Tag Archives: Florida

IG report cites failed leadership in wasteful VA conference spending

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Originally posted by Jack Moore on Federal News Radio

Two Veterans Affairs Department training conferences held last summer in Orlando, Fla., contained as much as $762,000 in wasteful spending and were plagued by poor planning and oversight, according to an inspector general report released Monday.

In the report, the IG said although the conferences were held for legitimate purposes, agency leadership "failed to provide proper oversight in the planning and execution" of the two conferences. Specifically, Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration John Sepulveda "abdicated his responsibilities" by failing to provide guidance to agency senior executives and taking a "hands-off approach."

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VA held nearly 1,000 conferences during the past two and a half years

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Originally posted by Bob Brewin on NextGov

The Veterans Affairs Department held 948 conferences -- about one per day -- attended by 50 or more employees between January 2009 and June 2012, according to a contract notice posted Friday on the Federal Business Opportunities website seeking outside help analyzing the department's conference planning and spending practices after VA Secretary Eric Shinseki ordered a comprehensive review.

In an Aug. 16 letter to Shinseki, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, pointed out that W. Todd Grams, the department's chief financial officer, disclosed at a Nov. 15, 2011, hearing that VA's conference spending totaled "a little more than $100 million" in fiscal 2011 and $92 million in 2009.

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Cvent Reveals the Top 50 U.S. Meetings Destinations for 2012

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Originally posted by Terri Hardin on Cvent

Cvent, the leader in cloud-based event management solutions, today announced the top 50 cities for meetings and events in the United States, according to meeting and event booking activity in the Cvent Supplier Network. Cvent operates the number one marketplace for group meetings business in the world, expecting to source $7 billion of meetings business in 2012.

"Meetings and conventions are important revenue generators for cities, supporting not only the meeting venues and hotels, but also local restaurants, entertainment and numerous other businesses within the city," said Bharet Malhotra, Vice President of Sales for the Cvent Supplier Network. "Cvent's role in the meetings ecosystem is to connect venues and planners to facilitate efficient and informed meeting booking. As the single largest marketplace for meetings activity, we have an excellent feel for which cities and properties are popular and growing, and the data to back it up."

VA limits purchasing authority amid probe of pricey conferences

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Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has rescinded the purchasing authority of employees in the departmental division under investigation for two conferences that cost $5 million and may have involved inappropriate gifts. Shinseki also has set up a 90-day independent review of Veteran Affairs Department training policies, VA announced.

In a statement released after news broke Monday that human resources employees at conferences in Florida in July and August 2011 may have accepted thousands of dollars' worth of gifts that included alcohol, concert tickets and spa visits, the department also said it is conducting new ethics training for all personnel involved with the planning and execution of conferences and recertification of contract specialists.

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Veterans Affairs faces probe of spending on two conferences

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

In yet another agency conference controversy, the Veterans Affairs Department is under investigation for allegedly spending $5 million on two human resources training conferences at which employees may have received improper gifts, according to a Federal Times story published Monday night.

Citing unnamed sources in the VA inspector general's office, the report said tens of thousands of dollars may have gone to multiple trips in preparation for two conferences in Orlando, Fla., in July and August 2011. Employees are said to have received thousands of dollars in promotional items as gifts, including alcohol, concert tickets and spa visits, the publication said.

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