Re: [atlarge-discuss] WG-OUTREACH 003 - Update and Action List

[espresso@e-scape.net]

Hello, all,

With Hans, I applaud Richard's clear and fairly comprehensive outline of what WG-Outreach should be thinking about. But I have to agree with Danny Younger when he says:
>Why should anyone want to join an organization that does nothing?
>
>A legitimate user organization works to solve user concerns.  

Until *we* can articulate who the organization is and what it sets out to do, and until we are at least on the way to becoming a credible mechanism for accoplishing those ends, any braodcast effort to recruit new members is premature. 

That's not to say we shouldn't try to interest individuals we know can add something to our efforts - just that we'd be wiser to do so quietly until we know what we are to persuade people to join.

Danny says:
>This group has not even discussed any user issues, let alone proposed any >possible solutions.  When was the last time that anyone on this list >started a sustained discussion on:
and lists a number of specific user problems which this organization should certainly address once it has the power to do so. He is right to some extent when he says:

>...You have to give people something of value if you want to entice 
>them to join.  So far, I see nothing of value... [snip]

I have no desire to entice or mislead Internet users in general, but I also have reservations about the people who join a grassroots organization in the hope of receiving without giving in return. Anyone we approach at this stage should know before signing up that they will have to give their time and effort before anyone can receive anything. 

>As a user, I am looking for a group that offers the reasonable prospect of 
>delivering results by providing real solutions to real problems.  In my 
>opinion, that isn't happening here.  Perhaps you can manage to turn things 
>around, but I, for one, am getting very tired of waiting for results that 
>never seem to materialize.

I do sympathize ... I'm frustrated, too, but not because I expect an as-yet-undefined and unstructured group of people to deliver changes in the behaviour of ICANN or the registrars. 

For anything of that sort to happen, this organization needs not only greater numbers of nominal members but a greater number of participants willing to write letters, position papers, etc. and a structure whereby such matters are formally accepted by the membership and somebody is officially authorized to speak on behalf of an organization which credibly represents the interests of the worldwide Internet user community.

At least some of us are quite eager to create such an organization, while the rest of the thousand members are hanging back and waiting to see whether the small "core group" will deliver something to them. I've been through this phase more than once in my life and I'm not eager to do it again since it invariably leads to failure if the goal isn't one that's achievable by a dozen people without sound moral support, let alone real help. 

I think before we worry about recruiting 100,000 more members, we need to make sure we have at least 100 members committed to a common goal and willing to commit themselved to a certain amount of organizational scut-work  before any concrete success can be attained.

Meanwhile, I have already volunteered to help and handle the French-language aspect of Sotiris's Atlarge.ca -- he and I may have different approaches to the mission and organizational structure but we're rational people and I'm sure we can do something useful with that site, whatever happens within this group.

Regards,

Judyth

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Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
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"A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
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