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auDA AGM Details

DomainNames

Top Contributor
domainnames: re ICANN, i'll just speak for myself here.
although i have not been to an ICANN meeting i do intend to as my role as a director, we are part of a global group and much i feel can be gained by face to face meetings, FAR more then video as being there enables you to " work the room" and make connections you can not make via a set video time frame.

i also agree that a ROI is valid and a trip report is also valid, i have done this in the past for other companies and it helps focus on a goal, a "definition of success " , having said that sometimes you only pull out 1 item from days of meetings but that item might be VERY valuable. being someone that goes to many conferences in my own business i see great value in attendance.

business class: it is acceptable in most organisations that over a certain number of hours flight that business class will be used, you want to arrive at the conference as fresh as you can and 18 hours + in economy will not achieve that and NOTE that directors are not paid whilst attending so i would be giving up my work time to go FOR the organisation.

so far my burden on the costs of auda have been a few train dailies, 2 cab fairs and an overnight in sydney where i gave up 2 days of my work time on auda business.

so i don't consider i'm on a gravy train and my understanding is that this was simons first time ever at icann in 3-4 years of opportunity.

a small delegation to icann to keep our fingers on the pulse is part of properly representing as a director, to do "video" is like having a business in a back alley and not advertising. my experience at conventions is MOST business and knowledge gets exchanged outside of seminars and over dinner.

tim

We await the trip reports and cost disclosure of each person who attended in light of the apparent many years of auDA excessive expenditure, lack of proper reporting and lack of evidence to show the ROI was worth it.
  1. How many people where paid for by auDA to attend Icann and other trips this last year since last AGM?
  2. Where are their trip reports?
  3. What was the total cost?
https://www.auda.org.au/about-auda/our-org/agm/2010/agm/
"Simon Johnson queried the Board’s view on travel expenses, in the 2009- 10 Accounts
Chris Disspain advised that auDA has been increasing its domestic and international outreach activities in line with the Strategic Plan approved by the Board. Domestic travel increases were also due to Board & staff attendance at ICANN Sydney June 2009 and the 2009 AGM in Perth. The Chair assured members the Board would monitor the travel budget".


https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/au_historical_financial_irregula

"While these long-standing relationships have had considerable strengths, they have also continued early patterns of fairly informal Board practices over a period of some 15 years" which, arguably, "have not kept pace with auDA's growth in scale and importance to the Australian community, nor with evolving good practice in governance and accountability". In light of this alleged lack of governance, accountability and transparency, the newly appointed CEO and management has taken initiatives in the past 12 months to introduce various organisational and administrative policies to reform auDA's governance framework.
"

As part of these initiatives, a forensic review of auDA's historical expense management practices was performed to ensure accountability on expenditure in general. According to slide six of the CEO presentation given at the Special General Meeting on 31 July 2017 (accessible here - https://www.auda.org.au/assets/pdf/SGM/a... ), the Board of auDA ("Board") appointed PPB Advisory, which specialises in undertaking forensic investigations and investigating fraudulent activities, to conduct an independent forensic review of auDA's expense management in two phases ("PPB Review") as follows:

• Phase 1: travel and expenses review under instructions from Maddocks commencing in February 2016; and
• Phase 2: forensic investigation under instructions from Ashurst commencing in September 2016.


Slide seven of that presentation summarises the findings of the PPB Review as follows:

"The review of travel and expenses identified there was a lack of formal policies and procedures governing how travel and expenses were managed at auDA. There were high levels of expenditure on international travel and reimbursement arrangements with international bodies that lacked transparency, which should have warranted a more robust process;.. There was general a lack of formal procedures and supporting documentation."
 

