[Advisors] TC -- moving ahead in 2015

[Marita Moll]

Hello advisors.  As we are still in January, I don't think it is too 
late to wish all of you the best for 2015.  It may be cold and still 
pretty dark outside most of our windows, but at least we are moving 
toward those precious long warm summer days we are all waiting for.  The 
TC list has been very quiet for the last couple of months.  I think we 
all took some time to recover from the sadness of losing Gareth last 
year.  But, it is time now to think about how to move forward with TC.

In the final months of 2014 and with the help of John Wilkinson, a 
Toronto lawyer who came to our assistance thanks to miracle worker Peter 
Frampton, TC is once again on solid ground with respect to NGO status.

TC is still the only organization of its kind in Canada, with a 20 year 
history of connections into community networking sites around the 
country, with the potential to reach some of that elusive grassroots 
constituency that politicians, pollsters and lobbyists crave for.  We 
have had success in the past, sharing strategies to keep CAP going for 
longer than it would have otherwise and contributing to research and 
policy on digital strategies.  We are still very involved in national 
(CIRA, ISOC) and international organizations  (ICANN, NARALO).  Needs 
and priorities have changed and strategies need to change as well.  But 
there is still a lot of value in this organization if we figure out how 
to use it.

A current urgent need is find a way to begin holding regular meetings 
again.  The teleconferencing service that we were using is no longer 
available to us.  In the past we used a service called 
Freeconferencecall.com (https://www.freeconferencecall.com).  It worked 
pretty well but did entail long distance charges for those calling in, 
which generally does not amount to a lot these days, but could still be 
a deterrent for some.  I am looking for suggestions re: other options.

Once we resolve the communication issue, we need to set up a meeting to 
address some issues relating to the executive, review our mandate and 
set some goals and objectives for 2015.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Marita