Day 1: Winnipeg WSIS Consultations
Day 1: Canadian Commission for UNESCO/WSIS Civil Society Program, Winnipeg, Canada
So there's Evan with proverbial penguin tie standing in front of our LPI booth waxing eloquent on the virtues of linux and open source (and condemning the evil perpetrators of FUD) to a bewildered and wide-eyed knot of 7 NGO types. Behind this small impromtu audience stand a couple of people from the Prairie Linux User's Group and the University of Sherbrooke LUG grinning from ear to ear.
The free Ubuntu CDs are a big hit ;-)
Because its just a little crowded I stand away from all the group proudly decked out in my WSIS LPI Delegation t-shirt emblazoned with a huge rookery of penguins.
As my allegiance is obvious the afternoon's moderator from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO approaches me and says quietly "You're playing to the converted here."
I want to say to him: "Oh yes and IBM, Novell, HP, and other civil society organizations like that" but think better of it and say instead: "Well they were all converts until after the Paris Prepcom round of WSIS. Then, well, we all know what happened". I smile. He doesn't quite know what to say and backs away from me--he obviously doesn't want to get into that kind of discussion at the moment.
After all he has just spent the afternoon trying to defend the indefensible and it would appear, no one, ok almost no one is happy about it. At least not from civil society. It must be tough being a diplomat.
Sigh. Such is our highlight from the first day of this "consultation".
During the afternoon orientation session Evan almost falls out of his chair in disbelief when some really nice people say that they were pleasantly suprised with the amazing results of WSIS I. Evan frequently shakes his head and often with a heavy sigh just removes his translation earphones.
The afternoon orientation session is dominated by irate human rights advocates and journalists who are justifiably outraged at the prospect of WSIS II being held in Tunis. There is a heated exchange between one journalist and a Tunis representative.
So here we are handing out free Ubuntu CDs (courtesy of Mark Shuttleworth whom Glenn Mcknight met in Australia) and we are a BIG hit.
Evan doesn't speak until Saturday and already the representatives of the Canadian Civil Society have approached us for our policy recommendations for a position paper that will be released later in the weekend.
Still that evening over dinner Evan wonders out loud "what are we doing here". I remind him that its the weekend and he could be home painting the house in preparation for his upcoming move instead.
Sigh.
Still its refreshing. The representatives from the local LUGS are marching about the room enthusiastically engaging anyone in discussion with an embarassing enthusiasm. Representatives from a wide variety of organizations approach us quietly and in co-conspirator tones ask "Do you know what Microsoft is doing at the UN. Or the Global Knowledge Partnership"? Yes, we do. They admit apologetically for their Microsoft branding and funding. Deans of colleges and Universities ask earnest questions about how to become training partners.
And the Ubuntu Linux CDs just fly off the table. :-)
So there's Evan with proverbial penguin tie standing in front of our LPI booth waxing eloquent on the virtues of linux and open source (and condemning the evil perpetrators of FUD) to a bewildered and wide-eyed knot of 7 NGO types. Behind this small impromtu audience stand a couple of people from the Prairie Linux User's Group and the University of Sherbrooke LUG grinning from ear to ear.
The free Ubuntu CDs are a big hit ;-)
Because its just a little crowded I stand away from all the group proudly decked out in my WSIS LPI Delegation t-shirt emblazoned with a huge rookery of penguins.
As my allegiance is obvious the afternoon's moderator from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO approaches me and says quietly "You're playing to the converted here."
I want to say to him: "Oh yes and IBM, Novell, HP, and other civil society organizations like that" but think better of it and say instead: "Well they were all converts until after the Paris Prepcom round of WSIS. Then, well, we all know what happened". I smile. He doesn't quite know what to say and backs away from me--he obviously doesn't want to get into that kind of discussion at the moment.
After all he has just spent the afternoon trying to defend the indefensible and it would appear, no one, ok almost no one is happy about it. At least not from civil society. It must be tough being a diplomat.
Sigh. Such is our highlight from the first day of this "consultation".
During the afternoon orientation session Evan almost falls out of his chair in disbelief when some really nice people say that they were pleasantly suprised with the amazing results of WSIS I. Evan frequently shakes his head and often with a heavy sigh just removes his translation earphones.
The afternoon orientation session is dominated by irate human rights advocates and journalists who are justifiably outraged at the prospect of WSIS II being held in Tunis. There is a heated exchange between one journalist and a Tunis representative.
So here we are handing out free Ubuntu CDs (courtesy of Mark Shuttleworth whom Glenn Mcknight met in Australia) and we are a BIG hit.
Evan doesn't speak until Saturday and already the representatives of the Canadian Civil Society have approached us for our policy recommendations for a position paper that will be released later in the weekend.
Still that evening over dinner Evan wonders out loud "what are we doing here". I remind him that its the weekend and he could be home painting the house in preparation for his upcoming move instead.
Sigh.
Still its refreshing. The representatives from the local LUGS are marching about the room enthusiastically engaging anyone in discussion with an embarassing enthusiasm. Representatives from a wide variety of organizations approach us quietly and in co-conspirator tones ask "Do you know what Microsoft is doing at the UN. Or the Global Knowledge Partnership"? Yes, we do. They admit apologetically for their Microsoft branding and funding. Deans of colleges and Universities ask earnest questions about how to become training partners.
And the Ubuntu Linux CDs just fly off the table. :-)
posted by scottl at 8:03 AM
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