All; Below is data for our upcoming meetings regarding guest room rates, rooms contracted for on Peak nights and number of rooms total in the Hotel. Our target has been to get 600 rooms on peak nights in the so-called headquarters hotel, and total, with Overflow hotels, to contract 780 rooms on peak night. We do not attempt to contract rooms for 1,200 attendees. There are often tradeoffs required in selecting the venue. We might be able to get 600 rooms in a hotel but the hotel is remote, not surrounded by other hotels, restaurants, etc. It’s not uncommon for us to check availability for 10 or more venues for a particular meeting in a particular region to identify ones that are available and meet the criteria. See the Venue Selection Criteria below. And, no, “pick locations to maximize meeting fee income” is not among the criteria. For Buenos Aires we have contracted with 10 hotels, of which the last 4 will come online in the next 24 hours or so. Hotels are smaller in Buenos Aires. Currently we are working on the overflow hotels in Seoul, trying to get as many rooms at reasonable prices as close to the venue as possible. We expect to contract with 3 additional hotels there. Ray IAD Price w/o Tax Peak Total Buenos Aires 1230 2923 Hilton $209 300 417 Sheraton ConvCtr $179 140 742 Holiday Inn $150 30 116 NH City Hotel $143 190 369 NH Florida $120 85 162 NH Lancaster $132 40 115 NH 9th of July $120 85 175 Sheraton Liberator $179 70 200 InterCon $200 150 309 Plaza $131 140 318 Berlin 730 InterCon $140 480 558 Pullman $129 250 383 Seoul Conrad $197/$214 400 434 Overflow TBD Overflow TBD Overflow TBD Chicago 800 Swissotel $169 450 660 Fairmont $169 350 687 Prague Hilton $149 600 791 +++++++++++++++ Venue Selection Objectives & Criteria: The following are the objectives desired in the selection of an IETF meeting venue: 1. Advancing standards development 2. Facilitating participation by active contributors 3. Encouraging new contributors 4. Sharing the travel pain; balancing travel time and expense across the regions from where IETF participants are based. The is the list of the criteria that is evaluated when selecting a venue. This is not in any priority order. 1. An Optimal Facility for an IETF meeting is held under "One Roof", that is, qualified meeting space and guest rooms are available in the same facility. 2. The Meeting Space must be adequate in size and layout to accommodate meeting and participant networking where possible. 3. The Technology must be capable of supporting meeting network requirements. 4. The Guest Rooms at the headquarters hotel must be sufficient in number, have an adequate network, or the Hotel will accept the IETF network, and within close proximity to venue. 5. The Venue Surroundings must be surrounded by other hotels, restaurants and bars, and within walking distance; not isolated 6. The Cost of guest rooms, meeting space, food and beverage must be affordable. 7. The meeting should be Hostable and Sponsorable, that is, the Meeting is in a location and at a price that it is possible and probable to find a host and sponsors. Host costs typically include the cost of the meeting space, network operation and circuits. 8. Overflow Hotels are hotels under contract typically within walking distance of the venue and have a variety of guest room rates. They do not include the IETF network, but typically have free Internet. 9. Travel is a consideration, ease of access and number of hops. Travel to the venue should be reasonably acceptable based on cost, time, and burden for participants traveling from multiple regions. Also, are there other travel barriers to entry, e.g., visas? 10. Can the venue and hotels be put under contract? 11. Risk - Review risks associated with this venue over selected dates. 12. Are there safety/health concerns for the participants at this venue? 13. Are there health concerns for the participants at this venue? > On Jan 5, 2016, at 11:52 AM, Jared Mauch <jared@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > I know for NANOG the Bay Area is a big attendance draw but costs are also much higher compared to other venues. > > Jared Mauch > >> On Jan 5, 2016, at 11:19 AM, Ole Jacobsen <olejacobsen@xxxxxx> wrote: >> >> Speaking as the chair of said committee, no "maximizing meeting fee >> income" is not and (at least in my opinion) should not be the primary >> reason for selecting a venue. There *is* obviously some predictable >> correlation between location and attendance number, for example if we >> have a meeting in San Jose or San Francisco we would expect a larger >> than average number of "locals" to attend because there are many of >> them in that area. But it's not clear that such a peak in numbers >> would benefit the IETF in the long run, in other words, it isn't clear >> that such extra attendees would become regular contributors. >