Background
One of the main focuses of the RALOs is, and always has been, outreach. RALO leaders and staff work together closely to ensure that end-user organizations or associations across the world with similar goals to those of the ICANN community know about At-Large and are motivated to be part of it. In order to manage this, they need to be certified as At-Large Structures (ALSes) and be supported during the engagement phase of their At-Large activities.
At a glance
Currently 192 At-Large Structures make up the backbone of the At-Large community and more specifically of the Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs). In an effort to improve ALS participation within their RALOs and promote their activity at the At-Large level, staff has created the At-Large Onboarding Program. ALACChair Alan Greenberg has also been instrumental in leading the ALS Criteria and Expectations Task Force whose aim is to study and improve the current ALS accreditation procedure.
Recent Developments
During ICANN53, At-Large Staff presented the At-Large Onboarding Program formally to At-Large members, and it was well-received by the community.
- Webinars: Two webinars were held with new ALS members. The first webinar held in July was an informal introduction to staff. Staff members introduced themselves and explained their roles and how they assist the ALSes, followed by a question and answer session. The second webinar, held in August, was a formal introduction with the ALAC Chair and RALO Chairs. Both webinars were well attended and offered the opportunity to ALSes to better understand how to engage their organizations within At-Large activities. RALO Chairs and staff gained important knowledge about the newest At-Large members, why they are interested in At-Large and ICANN overall, and crucially, how staff can assist them in the engagement process.
- Additional assistance: After the first webinar, staff launched a Skype chat helpline aimed at providing assistance to new ALSs and new unaffiliated members for a period of three months. While not all new ALSes use this tool regularly, many of the more motivated ALSes have used the Skype chat helpline to ask questions and seek assistance. This has helped staff clarify wiki editing and work on connectivity issues during conference call tools, thereby ensuring better new ALS attendance and participation.
- Update to ALS Onboarding documents: With community input, At-Large staff has been working on improving the ALS Onboarding documents. This is an ongoing process which will be completed with the new At-Large website.
Next steps
Given the success of the onboarding webinars, and the immediate results triggered by new engagement efforts, staff will continue working closely with RALO Chairs and new ALSes to create a comprehensive and integrated on-boarding effort.
The newly created ALS Criteria and Expectations Task Force, which has already met, is currently working on the ALS accreditation procedure in order to: 1) synchronize At-Large expectations with an ever-evolving community, 2) understand what organizations can offer as potential ALSes and how to showcase it, and 3) work closely with the RALOs to have a clear vision of what engagement truly means within the At-Large community.