WASHINGTON -- With its kitschy crooners, blackjack tables and luxury hotel rooms, Las Vegas is a popular destination for trade shows, tourists and newlyweds.
But no longer, it seems, with bureaucrats.
Federal agencies have all but abandoned Las Vegas and other resort destinations -- including Hawaii and Orlando -- for government meetings and conferences, following a number of high-profile agency travel scandals and budget cutbacks.
Originally posted by Jamie Dupree on ajc.com
Yet another federal agency is taking heat from the Congress for spending money on conferences, as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has asked the Department of Education to explain why it still plans to hold a large gathering in Las Vegas late this year, even as it makes cuts to deal with the sequester.
"The Administration is claiming that over a million students will lose access to support services and special education, but the Department of Education is still planning to hold a conference in December at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Vegas," Coburn said in a news release issued on Thursday.
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.
Originally posted on Chuck's Blog
EMC World is right over the horizon (May 6-9 in Las Vegas) and we're all busy making preparations.
If you're debating whether or not to attend, I'd strongly recommend it -- every year the event is more amazing: more content, more big ideas, more great people to interact with -- and (yes!) more fun stuff!
Originally posted by Josh Hicks on The Washington Post
The General Services Administration canceled the last of its national conferences scheduled for this year due to a lack of demand from agencies facing budget constraints, the administration announced Monday.
The GSA said it suspended its FedForum, which the agency had planned for July 16-18 in New Orleans, and its SmartPay training event, slated for Aug. 6-8 in Chicago.
Acting GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini.
The cancellations mark the second time in less than a month that the agency has called off major events due to a lack of demand. In February, the GSA suspended its annual expo and training conference.
"In the current fiscal climate, agencies and businesses alike have been forced to make tough spending cuts," the GSA said in a statement Monday. "After carefully reviewing the projected spending and attendance for this year's conferences, GSA will suspend both in an effort to use our resources more responsibly."
SmartPay is the federal government's charge-card program. Last year, more than 6,400 people attended the GSA's SmartPay training event in Las Vegas, but only 151 people had registered so far for this year's event in Chicago, according to the agency.
FedForum is an annual GSA training event relating to acquisition, motor vehicles, aviation, transportation, boats, real property, personal property, and green buildings.
GSA said only 192 people had registered for this year's event, compared to 211 at around the same time last year.
GSA spokeswoman Mafara Hobson said the agency was still determining how much savings the cancellations would create for the federal government.
Last year, former GSA Administrator Martha N. Johnson resigned, and a host of other top agency officials were fired or placed on leave amid reports of lavish spending at a regional conference near Las Vegas.
(Image by Alex Wong -- Getty Images)
