You may have heard the news by now. If not, though, let me catch you up. FCW recently reported that the General Services Administration (GSA) is considering implementing a Meetings Management Program (MMP) for itself.

“The MMP would offer a disciplined, enterprise-wide approach to managing conferences and events, including the activities, processes, suppliers and data regarding the meetings,” Matthew Weigelt reported. “The program would aim to save money, mitigate risk and improve meetings overall. The scope of the services, or level of complexity an agency orders, would be based on each agency’s own requirements.”

What could this mean for the industry at large?

“When the GSA scandal broke, we all questioned why the agency wasn’t responding with data showing that its meeting was worth the spend,” said Jessie States, MPI’s content and education manager. “The lack of this information directly reflected our own research—that less than five percent of meetings are measured for business value. But we’re seeing more interest in this area. Measurement and strategic meetings management sessions are becoming more popular among our members and at our partner events. It’s with this knowledge that I’m pleased, but not necessarily surprised, by the news that GSA has launched an MMP. The next time taxpayers question a GSA events’ necessity, the agency will have the facts it needs to present a business case.”

GSA officials wrote in a Request for Information that the corporate world has adopted meeting management programs, and that they’re seeking to see how a similar program would work on the federal level.

“A MMP would afford a government agency the ability to tailor meetings management to meet their needs while controlling meeting spend, and consolidating meeting and event planning into a centralized planning office,” the RFI says. “MMP offers a comprehensive approach to what has been a decentralized function.”

GSA’s direction toward centralization is a positive step forward, says Roger Rickard, founder of Voices In Advocacy and president of Revent. 

“Any attempt by government to become more efficient and effective in the meeting process should be seen as a positive sign that GSA understands the organizational value of face-to-face engagement,” he said.

Still, contracting services may not be the best approach.

“There are so many highly qualified federal government planners—some with CMPs, some with CGMPs—who could do this versus contracting it out,” said Joan Eisenstodt of Eisenstodt Associates LLC. “If I understand what was written, they want to contract this, thinking it will save money. Why in the world would they do that when most government contractors have mark-up on their prices, when the Feds have qualified people, when, through the Society of Government Meeting Professionals, they could get assistance to put internal staff in place?”

That’s a great question, and one of many to consider about this topic. What do you think? Please let us know in the comments. 

First the General Services Administration (GSA). Now the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). According to several news sources, the VA has wasted taxpayer money at recent conferences.

"The VA's OIG [office of inspector general] released a 142-page report portraying a sweeping lack of oversight and confused accounting for expenses, which it said topped $6 million for two training conferences in Orlando, Florida, last year," reported Phil Stewart for Reuters. "It calculated that $762,000 of that total was either 'unauthorized, unnecessary and/or wasteful expenses.'"

One of the wasteful expenses include a parody video shown at an event in Orlando to inspire a crowd of HR professionals. There were also acts of gift receiving.

"Adding to the vacation-like atmosphere of the events, the watchdog found at least 11 VA employees accepted illegal gifts from hotels and other vendors seeking their business in connection with the conferences," reported John Solomon for the Washington Guardian. "VA officials toured three cities before choosing Orlando as the conference destination.

"The gifts they accepted during the selection process and subsequent conferences ranged from free lodging, room upgrades and limo rides to meals, gift baskets, gift cards, spa massages, Rockettes show tickets and a helicopter ride, the inspector general reported."

"Still, an OIG official told reporters on a conference call that there did not appear to be any 'quid pro quo,' with planners demanding gifts in exchange for deals with contractors," Stewart reported.

The VA's assistant secretary for human resources and administration, John Sepulveda, has resigned, and two employees have been put on leave. 

As we've learned from the GSA experience, these news stories can quickly get out of control. So, it's more important than ever that you help support meeting industry advocacy. Associations can't do it alone; we need the help of the members to advocate. To learn how, please visit our One Industry. One Voice. page. 

Want an easy, first step to becoming an advocate? Make your voice heard loud and clear. Regardless of what country you call home, voting is the easiest way to become an advocate. As industry advocate Roger Rickard told more than 200 MPI chapter leaders at the most recent MPI Chapter Business Summit: Connecting Leaders Conference, "If we as an industry can stand up and say that we are meeting professionals and 100 percent of us voted in the last election, that carries a lot of weight." 

So, if you're a U.S. meeting professional and haven't registered for the upcoming election, here's a link to Rock the Vote: https://register2.rockthevote.com/registrants/new?partner=2251. But don't delay, depending on which state you live in, the deadline could be as early as October 6.

There are some new developments about the attack on our industry due to the GSA fallout since our last update (e.g., the Executive Order from the President). While there have been some positive steps led by ASAE, the way many people have not reacted reminds me of a famous social psychology study conducted in the 1960s about individuals responding better to a crisis than groups in the same situation. In the study, Columbia University students sat in a room filling out a survey. Some students were left alone, while others were in rooms with two other students. As they filled out the survey, smoke poured into the room through a vent. It continued to flow into the room until there was a haze. 

