|
|
 |
ADVERTISEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
|
ADVERTISEMENT
Nominate your favorite hotels, resorts, and conference centers for
Financial & Insurance Meetings’ 2009 Premium Circle Awards, and
you’ll be automatically entered to win a special vacation package,
courtesy of Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, Florida. Click here for
more information.
|
 |
Regulatory Update
|
|
SEC Fines RBC for Gift Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined RBC
Capital Markets Corp. $125,000 for using bond proceeds to reimburse
itself for providing gifts, travel, and entertainment to one of its
municipal clients—identified in SEC documents as “The City.” These
expenses were related to trips to New York City in 2004 and 2005 for the
clients to meet with bond rating agencies.
During the 2004 trip, hotel stays for “The City” officials and their
family members cost $8,958, and they spent more than $7,000 at several
New York restaurants. They also spent an additional $7,250 on Broadway
plays and a New York Knicks basketball game, while a car service
dispatched them around the city at a cost of $8,883.
In 2005, travel expenses for “The City” officials and their families
jumped to $13,262 for hotel costs and $8,450 for Broadway shows and
opera performances.
According to the SEC, RBC acted in violation of the fair dealing, gifts
and gratuities, and supervisory rules of the Municipal Securities
Rulemaking Board by using bond proceeds to pay for these travel and
entertainment expenses.
|
|
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
The First Online Social Network for Meeting Professionals
Get instant access to answers, advice, and reviews written by meeting
professionals—at no cost. Join
Meetings Collaborative, the first online community for meeting
pros. Browse 1,000+ hotel reviews. Write your own. Stay informed
through the discussion forum, industry columnist Joan Eisenstodt,
industry calendar, and more. Take a
Look!
|
|
Financial and Insurance Newsline
|
|
Industry Planners Forced Into Hiding
While surveys
and conversations with industry planners indicate that many financial
and insurance companies are continuing to hold meetings and recognition
events, the current environment is forcing many planners to run for
cover.
“Because of the continuing perception problems and witch hunt for
‘boondoggles,’ corporate communication policies will not allow us to
speak our minds,” said one planner whose company is moving forward
with an international recognition program this spring. “Those of us
who work for well-run, fiscally responsible companies can’t celebrate
our success by talking openly about the value of our meetings. We have
to fly under the radar. At some point this madness has to stop.”
Among the non-TARP-funded
companies recently forced to cancel meetings is Brick Street Mutual
Insurance Co. of Charleston, W.V., which canceled its annual agents’
meeting this year based on perception issues, not financial duress.
In an attempt to counter the media and perception crisis, a coalition of
industry organizations, led by the U.S. Travel Association, launched a
new information and advertising campaign last week called “Meetings
Mean Business.”
|
|
|
FICP Beat
|
|
FICP Webinar on Strategic Value
If you are among the growing ranks of industry planners
trying not only to cut costs, but to show how your meetings bring return
on investment to your company, you can get some hands-on tips from an
FICP webinar next week. Michele Wierzgac, CMM, is leading the webinar,
called “10 Strategies to Maximize Your Value,” on Wednesday, March
18.
Participants will also learn to make a strategic difference by better
positioning their departments to meet their organizations’ current and
future strategic challenges, and they will learn how how to develop an
action plan.
Visit www.ficpnet.com
for more information and to register.
|
|
|
Meeting Strategies
|
|
Have Your Say on Green Meetings
Standards
Momentum is building toward identifying voluntary
industry standards for green meetings and events, and you are invited to
have a say. The APEX (Accepted Practices Exchange) Green Meetings and
Events Practice Panel—comprising meetings industry volunteers and
stakeholders, including the Environmental Protection Agency—has
identified nine best-practices topic areas. Starting next week,
discussion groups in 10 cities in the United States and Canada will
weigh in on the first three: destinations, meeting venues, and
transportation.
“These standards are going to bring about a seismic shift,” says
APEX panel member Kim Boriin, CMP, events marketing specialist, Guardian
Investor Services LLC, and FICP vice president, education. “Once the
standards are adopted by the EPA’s procurement department, we are all
going to have the opportunity to partner with our suppliers to very
quickly revise and improve our sustainable business practices.”
Eventually, a total
of 17 cities will be hosting green meetings discussions, which are
free of charge. For more information, and to register in a city near
you, visit www.APEXsolution.org. APEX is an
initiative of the Convention Industry Council.
|
|
|
About This Newsletter
You are subscribed to this newsletter as #email#
To unsubscribe from this newsletter go to: Unsubscribe
To subscribe to this newsletter, go to: Subscribe
For advertising information, visit meetingsnet.com/advertisers
|
|
To get this newsletter in a different format (Text or HTML),
or to change your e-mail address, please visit your profile
page to change your delivery preferences.
For questions concerning delivery of this newsletter, please contact our
Customer Service Department at:
Customer Service Department
MeetingsNet
A Penton publication
US Toll Free: 866-505-7173
International: 847-763-9504
Email:meetingsnet@pbinews.com
Penton Media | 249 W. 17th Street | New York, NY 10011
Copyright 2008, Penton Media. All rights reserved. This article is
protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property
laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, re-disseminated,
transmitted,
displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium
without the prior written permission of Penton Media.
|
|
