DATE:     March 29, 1999
FROM:     Don Heath, President/CEO
SUBJECT:  Strategic Planning Preliminary Report

As many of you may already be aware, the Internet Society embarked on a strategic planning process last week in Paris, France, to help define our key objectives, strengths and weaknesses and key growth opportunities. (Paris was chosen because many Board members and others were already in Europe to support and take part in the "Fete de l'Internet" event.)

We are now in the process of preparing an interim report on key outcomes of the meeting. It is our intent to have it available for distribution to the Internet Society membership within the next two weeks.

ISOC has already taken the initial steps to charting a bold strategic course into the next millennium by retaining a professional management consulting firm, Dialogue Marketing Group, to help develop strong, coordinated strategic plans. One critical area is the membership growth initiative where we have an explicit goal of attracting 100,000 members by the end of 2000. We have also recently engaged the services of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide as our global PR firm to handle press, public relations on- and off-line, promote INET conference visibility, and intensify to the outside world the importance of our (and the Internet's) role in society. Representatives from both these companies as well as Lynn St.Amour from the ISOC staff helped lead and facilitate the strategic planning and communications processes.

One key conclusion coming out of the process is recognition that the phrase, "The Internet is for Everyone," summarizes fundamentally what the Internet Society is all about. This statement also underscores our belief that ISOC must continue to strive to be more inclusive and bring new blood into the organization - beyond our already strong technology-oriented members. The "mantra" of "the Internet is for everyone" also reinforces ISOC's principles of self-regulation, no internal hierarchies within our own chapter structure, no government intrusions, and keeping the Internet unencumbered and free.

All those present at the meeting (the Board of Trustees, ISOC management and members of the Advisory Council) were actively involved in an exercise to articulate the Internet Society's vision and beliefs about its mission. Priorities were set amongst the numerous initiatives that will be required to achieve our formidable growth objective. At the same time we're focused on increasing our public credibility and our influence over the growth of the Internet around the world. Those present also felt that, beyond the educational, economic and informational foundations of the Internet, the Internet Society has a societal responsibility to promote use of the Internet for the common good.

We are committed to developing and executing plans that will deliver on our mission and vision as they take shape during the finalization of the Internet Society's Strategic Plan. To that end, there will be defined areas where member-volunteer expertise will be very much needed and specifically requested. We will welcome comments on the interim report when it is issued, and will especially appreciate any offers of assistance in response to it.

We thank you for your support, keen interest and genuine concern for the future state of your Internet Society.

With best regards,
Don Heath
President/CEO

"INTERNET IS FOR EVERYONE!"
Join the Internet Society and help to make it so.
See you at INET'99, San Jose, CA, June 22-25,1999
http://www.isoc.org/inet99/

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