The following is a list of requirements that bidders must fulfill and present to the ICYPAA Advisory Council at each year’s Conference.

Each bid committee is required to submit its final bid package in PDF format no later than ten days prior to the bid session, which is held on Saturday morning of the Conference weekend. The advisory council will provide all Bid Committee Representatives (BCRs) with a PDF copy of each bid package once all packages have been submitted. Neither the advisory council nor the BCRs shall give unsolicited feedback regarding the submitted PDFs. Each bid committee is required to provide a hard copy of its submitted bid package at the Conference. No changes are permitted between the PDF copy and the hard copy.

Bidders are asked to advise the Advisory Council Chairperson at least thirty days prior to the Conference of their intent to bid, and bid cities are asked to send the name and contact information of their Bid Committee Representative (BCR) to the Advisory Council Co-Chairperson thirty days prior to the conference.

If you have any questions please contact the Advisory Council at advisory@icypaa.org.

1. At least three AA members with a minimum of one year of sobriety must represent the bidding committee. Bids must be presented in a manner that is consistent with the Twelve Traditions of AA. Each bidding committee will be allowed twenty minutes for their presentation. Bidders may choose to have a Bid Committee Representative (BCR) as its nonvoting representative for the site selection. The BCR is elected by its respective host committee, and must meet the criteria outlined below.


2. Bidders must have commitments* from at least two appropriate facilities (hotels, universities, convention centers, gymnasiums, etc.) so sized as to be able to accommodate the entire Conference. Please include the proposed dates and diagrams of the available meeting space. All costs, both to the Committee and to the attendee, must be outlined. *–Three phrases typically indicate a hotel’s commitment to provide space: 1) first option, 2) first refusal, and 3) tentative basis.


3. Bidders must have available a temporary pre-registration flyer with a mailing address. Do not include conference dates or hotel info.


4. To ensure that ICYPAA operates in the spirit of cooperation, bid committees will show that no large-scale AA activity will be held in their city thirty days prior and thirty days after the proposed Conference dates. This should be demonstrated with a letter from the AA Area Chairperson, and a list of any large-scale AA activities that are scheduled near the proposed Conference dates.


5. Prospective bidders will be required to provide financial records from all committee activities, demonstrating financial autonomy and responsibility within the spirit of AA’s Twelve Traditions.


6. The Committee must research the effects of federal, state, provincial or local tax/business laws on the Conference, should they be awarded the Conference, and must provide a concise summary of that research.


7. Prospective bidders must read, understand and be prepared to agree with the requirements as written in the Host Committee Responsibilities.


8. Bidders must provide a concise statement illustrating their reasons for bidding.

Experience has shown that the long holiday weekends are good dates for ICYPAA, allowing extra time for travel.

Bid committees must fulfill all Bidding Requirements to have a participating BCR. Committees who meet all of the Bidding Requirements are encouraged to send a BCR to participate as a nonvoting representative in the site selection, where they will have a voice in the discussion. The BCR must have been actively involved in their committee’s bid, have at least two years of continuous sobriety and have a service background. BCRs should be fully informed on all of the bids. They should be aware that the commitment that they undertake includes participating in the open-forum discussion (two minutes per person; two rounds of discussion) and observing the advisory council Third Legacy vote that follows.

In the event that no bid committee receives a two-thirds vote during the site selection meeting, the remaining bid committees will be placed in the hat and the next year’s host city will be pulled after the Saturday night meeting.