+1 Tapani. In the old days, ICANN used to post the fancy hotels and the 
not so fancy hotels (and I always stayed at the latter). And they 
negotiated some good and low rates that included breakfast and Internet. 
It's time for them to do that again...
Best,
Kathy

On 2/29/2016 9:00 AM, Tapani Tarvainen wrote:
> On Feb 29 08:46, DeeDee Halleck ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
>
>> I agree with Klaus that “broad stakeholder engagement” is needed. I have
>> attempted to discuss ICANN with my colleagues (independent/community media
>> producers and communications academics) but hit a wall of glazed-over eyes
>> when trying to explain the importance of DNS regulation.
> Me too. :-(
>
>> One obvious problem in “non-commercial” participation is the lack of
>> adequate support for the cost of face to face participation.
> That is a very good point in general. However:
>
>> Even if I had the frequent flier miles to get to Marrakech, how
>> could I afford the posh hotels available?
> There are lots of cheap accommodation options in Marrakech even if
> ICANN doesn't tell you about them, and taxis are also cheap so you
> don't need to stay next door to the meeting site.
>
> One thing we could do for future meetings is to ask ICANN look up and
> maybe negotiate rates for some cheap hotels for participants paying
> their own way.
>