The real problem, I fear, is that Nominet genuinely don't give a shit about its members
There are definately
people at Nominet who care about members/membership - although we just "lost" one of those after 2 decades of her fighting in our corner to MarkMonitor
Sadly the "pro member" staff are also those you're more likely to see engaging/being at events/contacting people etc, they tend to get the brunt of any complaints as well as unwarranted abuse which leads to them being less visible over time
But yes, I agree with your sentiment, the organsiation overall views/treats members as some legacy annoyance that they'd love to get rid of (and have tried to do so multiple times)
We have very little "push-back" on that overall ...
* voting being the main obvious method, particulaly in regards to the ratification of Nominets chosen non-execs, and the choice of member non-execs, whilst each individual may only account for 1/13th of a vote on a decision, getting a few of the right people at the board level
may at least influence the perceptions
* feedback/interaction does help - All 'accredited' nominet registrars have an account manager, not sure about the other types. having been around a bit I have met all of them many times - they are all involved with (and in my experience superb at) soliciting feedback from the members they deal with and more importanly, in reverting that feedback back to Nominet - even when the viewpoint is a little 'out-there' they do present it
* consultations - I have lots of opinions about those - but outside of the UKRAC they are a (minor) way of influencing upcoming policy.
* events - again, I have opinions - but they do at least provide oportunity to go face2face with some Nominet directors.
If you have any opinions/ideas/requirements regarding Nominet events, please do let Olivia and/or Elaine know - direct or through the community forum.
Unless members stand up & show up, the org will assume silence (or minimal %age of voices) means eveything is fine.
