GSA Cancels 2013 Expo Over Budget Concerns

Nearly a year after inciting the biggest meetings scandal of 2012, the General Services Administration (GSA) is once again making headlines. This time, however, it’s not for holding a meeting. It’s for canceling one.

The GSA came under fire in spring 2012 when it was revealed that GSA employees spent $823,000 on travel, catering and entertainment for a 2010 government conference in Las Vegas. GSA chief Martha Johnson resigned over the incident, which sparked a series of investigations and hearings over government spending on meetings and events.

The GSA’s latest brouhaha came last week when the agency announced it had canceled its 2013 GSA Training and Expo conference — scheduled for May — due to the “current fiscal climate.”

Reads a statement on the meeting’s website:

“The GSA Training and Expo has provided a valuable forum for our partners to receive acquisition training. Expo has also created opportunities for government and industry to interact for the benefit of the American people.

“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 conference, GSA is suspending Expo for 2013 in an effort to use our resources responsibly and to deliver better value and savings for our government partners, our vendors and the American people.”

Unlike last year’s news-making, reactions to this year’s has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Federal News Radio, who cited responses from industry groups like the Coalition for Government Procurement (CGP), which represents many Expo attendees.

“This will not hurt GSA or vendor customers,” CBP President Roger Waldron told Federal News Radio, remarking that GSA is “demonstrating leadership … in uncertain times.” “It’s a matter of recognizing the time and budget situation. It would not have worked to have the conference. This was a good business decision for the taxpayer.”

Although government observers support the decision, it’s unclear how the meetings industry feels about the cancellation, as it has not yet issued a formal response.