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The Amtower ReportVolume 6, #3, March 12, 2007(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: The radio show started well – tune in Monday at 10:05 AM on the web at www.FederalNewsRadio.com or listen live in DC at 1050 AM on WFED. The show, like this part of the newsletter, is Amtower Off-Center, and of course it has no opinions…… Item: The rumors are true, I will be speaking at the Outlook 2007 Conference on April 12. What do I know about the IT budget? Not much. What will I talk about that might be germane? Come and see for yourself. Item: I did get some feedback on the first WFED show asking why I referred to a reporter at the NY Times as Idiot Boy. Last spring there was an article in the Times about The Revolving Door of Government Service, where allegations were made about misconduct of former government employees going into industry and then making money from their former agencies. The tone of the article indicated that these people were career Feds (people who do real work), and all the examples were presidential appointees (people who generally do little or nothing for the government). I have no problem with the Times pointing out the questionable actions of appointees going into industry and trying to capitalize on their previous jobs, but when the Times cannot seem to grasp the difference between career Feds and appointees, then they should butt out until they get a clue. This is not dissimilar from the article in the Post that came out about the same time about the relationship between a certain Beltway consultant and a Congressman. The article, by a pair of guys who seriously and intentionally misled people they interviewed about the direction and tone of the article, implied gross misconduct, but failed to point out any legal wrong-doing. I have spoken to people interviewed for the Post article who were omitted from the final draft as they did not support the pre-determined conclusion. Perhaps the reporters from the Post and the Times indulged in the same Kool-Aid, but the results were equally poor, once again proving that mainstream media is not above tabloid journalism posing as righteous indignation. Not that I have an opinion.THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY: VAR WARS and THE DEMISE OF COMPUSA The VAR Wars are over, and CDW-G has won. GTSI is no longer a VAR (at least according to their press releases). And WorldWide Tech, a former SDB VAR, seems to have become a telecom carrier. Oddly enough, so did GTSI! GovConnection, on the other hand, has pulled a phoenix, coming out of the ashes to break into the top 100 Schedule 70 players. You may recall they were tossed off Schedule a couple years back for some sort of misbehavior. I predicted they would not make a comeback and I was WRONG! Way to go GovConnection – but please do not use that VW van ad again. In FY 2006, GovConnection went past its previous high and scored over $26 million on Schedule 70. CompUSA made a serious run at Federal business in the early 1990s, then HQ in Texas decided to consolidate in HQ, and the FedBiz dried up. Now they announce they are closing half their stores. In FY 2006 CompUSA did just under $2 million of Schedule 70, a LONG way down from where they were a decade ago. They actually did store sales in the early 1990s, and probably still do. They probably make more sales via open market credit card sales in the stores than on Schedule. And in FY 2006 Best Buy Gov LLC finally got its Schedule, more than a year after they announced they were in the G-biz, and they did $0. As I do not know when in 2006 they got the Schedule, this may or may not be bad, but it is still humorous. Does the CompUSA story have a lesson for Best Buy Gov? Yes – do not count on in-store sales. It might have worked in the 90s, but it will not float today. And when I ran the YTD GSA 70 numbers for FY 2007? GTSI (not a VAR, but still making big bucks on Schedule 70) $41,806,958 Apparently LLC can mean Lots Less Cash. Watch for them at FOSE. 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. March 12-13, 2007 FISSEA 20th Annual Conference, North Bethesda (Maryland) Marriott Conference Center – REGISTER ON SITE http://csrc.nist.gov/organizations/fissea/index.html March 19, 2007, ITAA Beyond the Beltway 2007: State & Local Government IT Market Watch, Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, McLean, VA http://www.itaa.org/events/event.cfm?EventID=1801 March 20-22, 2007 FOSE. DC Convention Center www.FOSE.com March 22, 2007, Grant Thornton 12th Annual Government Contractor Survey, (free, but registration required) gtroundtable@gt.com April 12, 2007 OUTLOOK, McLean Hilton www.FedSources.com April 19, 2007: 17th Annual OSDBU Conference, Upper Marlboro, MD www.fbcinc.com/osdbu May 9-10, 2007, GovSec, Washington Convention Center, www.GovSecinfo.com May 15-17, 2007. GSA Expo, Orlando, Florida. www.expo.gsa.gov June 3-5, 2007, ACT Management of Change Conference, Richmond, Virginia. Amtower Off-Center airs Monday at 10:05 AM on WFED 1050 AM in Washington, DC and is simulcast on www.FederalNewsRadio.com. Upcoming guests include
*** As always, your comments, questions and suggestions are welcome. 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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