[Tutorial] How to participate today in the United Nations IGF Open Consultations meeting

Today there is an important meeting in the United Nations and everybody who is involved in IG projects or just concerned about the future of the Internet should take a look.

This meeting is called Open Consultations, and the last meeting was held in February this year.

Here is a short explanation on the event:

The good news for those of you who are not in Geneva is that the whole meeting is being webcast in two languages: English and French. Just click on the links below to watch it and also join the chat room where you can make your comments and mark your presence in the meeting.

Link for the webcast in English

Link for the webcast in French

EXTRAS

In addition to the video webcast, you can also try the live blogging channel at CoverItLive that has been set by the Remote Participation Working Group. In that room you will also find options for Twittering and Skype communication.

Here in the Community space you can connect to members Marilia, Raquel, Rafik, Ginger, Charity, Bernard and Nicolas, who will be pleased to help guiding you on how best make use of the online participation tools.

In addition to that, members Katitza, Fouad, Olga, Jean-Yves, Graciela, Valeria, Baher, Stefania, Alessandro, Luca, Adam, Renata, Seiiti, Joseph, and Vlada are some of our friends attending the event locally (let us know if we missed your name!). Feel free to get in touch with them, and they may help you.

TROUBLESHOOTING

In case the links above do not show the video, it probably means your computer does not have an adequate video software. We recommend that you install the latest version of VLC media player.

Another possibility is that your Internet connection is not fast enough for the bandwidth necessary to display the videos in real time. In this case, you should instead try to follow up waiting for the transcripts of the morning session which should be released after the lunch break and at the end of the day. But the Live Blogging should be ok for you to access!

A BASIC GUIDE

1. Check the Agenda for the Open Consultations - this is important so you can follow what is being discussed, and you can make your interventions in the appropriate time.

2. Check the current Draft Programme Paper

3. Check also the latest Synthesis Paper to have a perspective on what people are saying

4. By either listening to the webcast or discussing at the CoverItLive room, you will be able to make short statements that you want to be read during the meeting. Write these down, and be sure that you are concise and clear. Send your statement to the following email: 13mayconsultations@intgovforum.org

5. It is always good to double check with people in the meeting (listed above) if your statement was well received and will be read. The statement can either be read out loud by IGF Secretariat staff or by volunteers (so, in parallel to sending the email to 13mayconsultations@intgovforum.org you can also ask any of those you know who are attending the meeting to read your statement on your behalf. For instance, Ginger Paque will read a statement from Charity Gamboa who is in the USA).

6. Make your comments HERE in this post so we can also have another channel for communication.

Best regards from
the IGCBP Team