November is such an important month in the event calendar of auDA. Elections and Annual General Meeting are being held on the 28th November in Sydney.
Currently, the Chairman and CEO of auDA are at the ICANN meeting in Hyderabad, India. It will be interesting to see if anything comes out of this that affects our namespace.
AGM
I have attended every meeting in person for the past 5 years. Why? Because I’m a full-time domain investor, and it’s important for my business that I involve myself. By doing so, I get to meet and talk with Directors and management and staff. Nothing beats personal relationships. I also get to ask questions about policy (present and future). Though that hasn’t always been a pleasant experience – the previous CEO would delight in trying to shut down questions from the floor! And then he would issue a “crocodile apology” afterwards.
This AGM is going to be particularly significant for me. New Chairman; new CEO; some new Directors. Lots of changes have already happened this year; and lots more changes are still proposed. What is gratifying is that I have been assured by both the new Chairman and Deputy Chairman that questions from members will be actively encouraged this year – and furthermore, they will be Minuted. That’s excellent transparency.
Hope to meet some fellow members there!
Elections
Most candidates have already started “hustling” for votes. Some are further advanced than others. As I wrote elsewhere, elections are not necessarily won by the most popular candidates; but by the most organized!
Huge field of nine candidates in Demand Class (only two positions available). One candidate has withdrawn already (Chris Burgess), so to me it is now a 3 horse race. I know I’m calling it early, but that’s my gut feel.
- Simon Johnson – incumbent Director – would have to be favourite with the bookies to get re-elected. Not because he’s the most popular; but because he is the best organized, and has the advantage of incumbency. Simon has not responded as yet to my invitation to do a candidate statement on here.
- Shane Moore – most popular candidate amongst domain investors and small business owners. A quiet achiever. Read candidate statement.
- Tim Connell – probably best described as the “Donald Trump” of the auDA elections. Loud and opinionated – but has a following. Read candidate statement.
Board Minutes
Pleased to see that the Board Minutes for the 30th August have at last been published. The Minutes for the 17th October will be the ones to watch out for. This should detail the mysterious (to members that is) Cameron Ralph Report to the auDA Board. The only inkling I had of this was when the agenda for the AGM was published. Bolding is mine.
Agenda Item 6 – Special resolution to adjust Clause 18.2(d) of the Constitution
As recommended by the Cameron Ralph report on the governance of auDA which was adopted by the Board of auDA on 10 October 2016, it is proposed to amend clause 18.2(d) of the Constitution to increase the number of Independent Directors permissible on the Board from three to four. This will allow for an expanded mix of skills and diversity on the Board, and improve adherence to good governance principles.
In the interests of transparency, I certainly hope that both the Board Minutes of the 17th October, and this report, are published on the auDA website prior to the AGM.
auDA Website
- Given that two replacement Directors were appointed to the auDA Board back in October, it probably would be a good idea for auDA to update their website to this fact! This is what is currently shown:
- Last week I was looking for the email address of an auDA staff member, and noticed that the staff directory has been taken down. I know there have been lots of changes in recent times, but hopefully this resource will return soon!
Ned O’Meara – 7th November 2016
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