Summary Record of 37th meeting of the Executive Committee – 17 September 2020

Oct 10, 2020 | Meeting Summary Records, Reports and Meeting Minutes

Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA)

37th meeting of the Executive Committee

 17 September 2020

Draft Summary Record

 

  1. The Executive Committee held its 37th meeting on 17 September 2020. The meeting took place in a virtual setting with the following participants: Markus Kummer (Chair), Marilyn Cade, Edmon Chung, Makane Faye, Nigel Hickson, Jimson Olufuye, Eduardo Santoyo, Jennifer Chung (Secretariat), Kelvin Truong (Secretariat).A quorum was established for the meeting, with seven of the nine Executive Committee members taking part in the call.
  2. A draft agenda had been circulated prior to the call and was adopted as such.
    1. Communications strategy
    2. Fundraising strategy
    3. AOB

Communications strategy
Social media

  1. Secretariat shared brief social media plan that includes retweeting and re-sharing content from NRIs the IGFSA supports, as well as highlight some content regarding the accessibility endeavors.Newsletter
  2. There was a discussion to evolve the 2-page promotional flyer into a quarterly newsletter, suggestion for a template for NRIs to submit content that could be included. Given that 2020 has seen many NRIs adapt to virtual meetings, with some meeting physically or in a hybrid manner, it was suggested that this can give incentive for NRIs to share their stories for IGFSA to highlight.  It was also suggested that IGFSA mission is wider than supporting the NRIs, can look at stories or narratives that can be shared concerning the global IGF ecosystem. Marilyn took an action to communicate further with the NRIs.

Video /multimedia

  1. It was suggested that video messaging sent to NRIs from the Chair can be highlighted on the IGFSA website and across social media channels.

Messaging

  1. It was discussed that the communications strategy is tied to fundraising efforts, and should be included in messaging.

Website

  1. There was a suggestion to highlight and feature donors/sponsors more prominently to increase incentive.
  2. It was noted that the website needed more promotion to drive more traffic. There was a suggestion to have more updated content and to improve usability aspects, in particular- the payment of membership dues section need to be more prominent on the IGFSA website. Eduardo took an action to give more instruction to the Secretariat.Communications to membership
  3. The Chair noted that communications need to be sent to the membership with information on how to vote, why it is important to vote and attend the General Assembly that is scheduled for 2 November, 2020.Fundraising strategy
  4. There was a discussion to do a membership drive and possibly have a membership requirement for NRIs who have been in operation for a certain amount of years that are funded by the IGFSA. There was a decision for the Secretariat to push out the crowdfunding campaigns for NRIs as previously suggested using the platform give.asia.  The Secretariat took an action to try to pilot this in the APrIGF meeting that is coming up in a week’s time.AOB
  5. There was a consensus on the time and date for the General Assembly: 2 November 2020, 12:25 – 13:55 UTC). A brief discussion on the mechanics of the virtual voting resulted in a consensus that the voting needs to take place before the General Assembly and the results announced during the General Assembly procedures. There was also a discussion on appointing an elections officer from one of the outgoing Executive Committee members.
  6. The Chair gave a brief update on the Accessibility fund and noted that the process is in motion to receive USD 10K from Google earmarked for this purpose.
  7. There was a brief discussion on whether it is necessary to reconsider funding amounts to NRIs and it was noted that there should be an evaluation into virtual meeting costs. There was a decision taken to support Bolivia IGF and SEEDIG at the respective levels.
  8. It was decided that calls should be scheduled and calendared every 2 weeks from now until the General Assembly. It was noted that the next IGFSA Executive Committee call will be on 1 October 2020, 15:00 UTC.