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The Amtower ReportVolume 5, #22, June 12, 2006(The Amtower Report is an e-journal on the Business-to-Government market featuring the opinions of Mark Amtower, and occasionally reader comments. This newsletter is only sent to those who request it. Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.FederalDirect.net and if you like this newsletter, please pass it along to your colleagues. To unsubscribe, see directions below. The newsletter is posted each Monday at www.FederalDirect.net, and the latest “Off-Center Observations” is on the home page. All back issues available at http://www.federaldirect.net/newsletterarchives.html)
Item: I spoke at the Coalition for Government Procurement Spring conference last week and it was packed! New GSA Administrator Lurita Doan, at the last minute, agreed to make her first official appearance at the Spring conference. At that time the Coalition already had over 200 registrants, and when I showed up to speak it was literally SRO. Congrats to Larry Allen and crew! Repeat Item: This is worth repeating – there is still time to register. I am interviewing Eloqua CEO Mark Organ in a webinar on June 13 (2 PM, EDT). Our topic is online selling and the ability to monitor and fast-track sales using web-based tools, a great topic for end-of-FY. Click here to register Item: The Circulation Management magazine Circulation Excellence Awards include one for Federal Computer Week in the category of Business-to-Business magazines with circulation over 50,000. This would be the same FCW that the LA Times referred to as an "obscure trade journal" in an article about the continuing corruption scandal. It might seem obscure to those with stars in their eyes (all we have in DC is MONEY). And if FCW were that obscure – how did the LA Times know to call FCW for help on the story? Item: If you received an email from Government Executive publisher Steve Vito raising some arcane questions about Bureau of Publication Audit procedures in reference to a sales pitch from a competitor, and if you followed the web link and it did not make much sense, you are not alone. It is a non-issue, and it is over a year old. GovExec should put as much effort into checking the veracity of some of their own stories. Item: If you missed the Google Big Adventure to DC, it goes like this: Google co-founder and multi-billionaire Sergey Brin, dresses in jeans, black t-shirt and silver sneakers, and takes his private jet to DC – without having alerted anyone in D.C. that he was coming. As members of Congress usually fall over each other getting next to someone with this much money, it is understandable that Mr Brin was confused when no Congressional delegation met him at jet-side, dressed like Salvation Army volunteers at Christmas, complete with signs over their buckets that said: Me! – No Me! Blue! – No Red! Surely in the Early Warning System funded somehow by DHS (through earmarking) there must be three spotters at the three major DC area airports (complete with pictures of the Forbes 400 richest Americans) tasked with monitoring incoming private jets, so whenever a member of the super-rich flies in, the Alert Bell goes off in the Hallowed Halls of Congress, once again proving the true Pavlovian point that Congressional re-election and fundraising takes precedence over the well-being of the country. Not that I have an opinion.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY: END OF FY IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING Contrary to what some may think, I know I do not know everything there is to know about marketing to Uncle Sam. What many do not know is that in – or close to – my inner circle are some people who do what I do – consult on marketing to the government. While there are several good people out there that do this, and a couple ad agencies and PR firms that do it well, not all are among my trusted advisors (seen that phrase in lots of ads lately?) I am going to ask a couple of my friends – fellow consultants Fred Diamond and Susan Milich to contribute some thoughts on end-of-FY tactics over the next couple of weeks. Fred Diamond is president of Diamond Marketing. I met Fred in the early 1990s. He retained me when he was at Compaq, and one of my tasks was to educate the Compaq corporate ad agency, Amerati and Puris, on the nuances of B2G marketing. While the success of that mission is questionable, Amerati is gone and Fred and I are still here. Fred can be found at www.FredDiamond.com. Susan Milich and I have known each other by reputation for about the same period of time. Then we started running across one another at Women in Technology and AFFIRM meetings. Susan is president of Federal Marketing Associates and can be found at www.fma-onthemark.com. EVENTS WORTH ATTENDING Beware of the schlock vendors, producing minimal value events, events that eat your money with no significant return! The events listed below are among those I think are worth your time, money and effort. Just because an event is not listed below does not imply it is not worth attending. If you want my opinion on a specific event or producer, call me. This topic is addressed more thoroughly in the members section at www.GovernmentMarketingBestPractices.com. June 13: Eloqua Webinar: 6 Ways to Fast-Track Your B2G Sales: Click here to register June 14, AFFIRM Annual Awards Luncheon and Installation of New Officers, Willard Hotel, Washington DC, www.affirm.org or call 703-707-4061 June 15, Government Leaders at the Helm, Women in Technology, McLean Hilton, 6:00-8:30 PM, Carla von Bernewitz (Scitor), Karen Evans (OMB), Linda Cureton (NASA), Jackie Petillo (DOT) and others discuss Is technology Making the Grade? June 20, GovCon, McLean Hilton, (all day) Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce June 21-22, 2006, FISC 2006, Colorado Springs, Colorado June 26, AFFIRM Golf Tournament, 11:00 AM registration. Manor Country Club, Rockville, MD. (benefits AFFIRM Intern programs for qualified college students within the federal government IT Sector.) www.affirm.org June 26-28, 2006, RIO Symposium (formerly U.S. ACE DIM/CIM), Miami, Florida June 27-30, 2006: 7th Annual Dept of Energy Small Business Conference, Seattle, WA June 28, 2006, U.S. Department of Transportation/FAA IA Training and Workshop Washington, District of Columbia June 29, 2006, U.S. Department of Transportation/FAA IA Training and Workshop Washington, District of Columbia July 6, GSA Federal Technology Day – NY, Javits Bldg, July 18-19 FBI Information Security Officer Training Symposium
The Amtower Marketing Report Monday 5-6 PM on WBIS 1190 AM (Annapolis Md, simulcast on www.WBIS1190.com ): Upcoming guests include… June 12: Elizabeth Shea. of Shea-Hedges. June 19: Chris Pickering, co-author of RFM Re-visited Mark Amtower will be a guest … June 15, 5:20 PM, on the Greenberg News Show with Brian Greenberg, WNJC, 1360 AM, Philadelphia.
Thanks The Amtower 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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