At 06:31 24-08-2011, George, Wesley wrote:
Perhaps it?s time for those who seem most
concerned about this to author a BCP draft
regarding IETF meeting venue and hotel selection
policies that addresses this, so that
See draft-palet-ietf-meeting-venue-selection-criteria-04 (expired).
IAOC has a bit clearer instructions and a
documented policy based on community consensus,
rather than this discussion continuing to come
up every couple of meetings, and the general
response from the IAOC being ?this is hard,
we?re doing the best we can? [example, explanation]?
It's safer to stick to a tried strategy.
Not to say that I doubt the intentions or
efforts of any of the IAOC folks past or
present, but the theme I keep seeing in these
discussions is a request for both transparency
and price sensitivity, and I?m not sure that the
feedback is being acknowledged so much as it is
being treated as a request for explanation of the extenuating circumstances.
My guess is that the contact covers:
(a) Guest substitution
(b) Client attrition
(c) Guaranteed reservations and the terms for a refund
(d) Reservation cut-off
(e) Hotel rate after cut-off
Some of the information could probably be made
available at the time of the announcement of the
venue selection. Although it still won't be
possible to select a different venue, it gives
the community ample time to complain.
Glen Zorn mentioned that "the end result being
that major corporate support would be mandatory
for attendants: independents, academics and even
employees of small companies need not
apply". Lixia Zhang mentioned that "up to now
IETF hotel prices have been within the federal
per diem allowance". Peter Saint-Andre mentioned
that "thanks to tips from other cost-conscious
IETFers, [he] was able to find hotels costing
$100". Ray mentioned that "Many places they just don't need our business".
A rough number for hotel and travel costs might be as follows:
U.S. to Taiwan: $3,619
U.K. to Taiwan: $3,765
China to Taiwan: $3,094
U.S. to Paris: $3,841
U.K. to Paris: $2,325
China to Paris: $3,780
U.S. to Vancouver: $3,226
U.K. to Vancouver: $5,535
China to Vancouver: $4,212
The question of cross-subsidization has not been
brought into the discussion yet. There is also
the question of rotation across continents. Over
the years U.S. IETF participation (used loosely)
has dropped to 50%. IETF participation from the
European Union has increased to 25%. IETF
participation from Asia has increased to
15%. The choice of IETF meeting venue has an
impact on U.S. participation. Based on the above
numbers, I would have concluded that it
shouldn't. I doubt that U.S. participants
encounter visa issues. Maybe it is because those
without major corporate support find the attendance too expensive.
Is there any hypothesis about why this type of
discussion does not occur when a venue in the U.S. is selected?
Regards,
-sm
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