The ICANN Nominating Committee, of which (will wonders never cease) I am a part, has issued its 2006 Formal Call for Statements of Interest for the following positions:

• Three members of the ICANN Board of Directors
• One member of the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
• One member of the Council of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)
• Two members of the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)

While I'm happy to answer what questions I can, please note that in order to be considered for one of these jobs you have to use ICANN's official procedure for submitting a Statement of Interest.

Much of what the NomCom does is covered by very strong confidentiality rules, so I will not be posting much (if anything) about this other than the official announcements. I do welcome both public and private suggestions about what sort of person would be good for these jobs -- the key thing, though, is to get good people to volunteer for them, so tell your friends and associates.

Full text of the official call below.

ICANN's Nominating Committee invites Statements of Interest from the Internet community as it seeks qualified candidates to assist in ICANN's technical and policy coordination role. Interested individuals are invited to submit a Statement of Interest to this year's Committee for the following positions:

• Three members of the ICANN Board of Directors
• One member of the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
• One member of the Council of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)
• Two members of the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)

ICANN's Nominating Committee (NomCom) is an independent committee tasked with selecting a majority of the members of ICANN's Board of Directors and other positions within ICANN's Supporting Organisations. ICANN is an internationally organised, public benefit, non-profit corporation dedicated to: preserving the operational security and stability of the Internet; promoting competition; achieving broad representation of global Internet communities; and supporting the development of policies appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus-based processes.

Individuals selected by the Nominating Committee will have a unique opportunity to work with accomplished colleagues from around the globe, address the Internet's intriguing technical coordination problems and policy development challenges with diverse functional, cultural, and geographic dimensions, and gain valuable insights and experience from working across boundaries of knowledge, responsibility and perspective.

Those selected will gain the satisfaction of making a valuable public service contribution towards the continued function and evolution of an essential global resource. Considering the broad public interest, nominees will work to achieve the goals towards which ICANN is dedicated in order to facilitate the Internet's critically important societal functions.

Current Board members who have been selected by the Nominating Committee include: Vint Cerf (Chairman), Susan Crawford, Hagen Hultzsch, Joichi Ito, Veni Markovski, Hualin Qian, Njeri Rionge, and Vanda Scartezini (see, http://www.icann.org/general/board.html).

Statements of Interest for the positions described above can be submitted through nomcom.submissions@icann.org.

More information regarding the Nominating Committee can be found at http://www.icann.org/committees/nom-comm/. Applications will be considered confidentially and should be received by 16 July 2006 for full consideration. Selections will be announced before 31 October 2006. Successful candidates will take up their positions following ICANN's Annual Meeting in Sao Paolo, Brazil in December 2006.

Questions or comments may be emailed to ICANN at nomcom-comments@icann.org.

Background:

The Nominating Committee is designed to function independently from the ICANN Board, Supporting Organisations, and Advisory Committees. Nominating Committee members act only on behalf of the interests of the global Internet community and within the scope of the ICANN mission and responsibilities assigned to it by the ICANN Bylaws.

Nominating Committee members contribute understanding of the broad interests of the Internet community as a whole, and knowledge and experience of specific Internet constituencies who have appointed them.

The challenge for the Nominating Committee is to integrate these perspectives and derive consensus in its selections. Although appointed by Supporting Organisations and other ICANN entities, individual Nominating Committee members are not accountable to their appointing constituencies. Members are, of course, accountable for adherence to the ICANN Bylaws and for compliance with the rules and procedures established by the Nominating Committee.

Successful candidates are not remunerated, although direct expenses incurred in the course of duty will be reimbursed. These positions may involve significant international travel, including personal presence at periodic ICANN meetings, as well as regular telephone and Internet communications. Recent ICANN Meetings have been held in New Zealand, Canada, Luxembourg, Argentina and South Africa. Meetings during the remainder of 2006 are scheduled for Morocco and Brazil. The diverse locations facilitate participation across the world's Internet community.