OMB: No More Lavish Government Conferences

Originally posted by Elizabeth Flock on U.S. News

New guidelines from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget say it's time to cut back on conference spending in light of the sequester. In a document, the agency said it had "taken aggressive steps to curtail conference spending," such as ensuring conferences that cost more than $100,000 were approved by the head of an agency, hotel costs were within per diem rates, and that a cyber conference was considered before any in-person event was planned.

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Keynote Speakers Announced for MAGIC 2013

Originally posted by ConnellyWorks

Congressional, Industry and Government Leaders to Discuss Today's Top Contracting Challenges, Opportunities  

Herndon, VA--The Partnership for Procurement Excellence (PPE) today announced the keynote speakers for its annual Multiple Award Government and Industry Conference (MAGIC), to include the Honorable Gerald Connolly (D-VA); Thomas Sharpe, Commissioner of the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS); and Mike McConnell, Vice Chairman of Booz Allen Hamilton and former Director of National Intelligence.  MAGIC 2013 will be held July 10-12 at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, VA.

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U.S. senator introduces bill to ban federal events in top party cities

Originally posted by the Associated Press

Nevada's congressional representatives don't want the government to blacklist cities because they're too fun.

Republican Sen. Dean Heller introduced a bill Thursday to prevent lists of vacation destinations in which the government isn't allowed to stage an event. He says such policies could hurt tourism-driven cities such as Las Vegas and Reno.

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Government budget cuts begin to impact Orlando convention business

Originally posted by Megan Anderson on Orlando Business Journal

Cutbacks in government travel are beginning to have an impact on Orlando's convention business, Orlando Sentinel reports.

The most recent example was the cancellation of the General Services Administration's training forum, which would have brought a $13 million boost to the local economy, the Sentinel reports.

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Bring Federal Conferences Back to Las Vegas, Lawmakers Say

Originally posted by Kedar Pavgi on GovExec

A bipartisan group of House members from Nevada want to eliminate bans on federal agencies holding conferences in casinos or resort locations.

The bill--proposed by Republican Reps. Mark Amodei and Joe Heck, and Democratic Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford--says such prohibitions are counterproductive and unfairly target areas with high numbers of resort and vacation locations.

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