This is a matter that receives close scrutiny from the Conference Board. Although the Conference Committee negotiates the contracts with the convention center and hotel(s), no one on the Conference Committee has authority to sign contracts for the Society. Contracts must be submitted to the Conference Board and Society Executive Officer for approval, after which an authorized society officer will sign on behalf of the Society. Advice on negotiating contracts may be found in Appendix D of this guide. More detail and sample contracts can be found in the IEEE Technical Meetings Organization Manual
Since ICASSP is so large, it is preferable to use a convention center with a headquarters hotel and a constellation of satellite hotels rather than a single convention hotel. Only very large metropolitan areas have convention hotels commodious enough for ICASSP. When comparing ICASSP sites, take into account that convention centers generally have better exhibits facilities, more flexible floor plans, less strangling unions, and allow attendees a choice of hotels with a range of rates.