I think this isn’t a bad idea, but my only concern would be how easy it could be to abuse.
The process for fellowships states that one of the criteria is “need of financial assistance”, but how is that decided? I know this topic was brought up in the past and there were quite a few people who were vocally opposed to it. Personally I’d agree that finances should not be a blocker if someone was willing to step up and commit to chairing a WG I do, however, worry that some people could be tempted to use the financial support as their only motivation for being a WG chair, which is obviously the wrong way around. So maybe having something in the policy / process about the person having some kind of track record? With the fellowship RIPE is looking for “fresh blood’ and it’s completely appropriate that the barriers be set at a particular level. However in this instance it’s seeking to provide financial support to existing community members, so setting some criteria around past participation wouldn’t be inappropriate in my opinion. Regards Michele -- Mr Michele Neylon Blacknight Solutions Hosting, Colocation & Domains https://www.blacknight.com https://blacknight.blog / http://ceo.hosting/ Intl. +353 (0) 59 9183072 Direct Dial: +353 (0)59 9183090 ------------------------------- Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd, Unit 12A,Barrowside Business Park, Sleaty Road, Graiguecullen, Carlow, R93 X265,Ireland Company No.: 370845 From: ripe-list <[email protected]> on behalf of Hans Petter Holen <[email protected]> Reply to: Hans Petter Holen <[email protected]> Date: Thursday 4 June 2020 at 11:08 To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: [ripe-list] RIPE Working Group Chair Financial Support call for consensus by 15 June 2020 To follow up on the proposal the community plenary at RIPE 80, to provide financial support Working Group (WG) Chairs if needed, I would like community input. The presentation can be seen at 7:45 into the video at https://ripe80.ripe.net/archives/video/383/ In principle, all RIPE Meeting attendees, including RIPE WG Chairs, Programme Committee members and presenters are expected to cover the costs of participating in a RIPE Meeting. However, in exceptional cases, for instance, if a WG would end up with no Chair during a meeting, a WG Chair can ask the RIPE Chair to request financial assistance from the RIPE NCC. This has mostly been limited to waiving the meeting fee, not for travel and accommodation. The matter was discussed at RIPE NCC Executive Board meeting December 2018 after it was brought to the attention of the RIPE NCC Executive Board through one of its members. The board was positive to provide support also for travel and accommodation if needed, and tasked the RIPE Chair trough EB402 tasked to make a draft procedure. The proposal is modelled after the RIPE Fellowship program and can be found at: https://www.ripe.net/participate/ripe/wg/cc/ripe-working-group-chair-financial-support If there is consensus from the community on this I will do a formal request to the RIPE NCC for such support. Hans Petter Holen ad-interim RIPE Chair
