Originally posted by Jason Miller on Federal News Radio
Another senior official at the Veterans Affairs Department is out because of the conference spending scandal.
Alice Muellerweiss, the dean of VA's Learning University, resigned today.
"VA has taken administrative action against two career senior executives named in the OIG report," a VA spokeswoman said in a statement. "One employee has subsequently resigned. The other employee has been reassigned to other duties."
Originally posted by Brittany Ballenstedt on GovExec
This year has not brought the most positive of headlines for the General Services Administration, particularly after revelations agency officials spent excessively at an over-the-top Las Vegas training conference that featured a mind reader, bicycle giveaways and extravagant receptions.
But now the agency is using that "mistake" as a catalyst for an effort to train other employees on conference etiquette, a topic that will serve as one of the first courses of its new virtual training program set to launch in January, Lauren Concklin, a marketing analyst with GSA, said Thursday during a webinar sponsored by GovLoop.
Originally posted by Chris Scott on CTO Vision
When a handful of people from GSA became famous for waste and fraud in a lavish conference in Las Vegas, DoD was forced to peer inside a can of worms. As we grappled with providing support to two simultaneous war fronts, the increased budgets fueled an increase in Conferences by Government and other Industry/Government partnerships, such as AFCEA and NDIA. The benefits from these events can be numerous: many great minds can be gathered in one place (usually a really NICE place) to receive updates on DoD matters, to view the exhibits of existing and upcoming technologies, and to network and solve problems. Now, however, as we face budget cuts associated with the ramp-down (and the threat of sequestration), these conferences are undergoing an exacting scrutiny.
Originally posted by Allan Rubin on immix Group Blog
R.I.P., AFITC.
As many of you know, the Air Force IT Conference held each August in Montgomery, Alabama was cancelled this past year. It had been held annually since 1983 and was the largest IT conference within the Department of Defense.
Now it looks like it's not coming back.
According to an announcement on Friday by Montgomery AFCEA President Joe Besselman, "the Air Force has no plans to ever restart an Air Force-led conference like AFITC." Besselman continued: "...the earliest one could expect a conference similar in nature is 2014. AFCEA International is working with the Air Force to gauge the need, content, and potentially the location."
This provides further evidence that DoD in particular is looking to consolidate trade shows and conferences to eliminate duplication and save taxpayer money. I'm all for that, but this takes a great marketing vehicle off the table for those looking to pitch their offerings to the Air Force IT community. This show was always a source of qualified leads and great relationship-building opportunities for us.
For those immixGroup clients who need to find a way to stay in front of this community, please contact us and we'll see what we can do. The Montgomery AFCEA chapter hosts a number of other events, including MITS 2013 in June. There's a tentative Air Force Industry Day event planned for the same time.
As I said in a previous post, keep your marketing plans and budgets fluid this year to accommodate changes like this. More are coming.
Originally posted by Barry Rosenberg on Defense Systems
The fallout continues over the General Services Administration's $800,000 conference, with Secretary of the Army John McHugh suspending all Army attendance at non-Defense Department conferences for the remainder of the year.
"I am suspending Army attendance at non-DOD conferences between now and December 31, 2012, unless I previously approved attendance, for example, the AUSA Annual Meeting, or an exception is granted," wrote McHugh in an October 17 memorandum obtained by Defense Systems.
