 |
|
|
|
|
The Amtower ReportVolume 6, #4, March 26, 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: My radio show will be moving to Friday afternoon at 2 PM soon – check www.FederalDirect.net later this week for exact the date. The show has a disclaimer on the front show that runs almost a minute. This disclaimer absolves WFED from any and all responsibility for my opinions, past, present, or, future, implied or explicit, and any innuendo and/or rumor that may result from said opinions. Tune in and find out why this disclaimer is so thorough. Item: A shiny rock, in the Amtower lexicon, is something that may appear valuable on the surface, but has little or no intrinsic value. They are everywhere. Beware of shiny rocks delivered via email, especially those selling email lists of government and military buyers. One email purports to have the definitive email list for military (which has not really been available since 9/11/01), and another has over 16,000 Federal buyer emails you can use to build relationships. All right, here is a thought: who wants to build a relationship with a spammer??? Item: Provided by JJ Gertler, requested after I heard him read it on Car Talk (WashingtonPostRadio, 1500 AM on Saturday, March 10) - a recall notice, as only the Bentley and the British could write (note: new, these cars run $221,990 and up. As you read, imagine this is being read by John Cleese): BENTLEY / ARNAGE R 2005-2006 Component: WHEELS: LUGS/NUTS/BOLTS Potential Number Of Units Affected: 222 Summary: on certain vehicles, the road wheel fixing bolts may be dimensionally incorrect. The potential exists for these bolts to loosen. Consequence: This could lead to the road wheel becoming detached from the hub increasing the risk of a crash. Remedy: Dealers will replace all wheel bolts free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or about March 1, 2007. Item: For a rational view of MAS Express, go here: http://www.globalservicesinc.com/news/Jan-Feb_WinningTimesNewsletter.pdf For my view, keep reading. Item: Lurita Doan, Administrator of GSA, during a radio interview at FOSE said (among many assertions) that GSA had reduced the time it took to get a GSA Schedule from 150 days to 30 days. All right. The way this was stated it implied that this was across all Schedules. Not even close – this applies to only five Schedules and a very limited number of SINs, with so many caveats as to eliminate 99.9 percent of Schedule applicants. The MAS Express, as it is called, is supposed to be a pilot program that will roll out to all Schedules. When pigs fly. GSA does not have the bench strength to roll this out at all, and Ms Doan probably wasted lots of that bench strength putting lipstick on this pig. Ms Doan should concentrate less on headline hyperbole and more on incrementally fixing the problems that GSA really needs fixed. Perhaps this is another future lug nut issue. Not that I have an opinion.THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY: FOSE DOWNLOAD Well, it is over and behind us once more. And, there was (as I predicted February 14, http://www.federaldirect.net/newsletter021407.html ) a return of the battle of the bags. I do not think there is any argument: Best Buy wins the battle of the bags, simply because there bag is roughly the size of a walk-in closet. But this is a reminder that winning the battle has nothing to do with winning the war. Think about shiny rocks and the tag line Best Buy used at the show – Go to the Glow. Here are a couple emails I received during FOSE: Reader email 1: Best Buy captures the crown in “Bag Wars” part II. They also take first place for Best Discothèque at FOSE. Curious booth, but I was told that FOSE begged them to exhibit and practically gave the space away. Lots of little exhibitors, not many big ones. The largest exhibit space was “Korea” … perhaps the same size as Microsoft. Seemed pretty slow but it was fun to see a lot of friends. Reader email 2: No lanyard vendor sponsor. This is unbelievable to me. Rumor that DHS sent out an email informing its people not to attend the show. I heard this from two vendors. Reader email 3: Why did Best Buy have people doing a fad dance popular among young teenage girls? Emails like these save me so much time! Another asked me about the effectiveness of the HUGE Best Buy bag, and here is my answer. How effective? 1) you can see them half way down the show floor and read them at 100 yards; 2) lots of people were talking about them 3) most of those talking about them were making fun of them 4) many people carrying them were apologizing about every 20 seconds for blocking an aisle, bumping into someone, etc 5) I would love to have seen people try to go through the subway entrance with these - and get mugged on the subway for carrying something so big! Effective? Created lots of buzz; but there was no control over the buzz, and much of it was not positive. Will it be remembered? Yes, but not for all the reasons BB would want. So, my overall thoughts on the show? 1105 had less than three months to execute after the purchase of PostNewsweek Tech, the former FOSE owner. Attendance was up. Most of the cornerstone (big) booths were gone. The show had good keynoters, but no major systems integrators that I could see. Verdict? This will have to wait until next year when 1105 has a full year to pull it together. Beware of the SCHLOCK EVENT PRODUCERS, producing minimal value 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. April 12, 2007 OUTLOOK, McLean Hilton www.FedSources.com April 19, 2007: 17th Annual OSDBU Conference, Upper Marlboro, MD www.fbcinc.com/osdbu - the definitive OSDBU event, a must for small businesses regardless of what you sell. 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. June 25-28, 2007, National Veteran Small Business Conference & Expo, Las Vegas www.Nationalveteransconference.com 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:
*** 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 |
| | What We Do | Events | Multimedia | Newsletter | Subscribe | About Us | Contact Us | |
Design: Dragonfly-design.com