The Amtower B2G Market Report

The Amtower B2G Market Report
Volume 3, #48, December 13, 2004

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In this issue…
1) Amtower Off-Center Observations
2) The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: Tabloid Journalism
3) Events Worth Attending
4) One Minute Marketing Clinic

AMTOWER OFF-CENTER OBSERVATIONS

Item: We are in Hanukah and getting closer to Christmas. Please remember our uniformed personnel by going to www.USO.org and making a donation. $25 sends a “care package” to someone overseas. Send more if you can, but call 1-800-876-7469 or visit the web site today. If you have families in your neighborhood with parents serving overseas, make sure their kids have a good Christmas.

Item: For those who need a more thorough understanding of the issues confronting the career senior executive community in the Federal government, The Public Manager is a great resource. Published for over thirty years, The Public Manager (published 4 times a year) is written by and for the career senior executive community. The website is http://www.thepublicmanager.org/ .

Item: Don’t forget the ENC Marketing Breakfast December 15. The topic is “Event Marketing: Don’t Just ‘Show and Go’”. Listen to my interview with David Powell of the Federal Business Council before you go (front page of www.FederalDirect.net ). See “Events” below for details.

Item: January 1 will mark the 20th anniversary of Amtower & Company. I am celebrating by publishing my first book, based on my popular seminar, Government Marketing Best Practices. The book will have the same name and it should be available in late January.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY: TABLOID JOURNALISM

Headlines recently in otherwise respectable business magazines make me wonder how low some will go. Some publications seem willing to rival “reality television” to gain momentary attention. Fortune Small Business screams “How the Feds Starve Small Contractors”, followed by VAR Business with a more sedate “Govt Contract Awards Disputed”.

Both articles seem to borrow heavily from the November 9 Wall Street Journal article by Gwendolyn Bounds, though both seriously lack her balanced approach.

Considering the amount of coverage the press received the last couple years over plagiarism (USA Today, The New York Times), one would think that reporters would avoid even the appearance of the plagiarizing.

The first iteration from Ms Bounds is a fairly detailed story about GTSI winning contracts set aside for small businesses. GTSI did win contracts set aside for small business as a large business. However, they did so legitimately (from a legal perspective) through a loophole in
the regulations that determines size as of the date of initial certification regardless of whether the company subsequently outgrows the size standard.

My main objection is the tabloid-like handling that has accompanied this story by some has exacerbated the situation. I realize that sex and scandals sell, but there seems to be no attempt to determine if there was scandal. Further, it appears that neither Mr Doyle (VAR Business) nor Ms Gajilan (Fortune Small Business) has any grasp of the complexity of defining “small business” in terms of government contracting. It is also apparent that neither attempted to gain edification on the subject prior to addressing it. Isn’t there a parable in Matthew about the blind leading the blind?

Ms Bounds started with a balanced article. Fortune Small Business lowered the bar, and VAR Business ignored the bar completely. It seems to be a case of “we will listen to the guy with the wild accusations” and do no fact checking. I expect more from VAR Business and especially more from TC Doyle, who has written some pretty good stuff in the past.

Too often - like in the Fortune Small Biz article - you get an uninformed slice of a picture that makes the B2G arena seem slimy. This supermarket tabloid approach may makes these publications popular in the short run, but it detracts from their value to the community of thinking people. We have our fair share of slimy types in the government market, but overall, there is more oversight and exposure here than anywhere else.

The larger issue is SBA’s ongoing attempt to define “small business”. The comment period on this is until February 1, 2005 (see Marketing Clinic, below). You can go to http://www.sba.gov/size/anprm.html and address the issue directly.

Not that I have an opinion.

EVENTS WORTH ATTENDING

Beware of the schlock vendors, producing “black hole” events, events that eat your money with no significant return! THOSE LISTED BELOW ARE EVENTS WORTH ATTENDING:

December 15, ENC Marketing Breakfast on Event Marketing: Don’t Just “Show and Go”.
Tower Club, Vienna, Virginia, 7:30-9:30 AM 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)

ONE MINUTE MARKETING CLINIC: SMALL BUSINESS STANDARDS

(from the SBA) Where to Comment on SBA Size Standards

WASHINGTON – In a press release dated Dec. 9, 2004, the U.S. Small Business Administration asked the general public for advance comments on a general revision of its small business size standards, the rules used by the SBA and other federal agencies to determine whether a business is small, but failed to note where those comments should be sent.

The release referred to an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that was published in The Federal Register on Dec. 3, 2004. For more information, please read the advanced notice at SBA’s Size Standards’ website: http://www.sba.gov/size/anprm.html, or visit Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Comments for this advanced notice are due by
February 1, 2005.

Comments, which should be identified by the code RIN 3245-ZA02, can by the following methods:
• E-mail: restructure.sizestandards@sba.gov. Include RIN 3245-ZA02 in the subject line of the message.
• Fax: (202) 205-6930.
• Mail or hand delivery: Gary M. Jackson, Assistant Administrator for Size Standards 409 Third Street, SW., Washington, DC 20416.
• For further information, contact the SBA’s Office of Size Standards at (202) 205-6618 or at sizestandards@sba.gov.

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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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