'"Anyone who is anyone will not be here," said one senior trader at a major bank.'

With the Republican National Convention in New York next week, businesses in Manhattan are encouraging telework and updating their emergency preparation plans as well. Yes, gridlock can be assumed, but when you add in the potential for terrorist attacks during this high-profile event, you have some pretty fierce motivation for folks to telework. Some businesses are even using the event as a trigger to test their "hot sites" - alternative computing facilities ready at a moments notice to take over if the primary location becomes unavailable.

A survey by the Human Resources Association of New York found that 71% of employers within four blocks of Madison Square Garden (the site of the convention) said they had staff who would work from home, and 38% said some of their workers will relocate to alternate offices. Beyond the four-block radius of the Garden, employers said 60% would have staff telecommute, while 35% said employees would work from alternate locations.

'"We are almost thinking of it as four extra snow days," says Dan Fanok, human resources director at WPP's Mediaedge:cia.'

'We are encouraging people to stay home, except for those who really have to come in, like those in print production," says [Foote Cone & Belding] spokesman Bill Haney. He estimates that 250 of FCB's 750 employees will come into the office next week. The rest are being given the option to take vacation days. '

For some companies this is simply business as usual: '"As you can imagine at a company like ours, telecommuting is an option for many workers, and lots of us take advantage of that regularly," Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe said.'

• CONVENTION ABSTENTION, BULLS & BEARS TO FLEE THE ELEPHANT STAMPEDE By JENNY ANDERSON (New York Post, August 26, 2004 )
• Bizfolk'll be busy lying low BY SOO YOUN (New York Daily News, August 26, 2004)
• GOP Stop: New York Shops Develop Contingency Plans For Convention By Joe Mandese & Michael Shields (, August 27, 2004)
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