From: "jordi.palet@consulintel.es" <jordi.palet@consulintel.es>
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Subject: timing for venue contracting
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:55:00 +0200
References: 
 <178463927038.371886.123681758424155871@dt-datatracker-d4d6ff9d9-fsx7d>
To: ietf@ietf.org,
 exec-director@ietf.org
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 <178463927038.371886.123681758424155871@dt-datatracker-d4d6ff9d9-fsx7d>
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Archived-At: 
 <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf/yEP1k0cquENmKmUw15mgGikk0b4>

Hi Jay,

I wanted to raise this point in the plenary yesterday, but I had to leave a=
 bit earlier.

If I recall correctly, this is the 2nd time in the last few years (Brisbane=
 was the other one), that a venue is announced extremely late.

May be this is not being realized, but it creates for some participants tha=
t pay traveling from their own pocket a very high penalty even inability to=
 actually make it. Yes, they can still participate remotely, but we all kno=
w is not the same. On-site conversations, not just the WG meetings are very=
 important, in addition to the difference of being in the same time zone fo=
r the meeting itself.

I=E2=80=99m not sure how many people can/prefers planning ahead, but I=E2=
=80=99m sure others can take advantage of that, and doing so doesn=E2=80=99=
t create any trouble for the rest of the participants. In my own case, the =
difference is quite significative. If I get my flights 11-12 months in adva=
nce, I can use my miles and just pay 250 euros or so (just taxes) to travel=
 to KL. An alternative is to pay around 1.000 euros and get upgraded for fr=
ee (because my status in the airline), or using my miles as well. Instead n=
ow, as checked yesterday, it will cost me over 5.000 euros for the same tri=
p/cabin (seats or upgrades with miles aren=E2=80=99t anymore available).

I fully understand that many participants are funded by their employers, an=
d may be the employers don=E2=80=99t care too much (or not at all) about th=
at, but I=E2=80=99m sure I=E2=80=99m not alone with this and it doesn=E2=80=
=99t make any sense that even if is a small set of people being affected, n=
ot being considerate to them.

If I understood correctly, from you yesterday in the plenary, now you start=
 working on contracts for meetings after 2027. I really don=E2=80=99t under=
stand the need to hold that, and instead, considering that our meeting date=
s are set for at least 6-7 years in advance, work already in all the possib=
le venues for the next 5 years in advance, contract and announce them at le=
ast 1-2 years in advance, but *never* later than 1 year in advance.

This will also give us the advantage, that in case of any venue failure (I =
recall we had that happening at some point in Canada some years ago), we ha=
ve more time to react, possibly even with several options. Just consider if=
 for whatever reason KL was not fixed a few days ago and time passes and we=
 don=E2=80=99t have suitable alternatives or we need to pay much more for o=
ne of them. I don=E2=80=99t think we can take that risk.

I understand that doing this now means a lot of extra workload for a few mo=
nths, but after that, when you have already contracted 4-5 years, you only =
need to take care of the 6th following year, and so on. I also understand t=
hat this may look difficult for new venues because the time required for on=
-site surveys, but there is a simple solution for that: for the next 3-4 ye=
ars, just consider venues that we already had used before (we have several =
of them in every region, so not a problem).

In fact, I=E2=80=99ve been very surprised when I=E2=80=99ve asked in the la=
st 3 meetings, if we are coming back to Madrid and if is already fixed, and=
 the answer was NO, first possible slot is summer 2030. How come, if we kno=
w the participants were so happy (according to the survey and all conversat=
ions we had), we have not even started to talk with the venue again. Why we=
 don=E2=80=99t start working with the venue immediately and fix it in a few=
 months, even if it is 4 years in advance?

It doesn=E2=80=99t make any sense to me. I could only imagine, that if you =
try to negotiate with the hotel now for 2030 they will give you a higher pr=
ice (I don=E2=80=99t think so, I actually think it will be lower, and you r=
educe the risk of not being available on our preferred dates by fixing it n=
ow, or even it can be negotiated with a price difference considering life c=
ost increase, etc.). However, if this is the issue, you are moving the pric=
e difference to the traveling cost of the participants (in additional to ot=
her planing they may wish to do, such vacations or business side-by-side th=
e meeting).

I used Madrid as a clear example, but of course, the same can be done, at l=
east for the next 4-5 years, with venues that have been very well rated, as=
 I think it was Berlin, BKK, Singapore, etc., and that may keep offering su=
fficiently good conditions for IETF.

Regards,
Jordi

@jordipalet

> El 21 jul 2026, a las 15:07, IETF Executive Director <exec-director@ietf.=
org> escribi=C3=B3:
>=20
> The IETF Administration LLC is pleased to announce Kuala Lumpur as the lo=
cation for the IETF 128 meeting, scheduled for 6-12 March 2027.
>=20
> The support and commitment of our Global Hosts and meeting sponsors ensur=
es that IETF participants can meet and collaborate in the highly productive=
 environment of an onsite meeting. To find out more about these opportuniti=
es to support the IETF, please see:
>=20
> 	https://www.ietf.org/support-us/sponsorship/
>=20
> I look forward to seeing many of you there.
>=20
> --=20
> Jay Daley
> IETF Executive Director
> exec-director@ietf.org
>=20
> _______________________________________________
> IETF-Announce mailing list -- ietf-announce@ietf.org
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