The resulting actions were quite amazing. Of the students sitting alone, 75 percent of them got up and notified someone about the smoke. However, of the three-student groups, a meager 38 percent of them reported the smoke. They sat there, breathing in smoke, each looking to the other to do something. 

For the meeting industry, that smoke pouring into the room is proposed U.S. government legislation that will limit government spending on and participation in conferences. These proposals are due to the GSA fallout. Last week, ASAE and other industry organizations delivered a letter to Congress with 2,100 signatures on it asking the government to reconsider these proposals introduced in the House and Senate. 

Think about that. Out of an industry of tens of thousands of meeting professionals, only 2,100 people signed the letter. That's unacceptable if we want our industry to survive (i.e., One Industry. One Voice.). 

We've offered several ways you can get involved. However, information can only go so far without action. It's imperative that you do something, because behavior is very contagious. Either you sit there and let the smoke in or you get up and let someone know about it. Either way, this industry's life is in your hands. 

The General Services Administration just didn't follow them. 

And the U.S. Travel Association has preemptively submitted suggested legislation on government travel in the wake of a scandal that has rocked the event sector. (Not sure what that is, click here.) The proposal would strengthen oversight of government conferences and ensure that federal agencies can still use meetings and conferences to provide valuable services. (For the full proposal, click here.)

U.S. Travel is now meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to advocate its proposal, while dissuading members of Congress from supporting other measures that could have unintended consequences for the meeting industry. U.S. Travel is also continuing to focus resources on informing lawmakers of the value of meetings, events and conferences. 

The organization recommends that Congress: 

• Extend and enhance oversight provisions enacted in FY2012 by requiring federal agencies to report all conference-related expenditures and conference contracting procedures to its inspector general at the end of each fiscal year and
• Ensure that agencies select conference locations based solely on cost-effectiveness by permanently eliminating the “blacklisting” of American cities for government conferences and meetings.

As concerned members of the meeting and event industry you are undoubtedly aware of and following closely the escalating state of affairs surrounding the General Services Administration (GSA). We, at MPI, have been closely monitoring and reporting the story to you throughout the month of April on MPI’s blogs and website. 

On April 25, the US House and Senate both voted to approve two separate amendments to two separate proposed pieces of legislation that would strictly limit the spending by government agencies for the purposes of holding future conferences and events (see the amendment language and MPI’s specific concerns here). We are especially concerned that potential ripple effects of this legislation will be felt by all MPI members—not just those in the government sector.   

It is important to note that the proposed legislation has not yet received approval from both houses of Congress and is a long way from being signed into law by President Obama—so there is still time for us to stand up and have our voices heard. We are therefore working closely with ASAE and other industry associations, as well as the US Travel Association, to inform and educate legislators of the potential impact, unintended or otherwise, that this legislation will have on the US economy if signed into law. You can join the collective meeting and event industry’s effort by sending your own letter (click here for a sample) to your Congressmen (find your Congressmen’s contact info here).     

Along with sending your own letter, MPI also encourages you sign on to ASAE’s industry-wide petition to Congress. ASAE will be collecting support before sending an open letter to Congress representing our industry.   

Our industry’s message is simple: The gross mismanagement of any public trust should be dealt with immediately and stridently, which it has been. But, that the across-the-board imposition restricting government employee attendance at conferences and events is also negligent and irresponsible and will only further disrupt our nation’s recovering economy.   

Now more than ever, it is vital that we stand together as the MPI community and also that we properly prepare ourselves to clearly describe to anyone the diverse business value of face-to-face events. MPI offers its members an arsenal of tools to aide in the preparation for these presentations.   

MPI will continue to closely monitor the situation and will post regular updates for you on our website (www.mpiweb.org). 

UPDATE: After press time we learned that Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-Nevada) has introduced a bill to ensure that Las Vegas is not blacklisted for future meetings and conferences following Congressional hearings focused on GSA spending for a meeting in that city. U.S. Travel strongly supports this legislation and will advocate for quick action on the bill in the U.S. House. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) plans to introduce a similar bill.

UPDATE NO. 2: (From the U.S. Travel Association) "In addition to the letter by ASAE, U.S. Travel is undertaking an effort on Capitol Hill to ensure that the Senator Tom Coburn's (R-OK) amendment and similar proposals do not permanently harm the meetings, convention and events industry. We will be meeting with lawmakers to improve several provisions of the DATA Act (H.R. 2146) and the '21st Century Postal Service Act' (S. 1789), which indiscriminately cut federal travel budgets and require federal agencies to post competitive pricing information on the Internet for all government conferences. For your convenience, U.S. Travel has compiled a one-pager of talking points related to the GSA's actions and the current situation."