Great positive message Dan!!! Just what we need today and everyday in 
the future.

Thank you

Carlos Raúl Gutiérrez
+506 8837 7176
Skype: carlos.raulg
Current UTC offset: -6.00 (Costa Rica)
On 3 Aug 2016, at 17:04, Dan Krimm wrote:

> I think it's worth pointing out that my sense of the veterans here is 
> that
> they are generally welcoming to energetic newcomers, the more the 
> merrier
> as long as you are prepared to dig in and share some heavy lifting.
>
> The veterans often will feel burdened -- there is much to be done, and 
> the
> relative few with long-standing experience in the labyrinth of ICANN 
> often
> feel like there are few alternatives to pick up the ball.  Then there 
> is a
> tension between allocating resources to getting new folks up to speed
> versus just getting things done.  It's that joke about being up to 
> your
> butt in alligators while trying to drain the swamp.
>
> In many positions here, experience is not as crucial as it may be to 
> NomCom
> in particular -- new folks can get up to speed as long as they can 
> allocate
> the effort for the learning curve, and if they bring related technical 
> and
> policy experience from outside ICANN per se they can very quickly 
> become
> very valuable to the process.
>
> I think newcomers who come to us with energy and sufficient time to be
> available for some hard work should not feel intimidated at all.  The 
> more
> we can spread the work around, the more effective we will be 
> collectively.
> (Spoken as someone who regretfully has little time currently for the 
> heavy
> substantive work...)
>
> While it would be great to have more of a mentoring dynamic here (as 
> you
> put it, a leadership program), there is at least a decent collection 
> of
> self-learning resources that are available to new members.  Here's a
> selection from what Tapani included in his most recent welcome 
> message:
>
> General tips:
> https://community.icann.org/display/gnsononcomstake/How+To+Get+Involved
>
> List of working groups and their members:
> https://community.icann.org/display/gnsononcomstake/Getting+Involved+in+Working+Groups
>
> A one-stop page about ICANN's policy efforts:
> http://gnso.icann.org/sites/gnso.icann.org/files/gnso/presentations/policy-efforts.htm
>
> Information about GNSO and about GNSO activities during ICANN 
> meetings:
> http://gnso.icann.org/en/icannmeeting
>
> Finally, if you begin to feel overwhelmed by ICANN acronyms, you will
> find most of them in this glossary:
> https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/glossary-2014-02-03-en
>
>
> We've discussed more active mentoring options in the past, but I'm not
> aware of anything that really put down roots and established a durable
> process -- this is a long-standing issue that has simply not been 
> resolved.
> Short of that we fall back on individual bootstrapping to get going.  
> I
> would encourage newcomers to try to identify the people involved in 
> various
> areas of interest and to not be shy about asking them pointed 
> questions in
> order to accelerate the process of self-education.
>
> It's less like a cable car and more like rock-climbing.
>
> If we were to formalize this, I might imagine creating formal roles in
> NCSG/NCUC/NPOC where the sole responsibility is to actively help 
> newcomers
> get oriented and engaged.  In a typical NPO with lots of volunteers, 
> this
> might be a Volunteer Supervisor/Coordinator, and it would be a paid
> position.  We have no paid positions, but we might nevertheless find 
> it
> valuable to have someone formally in such a role (an elected position?
> appointed by EC?), as opposed to only having policy-substantive roles.
> Depending on how it is defined, it may or may not require a charter 
> update.
>
> Bottom line:
>
> Don't be intimidated, for any reason.  If you want to get involved, 
> there
> will always be a way to get you going in some capacity.  You don't 
> have to
> be elected to a representative position in order to contribute 
> something of
> unique value to the group.  Start out by getting onto a WG or two, and 
> when
> you find your footing you'll be ready to run for an elected position.
>
> Find an entry point to focus your efforts, and don't worry about being
> expert in the entire range of NCSG activities.  Pick something where 
> you
> have an existing interest and perhaps some useful expertise outside 
> ICANN,
> and jump right in.  If you can actually commit to a serious work 
> schedule,
> you will quickly be seen as an expert and will rise according to that 
> merit.
>
> It's not about joining up and immediately getting elected to 
> something.
> Get involved by participating in specific working processes, 
> demonstrate
> what you can do, and then you will naturally be asked to do more (be
> careful what you ask for, you might get it!).
>
> Dan
>
>
>
> At 7:10 PM -0300 8/3/16, Renata Aquino Ribeiro wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> I don't agree with discouraging people from expressing +1s to
>> nominations. It doesn't even seem feasible, really.
>>
>> However, as someone who decided not to run, it is very intimidating
>> the immense outpur of support for continuity, in opposition to the
>> timid and localized expressions around new names. It wasn't my
>> decisive factor but it is a factor now and I can't seem to think of 
>> it
>> not being so in a foreseeable future.
>>
>> But, this intimidation to me has more to do with the roster of "usual
>> suspects" always climbing up the ladders of ICANN leadership than an
>> actual aversion to newcomers. Being new, not from an english speaking
>> country, will always be harder. That is why diversity criteria
>> addresses this and perhaps thinking about a leadership programme to
>> NCs could make things better.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Renata