Summary

  • Siena Perry's APNIC announcement says the 2029 South Asia host EoI opens in March 2027; APNIC's live host guidance says May 2027.
  • The Secretariat screens proposals and recommends a host, while APNIC's Executive Council chooses the location and approves exceptions.

APNIC is asking local organizations to plan a regional Internet conference nearly two and a half years in advance. That sounds orderly until an interested host opens the calendar. In an announcement signed by Siena Perry on 29 October, the first Expression of Interest for the 2029 South Asia stand-alone conference runs from March to September 2027. On APNIC's host application page, the same event's window is May to September 2027. Both pages belong to APNIC. Two months is a meaningful difference when a local host must line up venues, network partners and money.

Perry, APNIC's Director of Communications and Community Engagement, is the public voice of this change. Her account explains why location matters: conferences host policy work, elections, technical exchange and training opportunities; bringing one closer to a local community lowers the cost of joining those conversations. APNIC rotates its stand-alone meetings among East Asia, South Asia and Oceania. The 2027 meeting is set for Ulaanbaatar; 2028 is allotted to Oceania and 2029 to South Asia. The separately governed APRICOT meeting follows APNOG's selection process.

The revised method gives prospective hosts a formal Expression of Interest, published assessment criteria and a timetable. APNIC says it will consider access and visas, safety, suitable rooms and Internet connectivity, local technical capability, member presence, prior hosting, budget and sponsorship. The Secretariat researches and scores eligible proposals, then recommends candidates to the Executive Council. The EC selects the preferred and backup locations. APNIC signs a host agreement before announcing the winner. That is a real allocation of authority: the community can submit, the Secretariat can filter, and the EC can decide.

The timetable is meant to open an EoI about 30 months before a conference and close it about 24 months out. Perry's March date fits that 30-month description for a September 2029 meeting. APNIC's live recruitment page says May. Neither page explains the difference. A dated APNIC notice naming the operative opening date would resolve the ambiguity; until then a potential host has to plan against two official calendars.

Perry also describes a controlled escape hatch. If rotation or milestones cannot reasonably hold, the Secretariat recommends an exception, the EC approves it, and reasons are documented. That provision may be practical. It also makes the published reason, and who had a chance to bid before the change, the substance of accountability. A conference map is a map of who can afford to show up; the people choosing its cities should at least agree on the month the door opens.