Issue link: https://tradeshowexecutive.epubxp.com/i/84572
SPOTLIGHT Government Departments Under Investigation and Review for Conference Spending BY DANICA TORMOHLEN, contributing editor Washington, DC – Te Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) Office is under investigation for conference spending at two four-day events for about 1,800 VA employees in July and August 2011 at the Marriott World Center in Orlando, FL. "Investigations are underway regarding the VA's authorization of approximately $9 million to hold a series of conferences last year in Florida," said Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. In addition, Rep. Darrell Issa, chair- man of the House Oversight and Govern- ment Reform Committee, has requested a review of 64 conferences produced by the Department of Defense from 2005 to 2011 that cost taxpayers more per attendee than the General Services Administration (GSA) 2010 Conference in Las Vegas, which sparked outrage for taxpayer expenditures used for a mind reader, commemorative coins, bicycles for a team-building exercise, and trips by GSA employees and their family members to the Las Vegas strip. To date, the committee has determined there are 152 government-sponsored conferences, produced by 10 agencies and departments, which spent more per attendee than the GSA 2010 conference. More may be added in the future. A Wakeup Call for All Organizers "Tis should serve as a wake-up call for our industry," said Steven Hacker, CAE, president of the International Association for Exhibitions & Events. "We need to do a better job of defining site inspections, and the valid role they play in planning process." Organizers typically start with four to five venues and then begin to narrow down their options through site inspections, he said. It can take two to four additional planning trips to nail down the requirements, depending on the size and complexity of the event. Rob Bergeron, acting executive direc- tor, Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP), added, "SGMP understands that significant scrutiny for government meetings will continue in the near term until appropriate spending lev- els have been established. A site inspection plays an important role in the planning process because it provides critical infor- mation to ensure that the meeting can be properly executed." While some of these expenses are allowed under government rules and regu- lations, the OIG said, "We are reviewing conference expenditures for compliance with government laws and regulations, the reasonableness and oversight of these expenditures, and whether actions taken by VA staff were in compliance with gov- ernment ethics and rules of behavior." "Government meeting planners are clearly the most vulnerable to scrutiny because they are using taxpayer dol- lars, but the government does have clear ethical policies and guidelines in place," Hacker told Trade Show Executive. "In every case we've seen recently, there's been an abuse of the existing policy. Tat doesn't mean the industry practices are incorrect, that means one or more individuals has abused the system." "Site visits and promotional products are another issue, and it's more common to see abuse in these areas," said Hacker. "Most organizations have ethics policies in place to address dollar limits and other qualitative measures, but there is no role whatsoever in having a spouse or other family mem- bers attend a site visit with an organizer. We have to do a better job of maintaining conduct that is unimpeachable." Te allegations of the VA's misuse of funds follows the news in April that the General Services Administration (GSA) spent more than $800,000 on a 2010 conference for government employees in Las Vegas — a fraction of the alleged costs of the VA conferences being investigated. Formal Review of Conference Spending On August 22, Issa sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta asking for additional documentation and information on the 64 conferences in question. "Te committee has analyzed thousands of documents obtained from federal agencies and citizen watchdogs related to conference spending in the executive branch," Issa wrote. "Any conference that cost taxpayers more per person than GSA's 2010 conference in Las Vegas raised a red flag." According to the committee, GSA's 2010 conference in Las Vegas cost taxpay- ers $3,002.20 per attendee for planning, travel, lodging, food and beverage, and activities for the duration of the confer- ence. It cost $600.44 per attendee per day for the five-day conference. In July, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also sent letters to nine other departments and agencies requesting additional documentation and information about 88 government-sponsored conferences that spent more per attendee than the GSA 2010 conference. Tose departments and agencies include the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Health & Human Services, Education, and Housing & Urban Development, as well as GSA, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Reach Amy Mitchell, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, at (202) 225-3527; Rob Bergeron at (703) 549-0892 or rob.bergeron@sgmp.org; Steven Hacker at (972) 458-8002 or shacker@iaee.com To read TSE's full report on this subject, go to www.tradeshowexecutive.com www.TradeShowExecutive.com | October 2012 35