3 February 2009 – The Internet Society (ISOC) seeks one highly qualified individual to serve on the Board of Directors of the Public Interest Registry (PIR) for the period 2009-2012. PIR’s business is to manage an international registry of .org domain names.
The time commitment expected of Board members is significant, including approximately 12 full days per year for face-to-face meetings (plus travel time), regular conference calls (generally monthly), and daily email correspondence. More details are set out below.
Qualifications
The necessary qualifications for PIR Board members are:
General business acumen with either significant entrepreneurial, non-profit, and/or marketing (not sales) skills;
Reputation as a contributor in ICANN and namespace policy;
Demonstrated abilities as a long term strategic thinker.
Other desirable qualifications include:
Demonstrated understanding of and engagement in the retail domain name space;
Financial acumen;
Technical knowledge with Internet experience.
Nominations
Interested candidates should forward a statement of their interest and qualifications, three references, and biographical information highlighting relevant experience, expertise, and contact information to:
Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO, Internet Society
Email: [email protected].
Please submit materials in attached documents
For full consideration, please apply by 5 March, 2009. Applications will be evaluated as they are received.
Selection Process
The PIR board members are appointed by the Internet Society Board of Trustees after reviewing a proposed slate from the ISOC selection committee. See Resolution 08-18: Approval of the “ISOC Appointment Process for the PIR Board of Directors”.
This is expected to be complete by mid April and all candidates will be contacted as appropriate once the selection process is complete.
About .ORG, The Public Interest Registry (PIR)
Trusted across all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities, .ORG is where people turn to find credible information, get involved, fund causes and support advocacy. .ORG, The Public Interest Registry empowers the global noncommercial community to use the Internet more effectively and, concurrently, takes a leadership position among Internet stakeholders on policy and related issues. The .ORG domain is the Internet’s third largest “generic” or non-country specific top-level domain with more than 7 million domain names registered worldwide. .ORG, The Public Interest Registry, was founded by the Internet Society in 2002. It is based in Reston, Virginia, USA.
Service on the Board of the Public Interest Registry
The Public Interest Registry intends to be an exemplary registry by being a registrant-friendly and Internet-responsible business. It needs Board members who can guide it to succeed as a business in a competitive environment, to provide leadership in the ICANN community on namespace issues, and to provide leadership to public service and noncommercial organizations on matters relating to the Internet namespace.
Time Commitment
Board members must make a firm time commitment to attend the Board meetings and other board functions. PIR Board Members are required to dedicate a significant amount of pro-bono time. This will be carefully vetted with new board members. A firm commitment must be in place to attend meetings in person as it is imperative that a small board have full participation. The Board’s activities include:
Board Meetings: four per year, 1.5 days in length plus travel time. One in Reston, VA, USA in January and the other three collocated with ICANN meetings around the world.
Strategic Planning Retreat: one per year, generally 3 days plus travel time, can be anywhere in the world.
Advisory Council Meeting: one per year, generally 3 days plus travel time, can be anywhere in the world. Board participation in these meetings is optional.
Conference calls: as needed, nominally monthly.
Email correspondence: daily.
Because the board is intentionally small, it is also important for the board members to seriously consider their role as an officer. Currently, there are five elected officer positions: Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, and Assistant Secretary. Two of the officer positions will be filled with non-Board members.
Personal Qualities of a Board Member
The required and desirable qualifications for Board members are listed above. In addition to those qualifications, potential Board members should:
Hold high ethical standards and integrity
Be a motivator
Possess strong communication skills
Be passionate and energetic
Be collaborative and consensus building in their approach
PIR – Do Well, Do Right, Do Good
PIR
The Public Interest Registry is the Internet domain registry for all .ORG Top Level Domains. PIR has a particular focus on acting in the public interest. Working together with Afilias, its business partner and back-end provider, PIR seeks to:
Do Well – PIR performs its role as a registry well, serving its registrars and the users of .ORG names with predictable, reliable, and efficient registration services and name resolution. It seeks to meet and exceed the requirements set by ICANN for registry operation and meet or exceed the expectations of its registrars and the public who use .ORG names. In this respect, PIR seeks to be an exemplary registry in its operations. PIR is a serious business entity seeking to earn the maximum surplus possible consistent with its other missions below and by doing so, provide the funding that makes the other missions possible.
Do Right – PIR has a particular focus in the Internet name space to envision, develop consensus around, and lead in the implementation of registry and namespace policies that serve the wider interests of registrants and the Internet and therefore its stability as a whole. In this respect, PIR acts in the public interest and seeks to be an exemplary registry in its policies and values.
Do Good – The .ORG namespace is the natural home of non-commercial organizations on the Internet. PIR has a special role in fostering effective and efficient use of the Internet by non-commercial organizations, and seeks to leverage the benefits non-commercial organizations can provide to society by helping them make innovative and constructive uses of the Internet. In this respect, PIR acts in the public interest and wishes to magnify the good that these non-commercial organizations can provide to society. PIR also seeks to serve the broader goals of Internet education, standards development, and Internet policy stewardship represented by the Internet Society, and uses the vast majority of its surplus to serve the public interest in the Internet in this way.