Worldwide — whose Capital Hilton in Wash- ington, D.C., hosted the conference where the alleged $16 muffins were served — issued a statement challenging its conclusions. “Hilton Worldwide … says the [$16] price included not only breakfast baked goods but also fresh fruit, coffee, tea, soft drinks, tax, and tips,” the Post reported. “It says the report misinterpreted its invoices, which often use shorthand and don’t reflect the full menu and service provided.” The Convention Industry Council followed that up with a lengthy statement from CEO Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, who noted that the “all-inclusive price of $16 per person … compares very favorably to the prices paid by the United States Senate for services provided by its own caterer.” Kotowski said: “What the objective eye of an accountant could not cap-
“The information was improperly looked at, analyzed, and reported.”
ture merely by looking at banquet checks from hotel bills were other factors, such as whether it was more cost-effective to bring people together in one location than other methods of training and whether the outcomes of those live sessions are more effective.” In his Convene interview, Sadler said
that the DOJ report was another case of meetings being used “as a scapegoat for what’s going on in the economy.” He add- ed: “This administration has been attack- ing meetings and attacking the hospitality industry. When they took office, they went right to blacklisting cities.” Now, Sadler said, it’s on meeting and hospitality professionals to be more precise and descriptive in preparing invoices. “The hotel people need to have a more detailed bill for the government, before the government issues [a form] of its own to fill out,” Sadler said. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. That’s prob- ably where we would try to help, so this type of misinterpretation couldn’t happen again.” n