Get to Know the ARIN 38 Fellows [Archived]

By Wendy Leedy

ARIN 38 is right around the corner! Are you planning to join us in Dallas? If so, I encourage you to take a moment during the meeting to say hello to our newest fellows. We’ll have 11 fellows in attendance at ARIN 38, and I consider myself very lucky to have gotten the chance to get to know them in the past couple weeks. Now, here’s your chance to get to know them before the meeting!

Perhaps the first (and most obvious!) question I asked each fellow was, “Why did you apply for a fellowship?” I figured this question would give me the best insight as to what matters most to our fellows. Alfredo Calderon-Serrano said he applied at the suggestion of ARIN’s very own Director of Communications and Member Services, Susan Hamlin, and he wanted “to better understand the mission and range of ARIN and how academia can benefit from ARIN services.” (And apparently the word is out, because Shaun Rossi was also encouraged to apply by a peer when discussing IP addressing and ARIN!) Orin Roberts is looking for “more intimate knowledge of how the ARIN community works; from draft policy consultations to technical implementations.” Bradley Fidler and Jason Bothe both agreed that attending an ARIN Meeting would give them the best chance of understanding more about Internet governance and the role of the individual Regional Internet Registries.

Next up, I wondered what are our fellows were most looking forward to at the meeting. Ashell Forde is eager to attend the Women’s Networking Lunch, a new event that will see its first gathering at ARIN 38 (we’re excited about this too, Ashell!). Julie Percival said that getting to meet and work with the people who are most involved with crafting policy would be a highlight for her. And Dustin Phillips summed it up well when he said, “I always look forward to meeting new people with different backgrounds, experience and culture, that ultimately all want to help make the Internet better for everyone.” That’s definitely a noble goal and one that we share here at ARIN.

Perhaps most important of all though, what about the future? How did the fellows foresee themselves contributing to and/or supporting ARIN down the road? There are many ways to get involved, but I was interested in the specifics, and how we might expect to see our fellows engaged in the future.

Gary Campbell, a returning fellow from ARIN 37, intends to improve the awareness level of the work of ARIN and become a member of several related or affiliate groups. Josh Crawford is thinking in terms of business, stating that “being a network administrator for an ISP, I feel that any ARIN Meeting will provide me with ample knowledge and networking opportunities for further personal and business growth.” And lastly, as a former journalist and current communications specialist, Kathleen Monk brings a unique perspective: “I believe I can be an asset to ARIN as I have an ability to clearly communicate technical concepts to the general public and can be a conduit to government, the Canadian media and civil society.” We’re aware of the highly technical nature of our work, so this effort is needed and valued!

With all those great answers, I felt like I had a significantly better grasp on the personality of each of our fellows. But I wanted to know one final thing to tie it all together – in just one word, how did they feel the moment they learned they’d been selected? I think our fellows covered all the positive “E” feelings, because I heard all of the following:

• Ecstatic (Orin Roberts and Kathleen Monk)

• Elated (Gary Campbell)

• Excited (Ashell Forde)

• Exhilarated (Bradley Fidler)

• Eager (Jason Bothe)

• Electric (Josh Crawford)

• Energized (Julie Percival)

Throw in “stoked” (Dustin Phillips), “delighted” (Shaun Rossi), and “fortunate” (Alfredo Calderon-Serrano), and I think it’s safe to say that being selected is an exceptionally meaningful experience for our fellows. Not only that, it’s been a fantastic experience for me as well to have the chance to get to know our fellows on a more personal level. I’m very excited to meet them in Dallas, and I hope I’ll get to meet you there too!