/helpful.

In regards to PC 2 :

* I would like to point out that the accreditation deadline for new 
organizations is coming up. I think it's Jan 8. This really needs to 
be pointed out on lists and other spaces. I would recommend that the 
point be mentioned to the WSIS ES , so that they can communicate the 
deadline.

* Fellowships - A two week prepcom in geneva will be significantly 
more expensive than the meeting in Cape Town.  Would it help to start 
obtaining cost estimates ( travel and accommodation) so we can have 
an idea of what funding would be needed ?

- I have performed a very quick and high ended calculation for me , 
and my numbers are as follows:

a. Travel - 1100 CDN
b. Accommodation (15 day) - 201 CDN/Day = 3015 CDN
c. Per Diem - (meals and other expenses) based on high end rate - 160 CDN/day

Total : 6515 CDN . At today's exchange rate = approx 4000 Euro.

The numbers are in a sense, a high end (conservative) estimate of 
what the projected costs for me will be like. It's likely to be less.

Multiply that # by 20 (approx bureau people), and you get 80,000 
Euros. that's quite a sum to get in less than a month.

Thus the question - should we try to secure funding just for the 
coming event, or more funds to cover the bureau (and possibly others 
too) from now to the Summit?



* Accommodation - Can we reduce the cost of lodging/accomodation by 
having those in geneva make a   bulk reservations ?

* Virtual Participation - How can we develop options so that those 
not physically able to travel to Geneva can participate in a more 
effective and meaningful way? Can we plan in advance - so that 
virtual attendees can participate in sessions?

* Schedule / Program - Andy Carvin and others are starting to ask 
about the meeting schedule/agenda. Is it available anywhere? If not - 
do we have an idea of what will be discussed @ what week of the 
meeting?

* Tasks - by when can we develop a concrete list of tasks, when they 
have to be done by and who will help with them.

those are my thoughts for now.

looking for all your comments

regards

Robert








At 7:02 PM +0100 1/3/05, Renata Bloem wrote:
>
>As of today we have a WSIS staff person. I will in time introduce 
>her to you. Next mandatory step is to secure/finalize logistics. The 
>UN is still closed today, and the person in charge, Danielle 
>Boccard, on vacation until the 10th when we have a meeting with her.

-- 
###
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Privaterra - <http://www.privaterra.org>
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