+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. >