In message <52890490.4040205@inex.ie>, at 18:01:52 on Sun, 17 Nov 2013, Nick Hilliard <nick@inex.ie> writes
the RIPE NCC kindly sponsored travel/hotel expenses for me to go to the IGF meeting in Bali in October.
I was initially puzzled that there was an explicit intention not to make any decisions there, but it quickly became clear that this was a very smart thing to do. The result was an unusually open atmosphere considering the attendee spread - civil society, lawmakers, regulatory people, politicians, etc. Pretty much everyone was on equal footing, and that made it easy to approach people or to be approached. Most importantly, the majority of people were enthusiastic about understanding other peoples' points of view.
That has been the IGF mission statement, and everyone involved's understanding, since 2006. I'm sorry no-one brought you up to speed before they sent you to Bali. I hope it didn't hamper your mission at all. -- Roland Perry