At a glance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) support and attendance at conferences and other related meetings is critical for our researchers. Our attendance helps leverage and advance the biomedical, scientific, and public health mission of CDC. This report is submitted to report publicly on all agency-sponsored (hosted) conferences where the expenses exceed $100,000.
About this report
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services, and is recognized as the nation's premier health promotion, prevention, and preparedness agency. The agency works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety, and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. As a health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health threats. To accomplish our mission, CDC conducts critical science and provides health information that protects our nation against expensive and dangerous health threats and responds when these arise.
Effective outreach to our partners, grantees, and the general public is central to our mission. Our success is also contingent on our ability to collaborate with the tens of thousands of healthcare and human services providers, scientific researchers, clinicians, advocates, and other key non-government partners across the country and internationally. Our support and attendance at scientific conferences and other related meetings is critical for our researchers to leverage and advance the biomedical, scientific, and public health mission of CDC.
This report is submitted as required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum on Promoting Efficient Spending to Support Agency Operations (M-12-12), dated May 11, 2012, which requires federal agencies to report publicly on all agency-sponsored (hosted) conferences where the expenses exceed $100,000.
Description of the report
In compliance with OMB Memorandum M-12-12, this report includes:
- Information about the net conference expenses for FY 2015, as well as general information about conference activities throughout the year.
- A description of all CDC-hosted conferences for FY 2015 where the net expenses associated with the conference exceeded $100,000, along with:
- The date of the conference.
- The location of the conference.
- A brief explanation on how the conference advanced the mission of the agency.
- The total conference expenses incurred by the agency for the conference.
- The total number of individuals whose travel expenses or other conference expenses were paid by the agency.
- The date of the conference.
Fiscal year 2015 summary
CDC continues to take positive steps in support of the agency's initiatives to gain efficiencies in the use of appropriated funds for conferences and meetings. At the forefront of these efforts was CDC's work to implement improvements to conference/event management practices through the release of updated training materials and resources. Additionally, CDC refined its integrated conference approval portal (ICAP) tool, an online workflow system for conferences (as described in HHS's policy on promoting efficient spending).
The following summarizes information about CDC-hosted conferences in FY 2015 that exceeded $100,0001:
- Total number of conferences: 11
- Total cost of the conferences: $4,626,900
- Total number of attendees: 5,072
- Average cost per attendee: $912
- Percent of conferences held locally near CDC headquarters: 82%
- Percent of attendees traveling at CDC expense: 69%
Learn more in the CDC Fiscal Year 2015 Report on Conference Spending.
- Total estimated costs are based on readily identifiable and known costs for contractor support, venue, and audio-visual related expenses, as well as registration fees.