[arin-discuss] Legacy RSA

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Dean Anderson [mailto:dean at av8.net]
>Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 5:09 PM
>To: Ted Mittelstaedt
>Cc: arin-discuss at arin.net
>Subject: RE: [arin-discuss] Legacy RSA
>
>
>On Fri, 2 Nov 2007, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
>> >On Fri, 2 Nov 2007, Internet Partners, Inc. Tech Support wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Dean, I agreed with you in general on VON but the horse is dead.
>> >> Have you ever considered the possibility that ARIN Management simply
>> >> doesen't know what shows to go to?
>> >
>> >This isn't a one-time mistake. It appears to be a $400,000+ mistake.
>>
>> It couldn't have cost $400,000 to fly 2 guys from CA to Boston to host
>> a booth at VON.  You have to be kidding, there has to be something else
>> that the line item is paying for.
>
>I guess I wasn't clear. One conference would be a one-time mistake.
>The one conference I cited was the one where I had some personal
>experience to relate. But I understand they've been at VON several
>times.  There are apparently other trips under the banner of
>'educational outreach'. These add up to a $1.2 million dollar travel
>item; approximately $400,000 more the prior year's travel expenses. If
>they are all as educational as this VON conference, then none of them
>are legitimate. The Nanog transfer was also asserted to be "educational
>outreach".  These are not genuine efforts at education, but junkets. In
>the case of Nanog, assistance to cronies of Board Members.
>
>So, it seems that Board Members overlook ARIN employee junkets, and ARIN
>staff overlook the unjustified transfers to Nanog and Board Member
>cronies.  One scratches the other's back, both obtain benefits, and
>Members lose.

I don't think your going to get anywhere with the Nanog/ARIN joint meetings.
There are two many people that are in both groups that see synergy
by having the meetings in the same venue.  As for you personally, you
can always submit questions through the online forum during the meetings
if you don't want to go there.  Or, e-mail them to the chairs of any
of the meetings so they can be addressed.  Frankly, my personal opinion
is that most of the work in any volunteer organization is done outside
of meetings anyway.  I don't subscribe to the idea that just because
someone doesen't go to the meetings that their opinions have no weight.

If the joint meetings help to attract more attendance at ARIN then even
if Nanog is getting "assistance" then you just have to swallow it and
chin up.  It is very difficult to increase attendance at these kinds of
meetings, and paying money towards something you don't like in order to
do it is just something that you have to do.  I personally can't stand
the usual chicken-and-baked-potato "dinners" at these kinds of meetings
but if I go I pay the money and gag the stuff down because it is the
price of getting time to talk to other people.  I also find most of the
time that the "special" hotel room rates for these meetings that always seem
to be arrainged at the hosting hotel to be among the highest rates in
the vicinity for any hotel or motel room, once more, you pay the highway
robbers if you want to go to the parties.

As for the rest of it, it is I think a perfectly legitimate question to
ask what kind of tracking that is being done on the contacts at these
trade shows.  I ASSUME that someone at the ARIN booth is recording the
names and positions of people who stop by and get the ARIN dog-and-pony
show. Or that they are asking for business cards.  I would prefer that
a determination of whether the trip was worthwhile or not was made
after review of this info and I would hope that a summary report of
every trade show that was attended would be available for review by the
membership.

>This is what you hire managers to prevent, and why you
>fire them when these things are uncovered.  Board Members also have
>fiduciary duties; they are supposed to act in the interests of the
>membership and ensure that the corporation employees carry out the
>purposes (and only the purposes) of the corporation. The Board of
>Directors are also supposed to have an arms-length supervisory
>relationship with the management. Board members should not be doing
>things that employees would ordinarily do.
>

That is completely dependent on the size of the organization, in a
small one, the board members do quite a lot.  I agree that it isn't
optimal.  Some of the large embezzlements of non-profit funds that
have occurred have been because of this kind of thing.  That is why
it's important to have regular audits of these groups.  I would
challenge you to investigate this, obtain and read the auditors report
and see what they had to say.

Ted