The Amtower B2G Market Report

The Amtower B2G Market Report
Volume 3, #13, March 29, 2004

(Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.FederalDirect.net and if you like this, please pass this along to your colleagues. To unsubscribe, email me at amtower@erols.com). Past issues available at http://www.federaldirect.net/newsletterarchives.html)

1) Amtower Off-Center Observations
2) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: FOSE
3) Government Marketing Best Practices Spring 2004 Road Show
4) One Minute Marketing Clinic: Special Interest Groups

Amtower Off-Center Observations

Item: Government Executive magazine is going through a redesign, only months after Federal Computer Week did the same thing. Copy-cat? Do not know or care, because it is a good idea, and Government Computer News and various other trade publications will probably follow suit. It is amusing that the published reasons for the GovExec changes are almost identical to Federal Computer Week, although they state some fairly obvious data: “life has been speeding up” (you think?!); “we detect the demand for more information”; “people are starved for time in their daily lives”. Nobody cares about the reasons, guys, just the results. Bring it on!

The idea is to make the publications more visually appealing, provide information in more useable chunks (bite-size), and to attract and retain readership. The trendier business publications (Business 2.0, Wired, and the like) did this during the dot-com era and captured new readers by the tens of thousands. In our market we have one pool from which to fish, and the most attractive, most readable, most fun to read publication will get first pick of subscribers.

I like the new format for Federal Computer Week and look forward to a redesigned Government Executive.

Item: I fielded a call from an attorney last week, and apparently her client is being sued by the Feds for blast faxing. I had not heard of any case of the Feds going after a company (in this case, a GSA Schedule vendor) for unsolicited faxing. I do not find this surprising, though I think the government may have a problem defending the notion that a Schedule vendor does not have a prior business relationship. In order for a fax not to be illegal, the faxing company must have prior permission to fax or a prior business relationship.

What I find most interesting is that the government is probably saying ENOUGH – stop the spam and the blast faxes. My readers and clients have heard me rave against blast faxing and spam for years, despite the mindset of some executives that cheap, widely disseminated propaganda must be good, because it is cheap.

So if I am ever invited to do an audit of your marketing program, or some other in-house consulting, please do not expect me to be supportive of programs that include or otherwise encourage spam and blast faxes. I do not support this, have not in the past, and will not in the future.

Not that I have an opinion.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY: FOSE 2004

There will be an Off-White Paper about FOSE, but this is not it. While I hate to disappoint, I actually had a good time at the show. I always have a good time at FOSE, as there is always something that amuses me, educates me, or irritates me, and I am easily amused.

I received a short tour of the event from David Greene, president of PostNewsweek Tech Media, and the new Vice president of FOSE, Lorenz Hassenstein. I had fun on the tour, and learned some things about the show I previously overlooked. It is truly flattering that these guys would take their time out of the show to give me a tour, and I appreciate it. Mr Hassenstein replaces Bill Howell, who has been at FOSE for ten years. Bill will be taking two-plus years off to sail around the world with his family, and has promised to email me from various ports. In a few months I will start my occasional Where In The World Is Bill Howell report. Godspeed, my friend, and safe harbor.

Does this mean I am now a fan of the event? Not necessarily. Does it mean the Off-White Paper will be no fun? I hope not. I have not digested all there is to digest yet, nor have I received feedback from a number of sources I trust for a view from the trenches, aisles and booths.

It boils down to this: if you are going to exhibit at an event like FOSE, are you willing to look at everything there is, including the mini-venues available, to maximize the value of your presence?

After that, you still have to weigh the expense against the return. This is always the big question. What percent of your marketing budget does this represent, and what else could you do with it?

Look for Off-White 24 in about two weeks.

Oh, and the Battle of the Bags? Hands down winner is CDWG. The GTSI white bag with the big red dot was not prominent on the floor, and was not as easy to spot as that big yellow bag.

GOVERNMENT MARKETING BEST PRACTICES SPRING 2004 ROAD SHOW

If you like this newsletter, you will love this seminar.

The government marketing man in black is going on the road again, five cities in April, and more this fall. More use-able information in three hours than you get from most multi-day events. No platitudes, but the Amtower attitude, with real information in what works in government marketing - and what does not work. Registrations are coming in and seating is limited at each venue - register today!

Government Marketing Best Practices (version 4.1) will be visiting
Vienna, Virginia, April 14
San Jose April 20
San Antonio April 21
Denver April 28
Chicago April 29

This 3-hour seminar covers proven tactics that work in the government marketplace.

best web site characteristics for attracting Feds
eight tips for successful Federal direct mail and email
tried & true methods for event identification, selection and marketing
identifying, creating and exploiting press opportunities
the role of special interest groups and how to find the best one for your niche
and more - with lots of new examples, and audience interaction.

Once again, this will include new material (version 4.1). Our 2004 sponsors are DM News, the Federal Business Council, Federal Computer Week, Government Security News, Carroll Publishing and the Public Sector Institute. If you have suggestions for city selection for the fall, 2004 Road Show, email me!

Over 700 professionals have attended Government Marketing Best Practices since the first session in March, 2002. Register today and find out why!

Information is available at http://www.federaldirect.net/bestpractices2004.html

ONE MINUTE MARKETING CLINIC: SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Every so often I remind myself of the value of associations and special interest groups (SIGs). Off-White Paper 15 (http://www.federaldirect,net/offwhite15.html) deals with this topic. SIGs provide a forum for those with a shared interest to develop the relationships crucial to long-term gain in this market. And there are government SIGs for many niches, not just IT.

One of my favorites is AFFIRM, the Association for Federal Information Resources Management. AFFIRM was founded in 1979, and was one of the first of the FGIPC (Federation of Government Information Processing Councils, recently renamed ACT, the American Council on Technology).

Even though I am not currently a member (join only things you have time to participate in) I have met many great people (industry and government) through AFFIRM over the years.

The value: take a look at the member only Policy, Privacy and Security program for tomorrow (there is still time to join!).

Annual "Members Only" Program Tuesday, March 30, 2004, 5:30 pm Reception 6:30 pm Program National Press Club

Gary Hartwig	Interim CIO, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS
Cliff Pearson	CIO, U.S. Coast Guard
Pat Schambach	Assistant Administrator for IT and CIO, TSA
Barry West	CIO, FEMA
Moderator:	George Bohlinger, Sr. Vice President, EDS US Government Solutions

AFFIRM (www.affirm.org) is a great SIG, and they have some bandwidth at this event!

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As always, your comments, questions and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Mark Amtower

The Amtower B2G Market Report is published and copyrighted by Amtower & Company. It combines our former newsletters into a single, bi-weekly newsletter for companies targeting the government marketplace. Contact us at Amtower & Company, PO Box 339, Ashton, MD 20861-0339 (301-924-0058). This material is copyrighted and may not be duplicated, reprinted or otherwise replicated without written permission of the publisher. EMAIL subscriptions are free by request: sign up at www.FederalDirect.net.


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