[Community-Discuss] AIS meeting date - avoiding clash with Ramadan

[Alan Barrett]

Dear community,

This year (2017), the AIS meeting falls partially inside the month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar.  The AIS meeting is from 21 May to 2 June 2017 (workshops in the first week and conference in the second week), while Ramadan is expected to be from 27 May to 24 June.

This overlap may present a problem for people who fast during Ramadan.  We will accommodate them as best we can, such as by ensuring that refreshments are available before sunrise and after sunset.

For the next few years, Ramadan will fall within the second quarter of the Gregorian year, and I would like to choose dates for the AIS meeting that avoid clashing with Ramadan (or at worst, that have only a few days of overlap with Ramadan).

This will probably involve moving the AIS meeting in 2018 and 2019 to April/May instead of May/June, and then moving back to May/June for 2020.  The dates of Ramadan for the next few years are expected to be:

2017 (Islamic year 1438): Ramadan from 27 May to 24 June 2017
2018 (Islamic year 1439): Ramadan from 16 May to 14 June 2018
2019 (Islamic year 1440): Ramadan from 6 May to 3 June 2019
2020 (Islamic year 1441): Ramadan from 24 April to 23 May 2020
2021 (Islamic year 1442): Ramadan from 13 April to 12 May 2021

I’d like to hear the community’s opinion on the idea of choosing dates for AIS that avoid clashes with Ramadan.

We have always tried to avoid clashes with other RIR meetings, ICANN meetings, and some other NOG meetings.  I’d also like to hear opinions on which other meetings we should try to avoid clashing with.

Alan Barrett