The trouble started when the spokesman tapped a cracked claw against the desk and said, “We will be taking questions now.”
Representatives and community members from nearly thirty planets cried out in unison. Some leaped from their chairs, and others slithered up the black tiled walls.
I think your first version slipped by me, and I didn't comment on it. Examining just the first lines of each version:
1) The trouble started when the spokesman for ICRML—the Intergalactic Council for Resettlement of Misplaced Lifeforms—turned to the assembly and asked “Now, are there any opposed to the humankind resettlement plan?”
2) The trouble started when the spokesman tapped a cracked claw against the desk and said, “We will be taking questions now.”
To me, it's clear that the first line of version 1 is far more interesting. In that one, we have specificity: the ICRML, and a clear plot point to jump off with.
The second version's first line is a general figure holding something that seems a little silly opening the the narrative up with dialog that I've heard many, many times before.
And the description of aliens in both versions:
1) Representatives and community members from nearly thirty planets had gathered, some lounging in the mediocre metal chairs that had been stuffed into the black-tiled room, others standing shoulder to fin.
2) Some leaped from their chairs, and others slithered up the black tiled walls.
One does a nice job of implying haste while giving a memorable image of the black tiled room and metal chairs.
The other, again, just seems a little silly to me, like it's supposed to be a joke.
So obviously I prefer the first version, and feel this is a step backward. Personally, I don't find the first version to be infodumpy. You were introducing a character, and you said who the character was. The ICRML. To me, there's nothing telly about that that should be avoided, as you then continue right into the present moment situation: the resettlement of the human race.