Did you ever have to choose between prospective conference hosts? I don’t remember ever seeing criteria for choosing potential conference hosts but a few times I have been asked to choose or rank applications and from memory I try to mark them against criteria like the one below. Happy change or replace this if someone has a better system well laid out somewhere. Oh and I have not weighted the criteria against each other but that could be done with some contextual information.

1. Venue capacity and character (size of plenary room, facilities, exhibition capacity, access to transport)
2. Organizational competence
3. Local heritage, tours and ambience
4. Daily costs and access to venue, city and country (for majority of attendees)
5. Western/non-western/ethnic balance
6. Links to related institutes/institutional support
7. Ability to bring in students, communities, related events and organizations
8. Local expertise in heritage
9. Ability to bring in keynote speakers and sponsors