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ACM CoNEXT is always soliciting site proposals.

Please provide information as per the preliminary outline below. For each conference year and depending on the number and quality of proposals, the selection process may proceed in several (two) “rounds,” with each round narrowing the set of candidates and asking for additional information. This document focuses on what is normally expected in an initial proposal.

Site proposals should be less than 2 pages ASCII text (66 lines, 80 columns; an equivalent size PDF document is acceptable). Send proposals to the current Chair of the CoNEXT Steering Committee (Contact details here) with the header: "CoNEXT site proposal - YEAR" (with the appropriate year in 4-digit format). In case you do not get an acknowledgment within one week of submitting your proposal, you should email the CoNEXT Steering Committee Chair to inquire on its status.

Site proposals should at a minimum provide the following information:

• Site city

  Locations rotate on a three years cycle between North America, Europe, and a “wildcard” that can be a location in North America or Europe or outside of those two regions, e.g., it was Japan in 2011. For 2013, the preference is for a location in North America.

• Conference General Chair & committee

  A proposal is generally made by the proposed conference general chair(s). CoNEXT conferences typically rely on a team of two general chairs, one of which must be local to the site where the conference will be held. A proposal should include a partial list of committee members that will play a role in organizing the conference. The PC chairs are NOT part of a proposal, as they are selected separately by the CoNEXT Steering Committee.

• Potential dates

  CoNEXT is generally held during one of the two first weeks of December. It seeks to avoid interfering with the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and the end-of-year break..

Site City

NOTE: For items 2-4, what is required is general information and not a detailed financial proposal with specific venues already identified. In particular, you should NOT contact possible venues regarding availability or cost, as.the ACM handles contract negotiations on behalf of the conference..

1. The city should be located near a major international airport, within 1-2 hours of regular train service and/or 45 minutes of cab/shuttle service. A major international airport should have at least two airlines with regular international service to the 4 major continents of CoNEXT attendees: Asia, Europe, North and South America.
2. The city should have one or more venues for ~200 attendees, including side-venues for 3 concurrent workshops of less than 100 (CoNEXT has traditionally had three workshops, including its Student Workshop, just before or after the main conference, i.e., these events are not on the same days as the main conference).. Each venue should support a single center screen, with unobstructed views. Auditorium room layout is preferred. The venues should also include ample space outside the conference room, to facilitate interactions among attendees. This space should be able to accommodate food and beverages for coffee breaks. In addition, it should ideally be able to hold 40-50 student poster displays (either hanging on the walls or supported on easels) that would remain for the entire duration of the conference (the goal is to give students several opportunities to attract an audience for their work).
   Facilities capable of serving lunch to the 200+ attendees should also be available in reasonable proximity to the conference room(s). NOTE: There is no a-priori preference for a university location, even if they often offer more affordable solutions (it is one of CoNEXT goals to offer a high-quality conference experience while ensuring a balanced budget maintaining registration costs as low as possible – registration fees have not increased since 2007). Convention center or hotel venues, when they provide an economical solution, are perfectly valid options.
3. The city should have hotels supporting ~300 people (attendees and their guests) within easy access to the possible venue (less than 15 minutes time, preferably within walking distance or at most 1 bus/subway/tram stop).
4. The city should have potential venues for a reception and banquet dinner. A sample list of possible venues with a 1-line description addressing logistics (time to get there, need for transportation) would be useful. Transportation to these events should be less than 30 minutes each way.

Conference General Chair & Exec. Committee

As mentioned above, CoNEXT conferences traditionally involve two general co-chairs, one of which must be local. Both should be widely-recognized members of the broader data networking community. One of them must be based in or close to the proposed site city. For the “local” general chair, a statement of support from the chair's institution and possibly administrative support, may eventually be required.

The names and affiliations of a few other committee members which the chair can enlist to help with the conference organization should also be provided. The positions of treasurer and local arrangement chair are particularly important.

Date conflicts

The dates of CoNEXT will ultimately be selected by the CoNEXT Steering Committee, based on the proposals received and feedback from surveys conducted at CoNEXT. Nevertheless and as mentioned above, for planning purposes proposals can assume that the conference will be held during the first two weeks of December.

Proposals should indicate dates that may have major local conflicts, e.g., important local events, school holidays, etc., that would interfere with either the proposed site, hotel availability, travel costs, or the general chairs' participation.