As budgets tighten, conference costs eyed
By MOLLIE ZIEGLER
Federal Times
August 17, 2006
Conference spending may face increased scrutiny in coming months. On Aug. 3, the Senate approved a $70 million cap on conference spending for the Defense Department in 2007. The measure, pushed by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., was passed after reports that 36,000 military and civilian employees spent an average of $2,200 per conference. Nearly 15 percent of the 6,600 conferences were held in Florida, Las Vegas and Hawaii, Coburn said.
It’s normal for training and conference funds to be targeted during tight budget times, said John Palguta, vice president of the Partnership for Public Service, a Washington nonprofit that promotes public service.
“Given budget projections, there’s going to be continued scrutiny of the proportion of training monies spent on sending people to conferences,” he said.
The increased scrutiny is based in part on the rapid growth of overall conference budgets. Defense’s conference budget grew from $62.3 million in 2001 to $79.2 million in 2005. Coburn estimated that overall federal conference expenses have topped $1.4 billion since 2000.
There’s no question that there’s a growth in conferences, said Ken Allen, executive director of the Industry Advisory Council and the American Council for Technology. But much of that is because of technological advances that require federal managers to stay on top of what’s happening, he said.
Conferences help participants learn better ways to do their jobs, become aware of new, more efficient technologies and develop beneficial relationships with people inside and outside government, said Allen. His groups hold conferences throughout the year in Washington hotels and resorts in Philadelphia, Virginia and Florida. While the conferences are valuable, Allen said, concrete performance measures are difficult to come by.
“How do you measure the value of information you acquire at an event?” he asked.
Responding to increased government oversight should be easy, Palguta said. Managers need to make sure that training is used to advance program goals and not as a reward.
“Attendance at a conference should meet a strategic need,” he said.
Managers should also incorporate teleconferencing and remote learning into their budgets, he said. But managers need to pay heed to the limitations of teleconferences.
“You don’t have quite the same exchange of ideas and viewpoints in conversation.”
Senator Tom Coburn
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
|
|