DomainNames

Top Contributor
We await the trip reports and cost disclosure of each person who attended in light of the apparent many years of auDA excessive expenditure, lack of proper reporting and lack of evidence to show the ROI was worth it.
  1. How many people where paid for by auDA to attend Icann and other trips this last year since last AGM?
  2. Where are their trip reports?
  3. What was the total cost?
https://www.auda.org.au/about-auda/our-org/agm/2010/agm/
"Simon Johnson queried the Board’s view on travel expenses, in the 2009- 10 Accounts
Chris Disspain advised that auDA has been increasing its domestic and international outreach activities in line with the Strategic Plan approved by the Board. Domestic travel increases were also due to Board & staff attendance at ICANN Sydney June 2009 and the 2009 AGM in Perth. The Chair assured members the Board would monitor the travel budget".


https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/au_historical_financial_irregula

"While these long-standing relationships have had considerable strengths, they have also continued early patterns of fairly informal Board practices over a period of some 15 years" which, arguably, "have not kept pace with auDA's growth in scale and importance to the Australian community, nor with evolving good practice in governance and accountability". In light of this alleged lack of governance, accountability and transparency, the newly appointed CEO and management has taken initiatives in the past 12 months to introduce various organisational and administrative policies to reform auDA's governance framework.
"

As part of these initiatives, a forensic review of auDA's historical expense management practices was performed to ensure accountability on expenditure in general. According to slide six of the CEO presentation given at the Special General Meeting on 31 July 2017 (accessible here - https://www.auda.org.au/assets/pdf/SGM/a... ), the Board of auDA ("Board") appointed PPB Advisory, which specialises in undertaking forensic investigations and investigating fraudulent activities, to conduct an independent forensic review of auDA's expense management in two phases ("PPB Review") as follows:

• Phase 1: travel and expenses review under instructions from Maddocks commencing in February 2016; and
• Phase 2: forensic investigation under instructions from Ashurst commencing in September 2016.


Slide seven of that presentation summarises the findings of the PPB Review as follows:

"The review of travel and expenses identified there was a lack of formal policies and procedures governing how travel and expenses were managed at auDA. There were high levels of expenditure on international travel and reimbursement arrangements with international bodies that lacked transparency, which should have warranted a more robust process;.. There was general a lack of formal procedures and supporting documentation."

Living the auDA dream!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaqCRQnAgpH/?taken-by=simonajohnson
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba5c52jAeyX/?taken-by=simonajohnson

"simonajohnsonBig shout out to @qantas and the crew on QF9 for the epic flight. ❤️ the pajamas & having the lounge all to myself. ✈️ #travel #travelblogger #qantas #dubai"

"simonajohnsonOne of those moments in life where you ask yourself; how did I get here? Dinner at the Emirates Palace. ❤️ #luxury #luxurylifestyle #luxurylife #luxurious #luxurytravel #millionaire #billionaire #lux #inabudhabi #emirates #abudhabi #uaem "
 

DomainNames

Top Contributor
Living the auDA dream!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaqCRQnAgpH/?taken-by=simonajohnson
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba5c52jAeyX/?taken-by=simonajohnson

"simonajohnsonBig shout out to @qantas and the crew on QF9 for the epic flight. ❤️ the pajamas & having the lounge all to myself. ✈️ #travel #travelblogger #qantas #dubai"

"simonajohnsonOne of those moments in life where you ask yourself; how did I get here? Dinner at the Emirates Palace. ❤️ #luxury #luxurylifestyle #luxurylife #luxurious #luxurytravel #millionaire #billionaire #lux #inabudhabi #emirates #abudhabi #uaem "

I sure hope auDA and .au domain name consumers are not paying?
 

findtim

Top Contributor
further to the "gravy train" suggestion and using domain owners money i'd like to make a resolution that elected directors do not get a "sitting fee" of $1000, but just an agreed hourly rate in line with the level of responsibility, but paid for EVERY HOUR OF MY TIME i spend on auda business.

that sounds fair to me, so sean if you want to go down this path perhaps get on the board, ohhh thats right ...you didn't nominate ?

