Mark asked:
(after I pointed out the value of having comments in writing)
> Yes, but aren't these screens going to be positioned so that they are
> facing the audience, and in effect, obscured from view by the BoD, or
> whatever body is running the meeting? It's important to remember that
> while comments made in these sessions are to a certain extent addressed
> to the entire room, they are directed at the persons sitting in the
> front of the room, facing the audience.
>
> The benefit of display is lost on those people, because they have their
> backs to the screen. They don't have the luxury of sitting and reading
> silently while the messages are summariezed to them. This is a pity,
> because they are the ones who must address the issues raised, and
> interpretation as well as presentation are part and parcel of that
> communicative effort.
Nope. We agree that it's very important that the board members easily be
able to see the screens, and we have acquired equipment to do so. Namely,
we've got SVGA/XGA distribution boxes, cabling, and additional monitors
placed in front of the board. To see what I mean, check out the pictures in
the Berlin archive at <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/icann/berlin/archive>,
in particular pictures like
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/edelman/mmarchive/ICANN_Berlin/Meeting/
Board%5F5%2Ejpg>. (There may be better pictures than this one; I'm on slow
'net and can't try many big .jpg's at the moment.) Thanks to the additional
equipment, the board members most certainly can see the content on the
projectors.
(I note that we had a comparable, though slightly less refined, setup in
Cambridge in November, though unfortunately sufficient monitors weren't
readily available in Singapore so we couldn't use this setup at that
meeting.)
Ben Edelman
