WVU Today, 5/29/2009 (Johnathan Holifield)

WVU Alumni Association Announces 2009-10 Board of Directors. The West Virginia University Alumni Association recently elected its executive officers and three new board members during its annual business meeting held in May ... Holifield is president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland. In this role, he leads development and implementation of an agenda to empower Clevelanders to contribute their full measure and potential to increase societal inclusion, educational competitiveness and economic prosperity ... Holifield also received Black Data Processing Associates President’s Award.

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New York Times, 5/7/2009 (Larry Quinlan)

On the Agenda: Modernizing the Meeting. Similarly, at the accounting firm of Deloitte, which began adding high-definition videoconferencing equipment to its offices about a year ago, it’s no longer unusual for as many as 80 employees in 10 cities to meet without the expense of airfare or hotels. And according to Larry Quinlan, a principal at Deloitte, once employees and management overcome their initial resistance, they’re happy to forgo travel — perhaps indefinitely.

“In previous downturns, as soon as you got travel money in your budget again you’d get back on the planes because the videoconferencing experience wasn’t that good,” Mr. Quinlan said. But with better systems in place, he said, “you can now scheme to reduce travel on a permanent basis. The economic downturn merely provides management with the mandate to do it.”

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[NOTE: Larry Quinlan is BETF board member.]