I will be running as an auDA Supply Class Director.

tim
 

findtim

Top Contributor
Tim, do you think this type of spending is ok?
yes, so lets pretend its me,

its standard business class long haul to a conference to gain knowledge to help the organisation, i need to arrive as refreshed as possible to maximise my efforts, i have also given up @ 7 of MY working days to attend because although i have internet access ONCE i am finally at my hotel but have actually been travelling for 2 days !!!!, i am in a different time zone and i can't just pick up the phone so my response time to clients is delayed almost a day.
my home life is interrupted because i have to make arrangements with school pickups/drop offs, after school care $$$$ and helena would have had to take some extra days off to make it all happen so she looses income.
i don't get a single cent from auda because its not in the constitution that i can.
i'm also jet lagged when i get home which costs me another day.

so " this type of spending " is totally the wrong sentence, i'd say " this type of dedication to the organisation" , you do the number$$$
would i really be winning on this?

i think everyone has to get over the past.

auDA is an international business, we need the network and the "brain trust" associated with it as there ARE a lot of very knowledgeable people out their willing to share.

move on people

tim
 

snoopy

Top Contributor
move on people

tim

Yep, "move on" , nothing to see here!

He has described it as a millionaire billionaire luxury lifestyle, what does that involve Tim? It is public money being spent, the $4.85 from each registration in being spent on this.

Did AUDA board members also stay at the Emirates Palace or do they just eat there? Look like the very cheapest rooms are $1200 AUD per night?

Given the travel rorts of the past it is hard to imagine how this millionaire billionaire luxury lifestyle is now in line with member expectations? Do you think AUDA is willing to release the details of where money is being spent on travel or would this be highly embarrassing? How long until AUDA gets FOI requests on this?

I think we are seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of travel waste. Little doubt Simon will be reprimanded for releasing details but the real issue is that it is still seemingly going on unabated.
 

findtim

Top Contributor
i was speaking ONLY as to the flight ! , i don't know any other info.
i think $1200 a room is not appropriate but i do see the problem is that icann pick the most expensive places in the world to go ! and also with so many people going i'd assume rooms book out fast.
tim
 

snoopy

Top Contributor
i was speaking ONLY as to the flight ! , i don't know any other info.
i think $1200 a room is not appropriate but i do see the problem is that icann pick the most expensive places in the world to go ! and also with so many people going i'd assume rooms book out fast.
tim

Tim, the fact is AUDA has clearly been hiding all this. You say you don't know any other details and I don't either, yet you want us to move on from the issue? Simon describes it as a millionaire billionaire luxury lifestyle so I doubt it just ends with the flight Tim.

Also, I don't believe the conference was held at this hotel, the question is did AUDA stay there, if not, where did they stay? How much was spent on the trip?

Given AUDA travel rorts of the past and the reputation of Icann meetings being junkets AUDA should be transparent on the cost and where public money is being spent. Instead AUDA's solution is to try and hide everything. Obviously they slipped up this time with someone actually posting about it.
 

findtim

Top Contributor
lets say its me !
forget about the flight now.
so i have the hotel booked, i go for the lowest price possible WHILST making sure i'm not somewhere 40klms from the conference, i still gotta eat ! or would you like me to go get some "street food" to save some bucks ( actually that would be me !! )
whats the solution? a member authorized budget ???.
for me its a balance between cost and productivity, sh*t i believe it was 35 + degrees daily in abi so i don't want to be on a bus from my motel in ringwood back to the city ( parramatta to the city ) ( ipswich to the city) to save a few bucks on accom
i also want to maximise EVERY waking hour i have there with the other delegates.
personal safety in a foreign country is also a concern, whats the price of that?
i am NOT trying to sideline the question, i agree with many issues members have on it but i'd hope you put yourself in my shoes and ask yourself what you would do.

if/when i go to an icann i am more then happy to provide a minute by minute log for anyone, you seem to have forgotten i would have just taken a significant amount of time away from my own business to attend.

tim
 

snoopy

Top Contributor
lets say its me !
forget about the flight now.
so i have the hotel booked, i go for the lowest price possible WHILST making sure i'm not somewhere 40klms from the conference, i still gotta eat ! or would you like me to go get some "street food" to save some bucks ( actually that would be me !! )
whats the solution? a member authorized budget ???.
for me its a balance between cost and productivity, sh*t i believe it was 35 + degrees daily in abi so i don't want to be on a bus from my motel in ringwood back to the city ( parramatta to the city ) ( ipswich to the city) to save a few bucks on accom
i also want to maximise EVERY waking hour i have there with the other delegates.
personal safety in a foreign country is also a concern, whats the price of that?
i am NOT trying to sideline the question, i agree with many issues members have on it but i'd hope you put yourself in my shoes and ask yourself what you would do.

