Greetings, I mostly agree with Gordon Lennox.
From the discussion at RIPE73 in Madrid, i also agree with the idea of having a Vice-Chair.
When the Chair steps down, the Vice-Chair could automatically become Chair (if he/she accepts). When a new Vice-Chair appointment is needed, i would say the best recruiting base would be the WG Chairs group (currently more than 20 people, right?). Either asking the WG Chair with more time on his/her record on that role/group to step up as Vice-Chair, or run an election process if two (or more) WG Chairs wish to become Vice-Chair on the same opportunity, sounds acceptable to me. We can also strenghten this by requiring that the new Vice-Chair is supported by *N* WG Chairs, despite its current time count as a WG Chair. I would also argue that former WG Chairs should be "eligible" -- especially if noone from the current set of WG Chairs wants to become Vice-Chair. And if time count becomes a criteria, all the time spent on the WG Chair role should be considered. Best Regards, ______________ Carlos Friaças Coordenador do RCTS CERT / Head of RCTS CERT (www.cert.rcts.pt) Fundação para Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (www.fct.pt) Unidade FCCN - Computação Científica Nacional (www.fccn.pt) Av. do Brasil, 101, 1700-066 Lisboa, Portugal [+351] 218440100