The Amtower B2G Market Report

The Amtower B2G Market Report
Volume 3, #45, November 22, 2004

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In this issue…
1) Amtower Off-Center Observations
2) The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: Truth in Advertising
3) Events Worth Attending
4) Credit Card Update: 2004 Final Stats

AMTOWER OFF-CENTER OBSERVATIONS

Item: May each and every one of you enjoy a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving. But before you sit down to dinner, please go to www.uso.org or call 1-800-876-7469 and make a contribution so that our uniformed personnel overseas have an opportunity to have some relief. I have known many people who have served overseas, and serving in a combat zone over holidays is difficult for the uniformed personnel and their families. Do not delay – please call now.

Item: Amtower & Company is a proud sponsor of the Grant Thornton 10th Annual Government Contractor Industry Survey.

Item: A senior level federal friend of mine emailed me regarding the CIO Summit down in Florida. He found the event extremely useful, so my kudos to FCW on that. And thanks for keeping the golf course off the promotional ads.

Item: Incoming email included many congratulations on the 100th issue of the Report. Thank you for those. But more importantly, thank you for forwarding other event invitations rife with adjectival hyperbole, and especially for your comments on those invitations. And thanks for pointing out some things that I missed – which will be discussed below in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Item: A subject line is critical to getting attention and maintaining credibility. “Exciting GovSec Update” better have something exciting in it – next time. When the subject line is followed by a truly nebulous statement like “Homeland Security is rapidly evolving, where the very definition is being created every day,” expectations start dropping. Good events do not require inane email, they require year-round news to keep interest up.

Item: Equity International announced “the Defense Appropriations Briefing, originally scheduled for November 17, has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 16, at the National Press Club in Washington DC.” It further notes that “There are no refunds. Final program subject to change.” IT seems to me we had a similar announcement last year. Moving an event that is not getting traction to 9 days before Christmas generally will not improve registration. Most people are otherwise occupied. And if you want to attend something REALLY worthwhile on Dec 16, look at the AFFIRM Luncheon in our events calendar below.

Not that I have an opinion.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY: TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

I suppose we should be used to unsubstantiated claims, but when the emperor comes waltzing down the street in the buff, you can assume I will be there with a megaphone. So here I go again.

If a publication saw or heard assertions that could not be substantiated, or saw claims based on actions not yet taken, they would probably bring these to the attention of their readers. When a publication makes these sorts of assertions, I believe they are undermining their own credibility. I have two examples: you decide which claim is more egregious.

The eGov Institute (part of 101 Communications, which owns Federal Computer Week) asserted that it has the "ONLY Information Assurance event presented by government implementers of security." They choose to ignore the fact that FIAC, produced by the Federal Business Council (and advertised in Federal Computer Week) has several years of doing just that – presenting material by IA practitioners.

In the announcement of the four new events they will be producing, Government Computer News included this statement: “To a greater extent than any other series of conferences aimed at the federal market, the GCN Conferences directly address the need for technology and technology risk assessment information, according to Thomas R. Temin, editor-in-chief at PostNewsweek Tech Media, which publishes GCN and will produce and market the events.” Wrong tense: they will address, and it remains to be seen if they will do so to a greater extent.

These are puffery, pure and simple. According to Reed, Smith Hall and Dickler at www.adlaw.com “Advertising law traditionally has made a distinction between product claims and puffery. The law requires that objective advertising claims must be supported by adequate substantiation. An objective claim generally involves performance, efficacy, sales, or other tangible attributes. It is usually phrased in terms of fact rather than opinion and is capable of measurement. Puffery consists of statements which are not capable of measurement or which consumers would not take seriously. Puffery generally deals with subjective statements, expressions of opinion, or hyperbole.”

These are classic examples of the Amtower “trickle down” theory, which states when you say stupid things when I am paying attention it is akin to trickling down your trouser leg. I expect better from the publications that otherwise serve our market well.

EVENTS WORTH ATTENDING

Beware of the schlock vendors, producing “black hole” events, events that eat your money with no significant return!

Last Week To Vote: If you want the Government Marketing Best Practices workshop/seminar in your city in the spring of 2005, vote at www.FederalDirect.net

November 23, 2004, 7:00 AM- Noon. Tower Club, Tysons Corner, VA Small Business Teaming Strategies for Winning Government Business. http://www.input.com/external/events/seminar/20041123_smallbusiness.cfm

December 8-9, 2004, Web Content Management Clinic, George Washington University, Washington, DC. www.digitalgovernment.com

December 15, ENC Marketing Breakfast on Events. www.encmarketing.com

December 16, "Lessons Learned from the 9/11 Commission". Kevin Scheid, on behalf of the 9/11 Commission, will discuss the organizational, cultural and technological barriers to sharing information and how they added to the tragedy of the attacks against the United States on 9/11.
Speaker: Kevin Scheid, Team Leader on Intelligence, 9/11 Commission. http://www.affirm.org or call 703-715-6701.

2 NSA events coming up in early December, on site at NSA. www.fbcinc.com

INTELCON National Intelligence Conference and Exposition, February 8-10, 2005 Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Alexandria, VA. www.fbcinc.com

March 22-23, 2005. Federal Information Systems Security Educators’ Association (FISSEA) Conference. “Target Training in 2005 - Computer Security Awareness, Training, and Education”. Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland (White Flint Metro Stop).

FISSEA is a national forum for government, industry, and academic leaders, educators, and researchers involved with computer security awareness, training, and education. The conference will include presentations, papers, tutorials, and panels. Typical topics include: management of information security programs and personnel, conducting security training, information security and assurance curriculums, supporting technologies (network, wireless, encryption, vulnerability tools, educational tools), security labs, intrusion response programs, organizational behavior, certification, regulations, and emerging technologies.

Why Attend?

Discover new ways to improve your computer security program
Dual tracks of high quality presentations
Great networking opportunities
Gain awareness and training ideas and resources
Obtain practical solutions to training problems
Earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits

FISSEA website: http://csrc.nist.gov/fissea
Electronic Registration URL: https://rproxy.nist.gov/CRS (Fee $280)

CREDIT CARD UPDATE: 2004 FINAL STATS

The final totals for the FY 2004 small purchase SmartPay credit card are in. With $17,082,562,874.60, the total is behind what I predicted. Last year the total was $16.378 billion, so there is still growth. The number of purchases year over year was also flat, holding at 26,523,928 (FY 2003 26,494,400) while the number of cardholders dropped to 310,861 from 326 850 at the end of FY 2003. The totals for the final quarter of 2004 were over $35 million behind FY 2004, with 150,000 fewer purchases the final quarter, and 16,000 fewer cardholders than FY 2003. The average purchase was $657 for FY 2004 vs $629 in FY 2003.

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

Thanks
Mark Amtower

The Amtower B2G Market Report is published by Amtower & Company, and is written for companies targeting the government marketplace. The opinions expressed are those of Mark Amtower unless otherwise noted. Contact us at Amtower & Company, PO Box 314, Highland, MD 20777-0314 (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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