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

› PCMA.ORG

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:

Lodging $134,000 M&IE $88,100 Airfare $133,932 Facility $0 Audiovisual $30,000 Basic F&B $34,119 TOTAL $420,551

JUNE 2012 PCMA CONVENE 15

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX WONG