NEWS AND NOTES FOR THE MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS INDUSTRY
Wonderland The Canadian Cancer Society's Annual Ball was a fantastical event (p. 21).
Public Speaking GSA Acting Administrator Daniel Tangherlini testified at a Senate hearing on GSA conference spending in April.
Congressional Fallout and Industry Pushback Over GSA
T
he controversy surrounding the wildly over-budget General Services Administration (GSA) conference outside Las Vegas has made the front pages, triggered congressional hearings —
and produced a sustained response from industry organizations as well as individual meeting professionals. As of press time, both houses of Congress had passed legislation that
if enacted would cut spending on non-military government conferences to 80 percent of its 2010 level, cap spending on individual conferences at $500,000, and impose strict reporting requirements on federal agencies’ conference expenditures. Similarly, in May, the Office of Management and Budget issued “guidance” that among other things
Line Items Russell Kraus, CMP, crunched the numbers for a hypothetical three-day, 300-attendee government meeting in Richmond, Va., where the federal per-diem rates are $112 for lodging and $66 for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE), and estimated round-trip airfare is $446.44: