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Limitations on Conference Attendance by Federal S&Es

Limitations on Conference Attendance by Federal S&Es. Brendan Godfrey and Sandra Biedron 3 November 2012 NPSS AdCom Meeting. OMB Memo 12-12 (May 2012). Applies at level of Departments and Agencies Reduce annual travel costs by 30 % relative to FY2010

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Limitations on Conference Attendance by Federal S&Es

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  1. Limitations on Conference Attendanceby Federal S&Es Brendan Godfrey and Sandra Biedron 3 November 2012 NPSS AdCom Meeting

  2. OMB Memo 12-12 (May 2012) • Applies at level of Departments and Agencies • Reduce annual travel costs by 30% relative to FY2010 • Meeting costs exceeding $100k require Dep Secretary approval • Meeting costs exceeding $500k usually not permitted • Meeting costs include travel, per diem, registration, but not salary; $2K per attendee implies 50 attendees max from a federal dept • Does not apply to contractors and grantees • Mission-essential meetings exempted • Substantial variation in how organizations implement policy • DoE implementation seems especially draconian • Whether conference grants included varies by department • Ninety day approval process typical • Implementation processes still in flux

  3. Limited Impact Data to Date • 2012 AAS National Conference cancelled • Attributed to loss of NASA attendees • 2012 AMS Conference lost 100 of 130 NOAA attendees at last minute • Total attendance dropped 20% (500 to 400) • 2012 ISS R&D Conference lost many NASA attendees • 2012 Applied Superconductivity Conference • 134 Government attendees (DOE, NIST, NASA, DOD) • 54 DOE attendees, 23 DOE cancellations

  4. Future Impact Estimates Mixed • 2012 APS/DPP projecting 250 attendee loss (out of 1700) • 2012 Supercomputing Conference projecting 392 DOE attendees (down 172 from 2011), no DoE booths • 2012 NSS/MIC projecting 120 fewer US Gov attendees • 2013 NSREC projecting negligible impact • 2013 PAS awaiting DOE approval; projecting 30% attendance loss • 2013 PPPS organizers expect decreased attendance • 2011 ICOPS/SOFE would have lost 40 DOE (out of 709) • 2012 Pulsed Power would have lost about 30 (out of 577) • 2012 ICOPS suffered large last minute attendance drop

  5. IEEE-USA, Others Seeking Relief • IEEE-USA very active • Letters to Congress – http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2012/050912.pdfhttp://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2012/051812.pdf • Letter to OSTP - http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2012/091012.pdf • In discussions with OMB, Congressional staff • Position Paper approved - http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/positions/profconferences1012.pdf • Part of multi-society committee -http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2012/IEEE050712.pdf • ACM, CRA, SIAM letters to Congress, agencies • ACS, APS public letter of concern - • http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/248553-federaltravel-restrictions-will-hamper-innovation-stunt-economic-growth

  6. Suggestions for Conference Organizers • Advice from OMB: • Promote conferences based on technical importance, not attractive venue, etc. • Organizers consider contacting agencies likely to limit attendance to particular conferences • Estimate federal travel restriction impact • Determine attendee numbers by department in recent past years • Unlikely that more than 50 per agency will attend now • Plan accordingly • Share information with IEEE-USA R&D Policy Committee • Consider sharing views with decision makers • President, Congress, OMB, OSTP

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