Will,
1. Unfortunately due to people using pseudonyms in an attempt to discredit APNIC it proves mighty hard to believe anything one says when using one. You tell us you have no affiliation with the NRS, yet we cannot independently verify this as you choose to use an alias.
2. The only people I've seen that have raised these "issues" (quoted as in my view they are not issues) are members of the NRS et al. where given the amount of misinformation they disseminate they are rather difficult to believe.
3. If you look at the P&L Statement on page 4 you'll note that "Employee benefits expense" amounts to $17,174,941 which covers payroll. There are Some will receive more, and some will receive less. This is quite a reasonable average. Payroll is one of the largest expenses any organisation has, and to get quality staff with the skills and expertise they have you need to be able to offer quality remuneration.
Taking a stab at People & Productivity is a rather low blow. The Team page does not take into account the backend staff who aren't listed. There are people in areas such as HR, Payroll, WH&S, Internal Learning & Development, Travel, Reception, etc. who all play a vital role in keeping the engine that is APNIC running. It is unfair for you to target these people.
P&P also cover organisation and management of the Fellows that APNIC sponsor each year to attend events, meetings, conference and training sessions each year. They also spend countless hours organising and working with the Fellows that attend the conferences at quite a cost, many who may not have ever had an opportunity to attend an APNIC conference. 32 Fellows attended APNIC 56 with only two of them having attended previously.
4. It's one thing to hold a virtual training session, it's completely different to run a training session face to face. For example, a training session was recently held in Pakistan by Terry Sweetser, David Phelan and Aftab Siddiqui on IPv6 and Routing Security. Given the low uptake of IPv6 in Pakistan (12.96% according to APNIC Labs as of 10:11AM 19/01/2024) it's crucial to travel to these economies and train people face-to-face. So yes, travel is truly necessary.
5. If I may ask, where did you come across the information that "the majority of members only interact with APNIC once a year"? Also, what defines a majority? As previously mentioned, APNIC do so much more than just delegate and manage IP resources. Something you seem to fail to understand (consistently, I might add).
6. Your statement that you "don't disapprove of everything that APNIC does" is highly hypocritical. You mail their mailing list, attempting to call in to question their financials and target their staff, try to call out their departments and the wastage of resources who provide so much support to the community, then say that you "genuinely appreciate the efforts of certain departments".
7. Yes, a large percentage of money comes from members (84% to be specific). There are also a large number of networks that rely on the services and functions that APNIC offers. Perhaps having a read of https://www.apnic.net/manage-ip/apnic-services/ might shed some insight into what it is they do, and the potential costs around doing so.
If you want to "voice the concerns of the silent majority members" it's probably best for you to make yourself known. As it stands now, you and the alleged "majority members" have no credibility, because we don't know who you are and we know nothing about your reputation. Yes, ask the hard questions. It's how the community is kept accountable. You can't however sit behind a pseudonym and make baseless allegations without any evidence to back it up. As Karl has mentioned, your line of questioning only seems to come up whenever an EC election is held. You might have had a bit more credibility (even when using a pseudonym) if your line of questioning was raised mid-year.
Regards,
Christopher Hawker
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