Tag Archives: Conference spending

Postal Service Defends Pricey Conference as Chance to Boost Revenue

Posted on by

Originally posted by Eric Katz on Government Executive

The U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday defended its decision to spend more than $2 million on an upcoming conference, saying the event is an opportunity to grow revenue.

USPS is sending 400 employees to the National Postal Forum Conference, an annual event held to educate businesses and mailing industry professionals on the services available to them. The vast majority of USPS attendees participate in the conference for free, as they are deemed to have added value, according to the Postal Service.

Continue reading →

GSA Cancels This Year’s Training Conference and Expo

Posted on by

Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

Citing tight budgets, the General Services Administration on Friday announced it is suspending its signature Training Conference and Expo, which had been scheduled for May 14-16 in Orlando, Fla.

The annual event, designed for federal, state and local government employees and military members who make or influence procurement decisions, was attracting fewer than usual agency participants, GSA noted.

Continue reading →

New GSA Offering Could Avert the Next Conference Scandal

Posted on by

Originally posted by Joseph Marks on NextGov

The General Services Administration is considering building a menu of contractors offering services that can help agencies avoid the sort of conference spending scandals that rocked GSA itself in 2012, according to solicitation documents posted Tuesday.

Contractors listed on the menu would help centralize agencies' conference and meeting spending in unified databases, ensure competitive pricing for conference-related purchases, minimize the risk of cancellation fees from hotels and food vendors and archive important information to pass along to GSA and government watchdogs, the request for information said.

Continue reading →

A Message from AIAA’s Executive Director

Posted on by

Originally posted by AIAA

Dear Colleague,

As we start 2013, there is little doubt that the full impact of 2012 events has yet to play out. In 2012 we witnessed a "perfect storm" of the fallout from a scandal within a federal agency - the General Services Administration (GSA) - and the failure of Congress and the White House to achieve meaningful budgetary progress. This combination has left our Institute facing an atmosphere of tightening government travel rules and shrinking agency budgets - both of which threaten the long-term viability of AIAA.

Continue reading →

Government Conferences Attacked: Is the Solution Virtual?

Posted on by

Originally posted by Emily Jarvis on GovLoop

As you know, government conferences are under fire. Two officials have now resigned from the VA owing to excessive expenditures, rules are being tightened, and budgets are shrinking.
 
So what is the future of government conferencing? Are they still necessary for the good of government? Yes says Theo Mayer. But in a different form. Mayer is the cofounder and CTO of Hybrid.