Tim, the above is pure waffle. It was described as a millionaire billionaire luxury lifestyle #luxurytravel. How much is being spent on these trips and and where is it actually going?

if/when i go to an icann i am more then happy to provide a minute by minute log for anyone, you seem to have forgotten i would have just taken a significant amount of time away from my own business to attend.

After what Simon has just posted they'll probably make you hand in your phone at the airport.
 

DomainNames

Top Contributor
further to the "gravy train" suggestion and using domain owners money i'd like to make a resolution that elected directors do not get a "sitting fee" of $1000, but just an agreed hourly rate in line with the level of responsibility, but paid for EVERY HOUR OF MY TIME i spend on auda business.

that sounds fair to me, so sean if you want to go down this path perhaps get on the board, ohhh thats right ...you didn't nominate ?

tim

Tim you complain to everyone you make just $5 an hour from your auDA time. You have the choice to resign any time as do any other auDA staff or auDA Directors.

It would appear to me much of the time spent is wasted on mess and the extra workflow you complain about having to deal with was created by auDA and some members of the auDA Board.

When the "new" auda started I was told there would be more more trips to Icann and other "junkets" except for the auDA CEO who of course should attend.
  1. How many people went this year to Icann Abu Dhabi paid for by auDA .. paid for by .au domain name consumers),
  2. Where are the trips reports from each person who went?
  3. What was the total cost?
  4. Did you get the chance to go to Icann Abu Dhabi also? Why not go? If you said you could not add value and it was a junket so you would not go then fair enough.. That is a credible worthy reason which does need the thumbs up.
Simon can speak for himself. I will phone him today. He was the one who highlighted issue years ago about auDA expenditure, travel reporting etc. I think some of those issues appear to be valid concerns based on the high level independent investigations done mentioned here. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/au_historical_financial_irregula
 

DomainNames

Top Contributor
yes, so lets pretend its me,

its standard business class long haul to a conference to gain knowledge to help the organisation, i need to arrive as refreshed as possible to maximise my efforts, i have also given up @ 7 of MY working days to attend because although i have internet access ONCE i am finally at my hotel but have actually been travelling for 2 days !!!!, i am in a different time zone and i can't just pick up the phone so my response time to clients is delayed almost a day.
my home life is interrupted because i have to make arrangements with school pickups/drop offs, after school care $$$$ and helena would have had to take some extra days off to make it all happen so she looses income.
i don't get a single cent from auda because its not in the constitution that i can.
i'm also jet lagged when i get home which costs me another day.

so " this type of spending " is totally the wrong sentence, i'd say " this type of dedication to the organisation" , you do the number$$$
would i really be winning on this?

i think everyone has to get over the past.

auDA is an international business, we need the network and the "brain trust" associated with it as there ARE a lot of very knowledgeable people out their willing to share.

move on people

tim

Tim not every business and especially not every "Not For Profit" flies business class and stays in 5 and 6 star hotels.

Will there be more FBT bills to pay for those auDA sent to Icann Abu Dhabi? ... Who is paying for all of this? .au domain name consumers..

Maybe this is the reason why some at auDA ( and some on the Board?) do not want to reduce wholesale .au prices? .....Keep the auDA gravy train loaded with cash to use how they see fit? I didn't see many photos of actual Icaan work or meetings ...just photos of the "#Millionaire" "#Billionaire" lifestyle......
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/au_historical_financial_irregula
 

snoopy

Top Contributor
Maybe this is the reason why some at auDA ( and some on the Board?) do not want to reduce wholesale .au prices? .....Keep the auDA gravy train loaded with cash to use how they see fit? I didnt see many ophotos of actual Icaan work or meetings ...just photos of the "#Millionaire" "#Billionaire" lifestyle......

Absolutely, it is very similar to Nominet (and Icann) where the interest in pushing through new extensions revolves around getting bigger salaries & perks, as well as money into related supply side entities.
 

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