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January 15, 2013 |
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Federal Employees Ditching Events |
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| Need a jumpstart in 2013? Join us for a Back to Business Schmoozarama on Wed., Jan. 16, from 6 to 8pm at Fujimar. Open bar and top networking. Sign up now! |
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| GSA’s Las Vegas scandal last year made government officials take a hard look at event budgets and policies. Legislation never passed, but a recent study shows trade shows and association meetings will have fewer federal employees in attendance. |
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| Nearly 40% of gov't employees say they’ll attend fewer educational and trade events in FY13 compared to last year, according to a Market Connections poll of 400 federal workers. (Pictured is CEA’s International trade show in Vegas.) The survey cites budgets and travel restrictions, as well as management not letting them attend. They also prefer smaller, content-specific events over large trade shows. And the majority of them prefer local events hosted by trade associations. Nearly 30% said they would attend the same number as last year and 5% said they would attend more. (These are the same 5% who called the fiscal cliff a "riveting thrill ride.") |
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| ASAE chief policy guru Jim Clarke spent much of last year convincing Congress that federal workers need to be able to attend meetings and events relevant to their mission. Two bills circulating through the House and Senate never made it to a vote before the session ended, and Jim hasn’t heard of new ones emerging in the near future. His focus is on an OMB directive for agencies to cut budgets for conferences and training by 20% from 2010 budget levels: “We know there’s going to be belt tightening across the board, but we don’t want to see situations where it’s pennywise and pound foolish.” |
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| Associations Get Real Estate Help |
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| ASAE has a new preferred provider arrangement with real estate firm Studley for members looking to lease or buy new office space. The partnership was struck to help members with the challenging process of expanding or looking for new space. Studley has a no-conflict policy in place where it won’t represent landlords, which was a major selling point with ASAE. EVP Tom Fulcher tells us the firm beat out others interested in getting ASAE’s “good housekeeping seal of approval.” |
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| The real estate market for associations will be a mixed bag this year, Tom adds, as some are affected by members ramping up lobbying efforts or others scaling back on association memberships because of federal cuts. Associations will get some favorable concessions from landlords if they fill space vacated by businesses shrinking their square footage. The firm will put together a benchmark survey so that associations can compare their real estate strategies with similar organizations. Studley will also have a national branding competition to see which associations and non-profits best represent their mission through their space design. |
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| The National Restaurant Association got the ball rolling. The 380k member trade group recently bought a 61k square foot office condo at 2055 L St, NW. The organization will occupy the 7th floor and has constructed an 8th floor, where it designed a showcase space that includes a rooftop terrace and 10 to 14 ft. ceilings. Monument Realty bought the building from Verizon in Feb. 2011 and spent nearly a year renovating it and refurbishing its facade. Before Monument closed on the purchase, it was receiving inquiries from associations interested in the large floor plates. |
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| Stout and Teague Maps Out Its Success |
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| Stout and Teague partners Richard Stout and Neel Teague celebrate their company’s 30th anniversary this April. The team started out at Gladstone Associates and Quadrangle Development with the intention of making the world a better place. Mission accomplished: they built the HQs for The National Wildlife Federation, The American Geophysical Union, and The Nature Conservancy. Soon, they switched from building to managing and leasing. Today, they are a full-service development company, which includes developing the areas surrounding the Huntington Metro and the future Silver Line location east of Dulles Airport. Neel says that the focus is not just on environmental, but energy as well (Stout & Teague is a devoted Energy Star partner). He adds that it’s been gratifying to see smart growth come forward. That's a long way from the earlier, more hostile days of the environmentalists vs. the developers. For more info on our sponsor, click here. |
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Grants For 20 Non-Profits |
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| At least 20 DC-based non-profits received over $350,000 in Community Impact Grants last week from the United Way National Capital Area. (Mayor Gray accepted on their behalf since 20 super sized checks would have filled the room.) The grants will go toward education, health, and financial stability. The organizations receiving grants: Ayuda; Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington; Byte Back; Children of Mine Center; Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place; DC Central Kitchen; Equal Rights Center; Ethiopian Community Center; Food & Friends; Georgetown Ministry Center; Iona Senior Services; Joseph’s House; Jubilee Jobs; Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care; New Futures; Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington; The Fishing School; Turning the Page; William Wendt Center for Loss and Hearing; and Young Women’s Christian Association of the National Capital Area. |
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| MLK Day of Service |
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| This Points of Light team may look calm now, but after this picture was snapped, they dashed back to planning one of the largest Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in the Washington region. The volunteer organiztion will gather 10,000 people to assemble kits for active service members and their families at the DC Armory. The Jan. 19 event, sponsored by Target, coincides with President Obama’s call for a National Day of Service. People will work in 2.5-hour shifts, packing kits full of hand sanitizer, lint rollers, bandages, toothpaste, and other supplies for the military. VP Jennifer Geckler tells us the biggest challenge is getting people’s attention to sign up during the holiday season. But since early January, signups have come at a steady pace, even getting 500 in one day. |
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| Send story ideas to tania.anderson@bisnow.com. |
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This newsletter is a journalistic news source which accepts no payment for featured interviews. It is supported by conventional advertisers clearly identified in the right hand column. You have been selected to receive it either through prior contact or professional association. If you have received it in error, please accept our apologies and unsubscribe at bottom of the newsletter. © 2013, Bisnow on Business, Inc., 1817 M St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. All rights reserved. |
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