Tag Archives: GSA

Army attendance at non-DOD conferences banned for the rest of the year

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Originally posted by Barry Rosenberg on Defense Systems

The fallout continues over the General Services Administration's $800,000 conference, with Secretary of the Army John McHugh suspending all Army attendance at non-Defense Department conferences for the remainder of the year.

"I am suspending Army attendance at non-DOD conferences between now and December 31, 2012, unless I previously approved attendance, for example, the AUSA Annual Meeting, or an exception is granted," wrote McHugh in an October 17 memorandum obtained by Defense Systems.

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Groups want scientists exempted from strict conference spending rules

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Originally posted by Kedar Pavgi on GovExec

New limits on conference spending are preventing federal scientists and engineers from collaborating and working on technical research, according to several organizations representing the scientific community.

In a letter dated Sept. 10, a group of scientific organizations asked the White House and members of Congress to exempt them from the restrictions on conferences.

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DoD bans entertainment, swag at conferences

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Originally posted by Jolie Lee on Federal News Radio

No more motivational speakers, musicians or promotional swag. The Defense Department is banning entertainment-related expenses at its conferences.

The Pentagon memo on conference oversight also prohibits conference participants from receiving gifts, such as tickets to recreational events outside of the conference. And DoD conference organizers can't use funds to produce videos not related to the conference.

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Veterans Affairs’ overspending at conferences linked to poor contract execution

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

Among the many lapses the Veterans Affairs Department may have committed in planning two lavish training conferences in Orlando, Fla., in 2011 was a failure to adhere to contracting procedures.

The inspector general's report on the $6.1 million pair of employee gatherings, which led to the resignation of the department's Chief Human Capital Officer John Sepulveda, focused mostly on overspending, wrongful acceptance of gifts by employees and unnecessary advance trips to plan the conferences.

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GSA reforms are improving efficiency, customer service

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Originally posted by Dan Tangherlini on Federal Times

More than 60 years ago, the General Services Administration was founded in the wake of World War II to deliver consistent and responsive services to federal agencies, services which would also ensure value to taxpayers. Today, everyone at GSA continues to take enormous pride in that mission and since April of this year, we have been engaged in an effort to refocus this agency on our core objective of providing effective and efficient service for the entire federal government.

At a time when every agency is coping with shrinking budgets and growing expectations, we know that the services GSA provides have never been more important. For the past five months, GSA has conducted a top-to-bottom review to examine how we operate and what reforms could be implemented to help the entire federal government give the American people the service they deserve.

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