Sir Walter Scott gave us those wonderful lines with which we have chastised our fibbing children (the dog ate my homework) ever since—“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!â€
Would that someone could convince the guvmint—“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to interfere.â€
We know times are tough, but do we fully realize the guvmint’s role? Consider that they first attacked corporate use of business aircraft, and bang, there went a blue gazillion jobs in aviation. Then they attacked corporate sales meetings. Bang, down went the meetings industry—already hard hit by the economy.
The cover story of the current issue of Convention South magazine, now in its 26th year of reporting on the meetings industry, is “Washington’s hold on the meetings industry—Has Uncle Same Gone Too Far?â€
Convention South reports that Roger Dow, president/CEO of the U.S. Travel Association points out that the Obama still holds gatherings of cabinet members “because of the importance of face-to- face meetings.†Yet, Dow goes on, “Over the past several months similar corporate and government meetings have come under attack…†According to Dow, the net effect has been the cancellation of “thousands of meetings, the termination of tens of thousands of jobs, and the loss of billions of dollars of spending for the American economy.â€Â
Now hear this—the NBAA annual meeting, one of the hardest-working conventions in the country, will be held in Orlando later this month. Aircraft will be sold, business will be done and progress will result. I’m going to be there—no matter what the guvmint thinks—and I hope you will be, too.
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