The shape of the week
AGU26 runs 7 to 11 December 2026 at Moscone Center, 747 Howard Street. The organiser's meeting page counts 25,000+ attendees from 100+ countries. Its press release of 1 September 2026 counts more than 24,000 attendees presenting research. The venue lists the run as December 7 to December 11, 2026 across Moscone North, South and West. Five days, five nights.
Where the work sits
The programme's day index lists 2,268 records across six days, read on 16 October 2026. Monday 7 December carries 517, Tuesday 501, Wednesday 507, Thursday 483 and Friday 223. Sunday 6 December carries 37.
AGU's release names two session venues outside the halls, the San Francisco Marriott Marquis at 780 Mission Street and the InterContinental San Francisco at 888 Howard Street. The block places them 0.3 miles and 0.2 miles from the centre.
Five consecutive nights
The block holds 44 San Francisco hotels for the five nights the meeting spans, 7 to 12 December. The band runs 0.1 miles to 2.5 miles from the centre. Three properties sit inside a quarter mile, 13 inside half a mile and 33 inside a mile. Sixteen of the 44 were sold out when the block was read on 16 October 2026.
The labour share on the banquet line
CBRE's Robert Mandelbaum and Andrea Grigg published their read of U.S. hotel food and beverage operations in Lodging in October 2025. They put labour at 59.4 percent of food and beverage department expenses, cost of goods sold at 24.0 percent and other expenses at 16.6 percent.
Labour expenses rose 2.1 percent in 2025 across the study's sample. The authors name two levers in one paragraph: an adjustment to food and beverage service delivery, in their words "more buffets and grab-and-go", and "the continued challenge of finding employees resulting in staffing shortages".
The study draws on 2,669 U.S. full-service, resort and convention hotels in CBRE's annual Trends in the Hotel Industry survey. It adds monthly operating statements for 866 properties for January to June 2025. Food and beverage department profit margins moved from 28.7 percent in the first half of 2024 to 29.1 percent in the first half of 2025.
The same authors report banquet revenue down 7.3 percent at convention hotels in 2025, and up 8.7 percent at resort hotels. Public room rental revenue rose 9.5 percent and service charges rose 7.9 percent, two items the authors describe as historically "negotiable" costs for meeting and event planners.
The hiring clock the organiser publishes
Abstract submissions were due by 5 August 2026. Registration and housing opened on 25 August 2026. The housing block closes on 19 November 2026. Eighty-six days separate the opening from the close, and 18 days separate the close from the first night.
AGU's release states: "Bookings close 19 November but may fill before that date." The meeting page, the housing portal and the programme index carry no workforce figure, contractor count or rota plan.
What the block publishes for a room count
The block lists 44 properties with rates from $199 to $295, and no room-night total. A rota sized to a room count has no published count to size to.
Clocks a department can roster against
The meeting's press release publishes one service clock. The press room runs 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday to Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Friday. Press registration closes at the end of the conference on Friday 11 December.
The five nights, the day loads and the two overflow hotels' addresses are published. The organiser publishes no rota, no room count and no pick-up figure.