Well, OK, we all seem to agree that the Delhi (non-) schedule was an unusual screwup. But:
I agree that we need to set the calendar earlier, there is complete agreement between Board and Staff. The only concern is the interdependence among different meetings (IETF, RIRs, other international for a, etc.), but I am sure that something can be done on this.
The IETF has set their meeting dates through 2013, listed at http://www.ietf.org/meetings/0mtg-sites.txt. I expect that most of the other must-not-collide organizations have their schedules set that far out as well. Also see the IETF's clash list, at http://www.ietf.org/meetings/clash_list.html which they use to avoid schedule overlaps. Again, there's a lot of expertise available about arranging meetings, much of which is directly applicable to ICANN's situation. It is not my impression that ICANN staff takes much advantage of it. Any idea when the last time was that anyone at ICANN talked to Ray Pelletier or Marcia Beaulieu, who make IETF meeting arrangements? R's, John