IGF open consultation and MAG meeting this week! Attend online -- register now

Great news! Registration for online participation is now available (and required) for the upcoming OC/MAG meeting, as a full meeting participant (online). Users who have already registered as on-site participants must re-register as online participants to access the online system. I think it will be helpful to spread this information widely, so online participants are aware of the process. http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/

The process uses a quick registration for users logged in to the IGF site. This one-click registration takes basic data, such as name, Stakeholder Group, Nationality and Organization, got from the registrant's user profile on the IGF website. Then, the system "invites" the registered user to access the room with their registered name (so as to be recognised, in order to take the floor). The system does require registration on the IGF website as a user, a one-time process to include your full information.

This system allows the site include the online participant in the participants' list, ordered and classified, similarly as onsite participants. Very importantly, it also allows inclusion of remote participants in meeting statistics, including aspects such as online participants stakeholder groups, etc. and for follow-up in panels and discussion groups.

Part of me balks at the requirement to register, but it follows UN requirements (and common sense), and allows identification of those making comments (same as in the room). Equal footing has its trade-offs. I had to remind myself that less formal events also require registration using Eventbrite or similar platforms.

A heads-up: It looks like a webcast will not be available for this meeting, due to technical and room resources/scheduling/setup. This means the webcast will only be available through WebEx. The tech team is currently trying to ensure that the webcast, audio, and live captioning will all be embedded in the WebEx platform. The recording will be available after the meeting, as usual, and every effort is being made to ensure that future meetings include a live webcast.

Online registration will not close before the meeting.

It's an added step, and added control, but it is important in order to allow online participants to speak up and be recognized -- meaning they/we must be identifiable, same as onsite participants. . This is a reasonable requirement for a UN level meeting, and will take another step to institutionalising and legitimising online participation.

Much appreciation to the IGF Secretariat, and to Luis Bobo, for their work to include full online participation.

Now it's up to all of us to work on workshop design and strategy to make full use of online participation for inclusion.

I hope to see you online tomorrow,
Best wishes,
Ginger