Future PEF convention sites selected and Direct Deposit

Future PEF convention sites selected

By DARCY WELLS
The PEF Convention Committee conducted site visits, researched travel options and crunched numbers in an effort to narrow down possible locations for PEF’s annual conventions for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The committee’s findings were presented at the May Executive Board meeting in Albany.

“We were asked by Executive Board members to consider holding the annual convention in Albany, Schenectady, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Washington and New Orleans,” said PEF Vice President and convention chairman Joe Fox.

Albany and Schenectady were ruled out because of a lack of meeting space and overnight accommodations in unionized hotels, according to Fox.

New Orleans was also eliminated, mostly due to concerns about the weather.

“September is hurricane season,” Fox said. “That’s a big negative. The cost of travel also helped rule out New Orleans.”
The recommended site proposals were narrowed to Rochester, Niagara Falls and Washington.

Since Niagara Falls offered an additional discount for a return visit, it was selected by the board for 2009 and again in 2011. Washington was selected for 2010.

“Although Washington is out of state,” Fox said, many of our job titles are federally funded.

And, it may give us an opportunity to meet face to face with lawmakers by holding congressional luncheons.”
This year’s convention in New York City September 16 through 19.

“This date was changed twice,” Fox said.

“We were asked to move our convention a week earlier to accommodate a function planned by the William Clinton Foundation and we did. Then were were asked to go back to the original date, which we did.

“The good news is, we are back to our original date and I was able to negotiate a significant cost savings as a result of the inconvenience.”

Directly deposit your convention payment

In an effort to provide greater convenience in paying invoices and expense vouchers, PEF can now offer the option of having your payments directly deposited into a bank account of your choice.

Go to www.pef.org, and select the PEF documents link. The forms must be completed and returned.

It will take approximately two weeks from the date PEF receives this information before direct deposits can begin to take effect.