Credit crunch pinches pros Forty-one percent of respondents to an online Special Events poll say the current credit crunch is making it hard for them to find the financing they want for their business. One percent of respondents say they are having "no trouble" finding financing, while 56 percent say they have not been looking for financing. To see the results of more Special Events polls, click here ...
Credit crisis could sour London Games Despite great enthusiasm for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, event organizers are looking for ways to pare costs in light of the global credit crisis, falling property values and rising unemployment in the U.K. Although the group London 2012 never planned an extravaganza along the lines of the $40 billion outlay in Beijing this summer, already the organizers are considering scrapping plans to erect temporary sporting venues and to shrink the size of the athletes' village, the Los Angeles Times reports. Other Olympics organizations are keeping a watchful eye on the world's economies, including for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, and 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia ...
AIG cancels $8 million in meetings Insurance giant AIG is still reeling from the PR nightmare that began when word spread it hosted a luxury recognition event just days after winning an $85 billion loan from the U.S. government. On Friday, company chairman and CEO Edward M. Libby announced the company "agreed to immediately cancel all junkets or perks which are not justified by legitimate business needs," according to our sister publication Corporate Meetings & Incentives. The move nixes more than 160 conferences and events, with a total cost of more than $8 million. New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo last week threatened legal action against AIG if it did not immediately cease spending on extravagant trips and bonuses for executives.
Photo by iStockphoto.com/© Wesley Thornberry
