LAGUNA BEACH— Against the backdrop of the rolling Pacific Ocean while perched atop a sun-soaked cliff, 4As President John Fenton spoke to a packed luncheon at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach.

“We cannot send the wrong message to our people,” he said, referring to the often lavish management retreats and “business trips.” “Ostentatious boondoggles can many times do irreparable damage to your agency’s underpaid and overworked personnel.”

The keynote speech came on the final day of the 4As conference in Laguna as attendees came in from a morning round of golf at Pelican Hill Country Club and just prior to departing on an afternoon yacht cruise through the harbor.

Top management from nearly every large agency from all over the country were on hand to find ways to cut back on unnecessary spending during these difficult economic times. At the champagne and caviar reception before the luncheon, Grey Vice Chairman Donald Voorhees said, “Careless spending has to stop. It’s time we stop passing on needless trips and expenses to our clients.” He then added, “Have you tried the Caspian Beluga? I haven’t had caviar this rare since our Management Work Session last month in St. Croix.”

The weeklong event was designed to bring agency’s together to share ideas and work together toward improving agency moral, which after sweeping layoffs is at an all-time low. “I think we made a lot of progress this week and I certainly have a newfound sensitivity to the people who come to work every morning and stay late every night, yet can barely afford rent,” stated Shari Siegel, Managing Partner at J. Walter Thompson. “That’s why I picked up these little golf ball hat pins for all my group heads as a sort of ‘Hey, we haven’t forgotten about you,’ kind of thing.”

The week-long conference was a huge success and most of the scheduled events went off with out a hitch except for the final night’s banquet, which was delayed an hour as the plane of guest chef for the evening, Emeril Lagasse, was delayed arriving from New Orleans.

Sources say that if the economy fails to make significant improvements, next year’s event might feel the effects. “If the industry doesn’t recover from current downturns, plans to completely take over a small island near Tahiti for a week could be scrapped in favor of a less costly South of France location,” said Mr. Fenton.