Tag Archives: Government Executive

GSA Offers Online Training in Conference Etiquette

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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.

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Veterans Affairs’ overspending at conferences linked to poor contract execution

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

Among the many lapses the Veterans Affairs Department may have committed in planning two lavish training conferences in Orlando, Fla., in 2011 was a failure to adhere to contracting procedures.

The inspector general's report on the $6.1 million pair of employee gatherings, which led to the resignation of the department's Chief Human Capital Officer John Sepulveda, focused mostly on overspending, wrongful acceptance of gifts by employees and unnecessary advance trips to plan the conferences.

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Survey: Feds can and should continue attending conferences

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

As the Obama administration and Congress continue a crackdown on agency spending for travel and conferences, a clear majority of federal employees believe such gatherings are important and that their supervisors remain open to their participation, a new survey shows.

An online poll conducted in mid-August by Government Executive's research division, the Government Business Council, drew from employees at 30 agencies some 350 usable responses addressing the value of attending conferences at a time of embarrassing news stories detailing overspending at off-site events by agencies such as the General Services Administration and the Veterans Affairs Department.

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GSA freezes per diem rates at 2012 levels

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Originally posted by Kellie Lunney on Government Executive

Government travel per diem rates will not change in fiscal 2013, according to the General Services Administration.

GSA announced Tuesday that it will freeze fiscal 2013 travel reimbursement rates for lodging and other related expenses at fiscal 2012 levels. The move is part of the Office of Management and Budget's directive to agencies to reduce all travel spending in fiscal 2013 by 30 percent compared to fiscal 2010.

"By keeping per diem rates at current levels, we are supporting federal agencies in controlling costs and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used wisely," acting GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini said in a statement.

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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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