TIM LESMEISTER - Trade Show Executive

News
President Obama’s Remark About Las Vegas Brings Event
Travel to Forefront
By Hil Anderson, senior editor
Washington, DC – The issue of curbing
travel to meetings and trade shows was
in the media spotlight after President
Obama implied that trips for executives of
financial companies receiving emergency
taxpayer assistance were an unnecessary
excess.
The February 9 remark that CEOs
who accepted bailout funds “can’t go
take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to
the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime”
could not have come at a worse time for
Las Vegas and the meetings industry in
general. With corporate belt-tightening
rampant, anything else that might spook
companies into cancelling a trip because
of the potential public opinion fallout was
unwelcome news.
The flare up came as major travel
companies and the meetings and
exhibitions industry were taking the
offensive to prevent the public perception
that all business gatherings are leisure
junkets rather than the critical economic
activities that they are.
Mayor Oscar Goodman sent a letter
the next day to the White House asking for
an apology and pointing out that “events
in Las Vegas attract more delegates,
attract corporate decision-makers, and
keep convention delegates focused on
getting business done compared to other
destinations.”
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said
on the Senate floor that Obama’s chief
of staff, Rahm Emanuel, told him that
the president’s criticism was aimed at
unnecessary travel and not a swipe at Las
Vegas. “Mr. Emanuel made it clear to me
that President Obama’s criticism was aimed
at the potential use of taxpayer funds,”
Reid said. “We gave these banks a lot of
money and they shouldn’t be taking junkets
with any of the money, whether they are
going to Las Vegas or Los Angeles, New
York or Salt Lake City.”
At the same time, Wells Fargo ran
a full-page ad in The New York Times on
Sunday, February 9, defending incentive
travel for its employees. The ad, in the
form of a letter signed by John Stumpf,
president and CEO, accused the media of
being “deliberately misleading” and said
the misperceptions had forced it to cancel
its annual recognition events for its hardworking
employees.
“Who loses besides our team
members? The workers who depend on
our business,” wrote Stumpf, who added
that recognition events are not paid for by
government aid.
Industry Tackles Image Issue
Associations representing the meetings
industry have also been ramping up their
efforts to publicize the benefits of events.
The MeetDifferent conference held
by Meeting Professionals International
(MPI) in mid-February focused on the
so-called AIG effect, which is blamed for
the cancellation of a number of corporate
events. Sessions included a workshop on
restrictions placed on companies receiving
Federal assistance. Christine Duffy,
president and CEO of Maritz Travel and
a former chairwoman of MPI, told the
audience that President Obama’s $150
million inauguration was hardly an exercise
in restraint.
The Convention Industry Council on
February 17 became the latest association
to endorse a set of guidelines for
meetings planned by companies receiving
government help. The guidelines, which
cover issues such as cost and attendee
profiles, were developed by a large
coalition of industry associations with the
U.S. Travel Association in the lead. Other
member groups included the International
Association of Exhibitions and Events,
the Professional Convention Management
Association and the Financial and
Insurance Conference Planners.
Reach Rossi Ralenkotter, president and
CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and
Visitors Authority, at (702) 892-2800 or
rralenkotter@lvcva.com; Bruce MacMillan,
MPI president and CEO, at (972) 702-
3001 or bmacmillan@mpiweb.org; CIC
Executive Director Eric Allen at (571) 527-
3116 or eallen@kellencompany.com
Meeting Travel Guidelines Gain Steam
By Hil Anderson, senior editor
Washington, DC – The Convention
Industry Council (CIC) formally endorsed
guidelines on meetings and incentive travel
for companies receiving Federal financial
assistance.
The guidelines are for executives who
find themselves under fire for traveling to
business meetings, conferences and other
events that for years were considered
prudent and routine but are now being
labeled by the press, public and politicians
as unnecessary and overly extravagant
junkets.
“We support the recently-developed
Guidelines for Meetings, Events and Incentive
Travel for entities receiving government
assistance and urge America’s elected
leaders to ensure that their actions do not
impede the legitimate critical meetings
and events necessary to support U.S.
corporations’ and associations’ business
missions,” the CIC said in a statement.
The criticism of executive travel
expenses and salary packages has
been focused on companies receiving
emergency financial assistance from
Washington. There is also concern that
public perceptions will put a damper
on travel by other companies at a time
when the economic downturn is already
forcing them to cancel their own business
meetings and cut back on travel to trade
shows and conferences.
The guidelines project was spearheaded
by the U.S. Travel Association in
partnership with a coalition of industry
organizations including the International
Association of Exhibitions and Events
(IAEE) and the Professional Convention
Management Association (PCMA).
The CIC’s 34 member associations
represent more than 103,500 individuals
and 19,500 organizations involved in the
meetings, conventions and exhibitions
industry including IAEE; PCMA; the
Center for Exhibition Industry Research
(CEIR); the Exhibition Services and
Contractors Association (ESCA); the
International Association of Assembly
Managers (IAAM); and the American
8 March 2009 Trade Show Executive www.TradeShowExecutive.com