With tight budgets in the wake of the sequester, the General Services Administration has decided to cancel two conferences scheduled for later this year in a bid to save money.
"As federal agencies are closely examining their budgets and making tough spending cuts, GSA has made the decision to suspend this year’s FedForum and SmartPay conferences. With less demand, and low attendance due to budget constraints, we are adjusting to the needs of our agency partners," read a statement issued by the GSA on Monday morning.
No estimate was provided by the GSA on exactly how much money would be saved; the two conferences that will be scrapped were the FedForum scheduled for July 16-18 in New Orleans and the SmartPay conference, set for August 6-8 in Chicago.
"After carefully reviewing the projected attendance for this year's conference, GSA is suspending FedForum for 2013 in an effort to use our resources responsibly, and deliver better value and savings for our government partners, our vendors, and the American people," read the FedForum conference web site.
Last August, the GSA defended the SmartPay conferences, arguing they are needed to "educate agency charge card managers from across the government."
Here was the statement issued today from a GSA spokesman:
“The GSA SmartPay and FedForum conferences serve as valuable forums for charge card management and fleet and personal property professionals governmentwide. However, in the current fiscal climate, agencies and businesses alike have been forced to make tough spending cuts. After carefully reviewing the projected spending and attendance for this year’s conferences, GSA will suspend both in an effort to use our resources more responsibly and to deliver better value and savings for our government partners, our vendors, and the American people.”
Here are some other bullet points issued by the GSA today as well:
How much is GSA saving?
GSA is still determining costs and savings, but is confident that canceling both conferences is the most fiscally responsible action to take at this time. In addition, federal agencies will avoid travel and registration costs.
How many vendors were expected?
FedForum - Roughly 200 booths were sold and 72 vendors registered as of March 8, 2013.
GSA SmartPay - The GSA SmartPay Conference does not sell booth space .
How much did GSA spend on marketing?
Zero. GSA hasn't paid for marketing services.
How many registered attendees?
FedForum- 120 federal employees and 72 industry
GSA SmartPay - 151
How does that compare to last year's numbers?
FedForum- Compared to this time last year, there were approximately 211 FedForum registrants.
GSA SmartPay- Compared to this time last year, there were 3,620 registered GSA SmartPay attendees.
With tight budgets in the wake of the sequester, the General Services Administration has decided to cancel two conferences scheduled for later this year in a bid to save money. "As federal agencies are closely examining their budgets and making tough spending cuts, GSA has made the decision to suspend ...
