ICANN today launched a public participation website for its upcoming meeting in Lisbon on 26-30 March 2007.
The site is accessible to all at http://public.icann.org and will remain in the same location for future meetings.
The participation site is aimed at providing the greatest degree of interaction possible between ICANN, ICANN constituencies and the wider Internet community, and uses the latest online tools to that end.
The site will contain a single webpage for each meeting taking place in Lisbon, where all relevant information for that meeting will be made immediately accessible (the schedule has yet to be finalised at time of writing so the site will be populated with this information over the next few days).
Chatrooms, Forums, Blogs
Those who register will be able to post in chatrooms and forums, as well as publish their own personal blog. The site is easily searched by date, subject or constituency; it also provides some basic information about the meeting, ICANN and its structure; and provides links to other related websites and useful resources.
A "hot topics" link outlines what the issues of most interest in Lisbon are likely to be and provides simple links to discover where each issue's related meetings will occur and when. News items from both ICANN itself and from the wider Internet, as well as the most recent comments and blog posts made on the site itself will appear in the left and right columns of each page.
ICANN will also accept questions on the site prior to the meetings which will be accessible to each meeting's moderator to review and include as they see fit. It is hoped this will supply those not able to attend the meeting with a more solid input method. Real-time tools to provide input while the meeting is in progress will continue to be available.
Change in Approach
ICANN will also move away from its mailing-list approach to provide questions for the Board (and to raise specific meeting/website problems) and instead use two specific forums on the participation website for receiving those queries (http://public.icann.org/?q=board-questions, and http://public.icann.org/?q=problems). Those using the traditional email approach will receive an email redirecting them to the appropriate place.
There will also be an "ICANN booth" in the main foyer of the hotel where different members of the ICANN staff and Board will be available for discussion throughout the course of the meeting. Who is at the booth at any given time should appear at the top of the front page in an orange box. That person will take questions by those at the booth in person or online through a dedicated ICANN booth chatroom.
For those that registered with the test participation site developed for the Sao Paulo meeting, your login username and password should be the same. If you have difficulty remember what they were, you can receive a new password by clicking on "Request new password" and providing either your username or your email address.
Intention and Feedback
The hope and intention of the participation website is that involvement in, and interaction with, the ICANN meetings will be greatly improved both for those at the meeting but most importantly for those around the world unable to attend.
We are of course always looking to make this service better so any suggestions for improvement will be warmly welcomed. Please email ICANN's general manger for public participation, Kieren McCarthy, at kieren.mccarthy@icann.org.