Minutes of Board Meeting No. 37

15 Dec 2003, Conference Call

Author(s): S. Bradner
Date: 2003-12-15
Committee: BOT
Document: 03-37
Status: Unconfirmed
Maintainer: S. Bradner
Access: Unrestricted

The ISOC Board of Trustees met via teleconference on 15 December, 2003, proper notice having been provided to the Board of the meeting.

The following members of the Board of Trustees were present on the conference call:

Fred Baker
Steve Crocker
Rosa M. Delgado
Osten Franberg
Alan Greenberg
Don Heath
Erik Huizer
Latif Ladid
Toshio Miki
Kees Neggers
Glenn Ricart
Lynn St. Amour (President)
George Sadowski
Margaret Wasserman
Pindar Wong

The teleconference operator was not able to reach Veni Markovski.

Also present were:
Scott Bradner (Secretary)
*Lynn DuVal (ISOC Director of Finance)

The Chair of the ISOC board called the meeting to order at: 9:39 am US ET.

I Report of the committee to review the board project proposals

Alan reported on the work of Veni’s subcommittee on the projects discussed at the last board meeting. Alan reported that the subcommittee evaluated the proposals and proposed that the originators of the top proposals to ask them to provide filled out versions of the proposals so that ISOC staff can develop an understanding of what the cost of the proposal. Lynn reported that ISOC staff was already producing a more detailed plan for the Internet policy portal that was discussed at the board meeting.

Lynn suggested that the board be surveyed to see what each board member thought that was the aim of each of the selected project. Alan said that he would make sure that was done.

II Reviewing the proposed 2004 budget

IIa/ Review 2003 end of year status
Lynn reported on the status of the programs undertaken under the 2003 budget. She reported that significantly more funds were received from PIR than were originally expected, including a $750K donation before the end of the year. She noted that it might be possible to split the $750K donation between this year and next year. There might be financial advantages to do so. This topic will be revisited after reviewing the proposed budget.

Lynn reported that the revenue from the organizational members was quite a bit lower than budgeted for 2003. She noted that the board had set a very aggressive target for organizational member revenue and the target had not been met. The same target is being used in the 2004 budget.

Lynn noted that the IETF restructuring effort may present additional opportunities to attract organizational revenue. Lynn pointed out that there had been an increase in expenses for projects in 2003 over the 2003 budget. This was a direct result of the increased funds made available by PIR.

IIb/ Review the proposed 2004 budget
Lynn reminded the board that the IETF restructuring is being done by the IETF and that the ISOC stands ready to support the IETF if requested. The funds in the 2004 budget are there as a contingency, not as an indication of a formal approval of a particular future relationship since it is premature to do so. But Lynn, and other board members, made it clear that the ISOC does stand ready to assist the IETF. Lynn reported that the PIR approved a budget on December 13th that included $1.9 million in funds for the ISOC during 2004.

Lynn pointed out the proposed expenditure for a new membership and financial management system in the 2004 budget and reported on the status of the process of selecting a vendor for the system. A decision should be made soon.

Lynn noted that the growth in ISOC staff from 9 FTE plus one contractor to 12 FTE during 2004. She also detailed the assignment of the staff to the various ISOC activities.

Lynn discussed the ISOC office space, PIR’s use of it and options for the future.

Lynn then went through the proposed 2004 budget and compared the line items with the 2003 budget. She pointed out that the biggest increase in the budget is setting aside support for a possible IETF reorganization.

Erik had to leave the call at this point.

The board discussed the budget assumption of a $75 fee for a new level of individual membership. In response to a question Lynn reported that the $75 number was based on an assumption of what a reasonable membership fee would be rather than what fee would be required to break even. The board agreed that the $75 number is a reasonable placeholder for consideration of the budget but that the exact fee would be subject to a separate board discussion.

Margaret moved to approve the budget as presented. Latif seconded the motion. The Budget was unanimously approved by role call vote

Resolution 03-20 Approving the 2004 ISOC budget
RESOLVED that the ISOC board approves the proposed budget for 2004.

The board discussed the option of splitting the PIR donation between 2003 and 2004 and came to the conclusion to not ask PIR to split the donation.

Margaret moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded and unanimously supported.

The meeting adjourned at 12:03pm ET.

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