On 6/20/2011 11:54 PM, Ole Jacobsen wrote: > > Keith, > > Here is the tradeoff: > > "The community" has expressed a strong preference for one-roof venues > [which often translates to convention center + hotel next door in our > case] in a city setting (City West and Maastricht being non-examples). > > This leads to (generally speaking): > > * Somewhat expensive main hotel rates (although I agree that hotel > rates seem to be as variable and unpredictable as airline rates, and > I would hope we could do better even if we sign the contract several > years in advance.)
Actually, it seems that the conference rates at IETF hotels are quite predictable: a couple of months ago it was possible to book a room at the QC Hilton for $176 CAD/night _during the IETF meeting_; if you check the Hilton Web site right now, you will find that equivalent rooms at the Hilton the week before the IETF run about $100 less than during the meeting. It's possible that IETF week marks the transition to high season rates, but in that case why not move the meeting by a week? This is not an isolated case: in Beijing, rooms at the Shangri-La were significantly cheaper both the week before and the week after the IETF; in Hiroshima, I got a room at the conference hotel the week of the meeting for ~$50/night less than the conference rate by eschewing "free" breakfast. Admittedly the breakfast in Hiroshima was both tasty and plentiful, but $50? Not even in Japan. It seems apparent that the IAOC "negotiators" are wearing signs around their necks during the hotel negotiations; the only question is what is written on the signs. Is it "I am a moron" or the simple but effective "F*&k Me"? ...
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