The Amtower Report

(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)

In this issue:
Amtower Off-Center Observations
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: Dell Government
Events Worth Attending
Amtower on the Radio- WFED

AMTOWER OFF-CENTER OBSERVATIONS

Item: If you have not seen the Washington Tech top 100 issue, get it or go online at www.washingtontechnology.com . It is chock full of great info. Kudos to Nick Wakeman and staff

Item: There are still about 30 copies of Government Marketing Best Practices available; Go to www.governmentexpress.com/ordergmbp.html to get your copy.

Repeat Item: Save the date: June19 marks the return of the Government Marketing Forum (see Events below). Some of you will remember the Forum from 2001-2004 as a monthly breakfast seminar and networking event. The new Forum, like the old, is a collaboration of several companies: Amtower & Co, ConnellyWorks, Federal Business Council, ImmixGroup, Market Connections, Sage Communications and 1105 Government Information Group. These seven companies will act as a steering committee for the Forum, with Larry Rosenfeld and myself acting as co-chairs. The Forum will be designed to be a bi-monthly peer networking event with an educational component. It is geared toward marketing, sales, business development and executives in the business-to-government arena. While all are welcome, early registration is encouraged as our venue will only hold about 100 attendees. If we replicate what the earlier Forum provided, there will be great education and first-class peer networking, plus good food. Beware of cheap imitations – there is nothing else like this!

Item: A week ago I left Sprint long distance after over 20 years. Early on I would write and speak about the great customer experience I had with Sprint, receiving from Sprint (a long time ago) a cassette copy of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (just came, out of the blue). There were other such experiences. Then they stopped as suddenly as they began. Somewhere back then I had accumulated more than a few Sprint customer reward points. Until recently, I have never cashed in any of these (AmEx, Sprint, Marriott, etc; all my airline miles/points go to www.HeroMiles.org ). So I thought I would call and find out how I was doing. After calling a customer service line where it was damn near impossible to access a human being, I finally cracked the code, talked to a human, was put on hold, then, after several minutes, I was cut off. The line went dead. It went DEAD. Needless to say, I was mildly irritated. When I finally got through to a human who did not hang up on me, I was told that my activity was below the threshold for point accumulation and my other points were nowhere to be found, gone, disappeared into the Sprint customer service labyrinth. Hellllooo Verizon long distance.

Now I have another customer dissatisfaction story to add to my Best Buy story. My speaking coach once told me to stop telling the Best Buy story as I tended to get a bit loud, perhaps a little out of control, possibly to the point of upsetting dairy animals in neighboring states with my primal war cries. It has been over eight years since I – or anyone in my family – has been in a Best Buy.

Any company that treats customers in a rude, offhand and haphazard manner deserves the perpetual wrath I plan on delivering.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY: VAR WARS HEATS UP

When it was announced that CDW may be bought by Madison Dearborn (MD), I immediately went to the MD web site to determine what type of company this was. I saw no experience in the IT channel, IT products, or government – and immediately said so in some media interviews.

VAR Wars, thought brain surgeon Amtower, can now resume, as the big train is about to come over the tracks.

I was wrong. It happens.

After a few conversations with some people at CDW, including a very senior management person in Chicago, I learned that MD is not the typical roll-up company looking for some very quick returns. Instead, it is a well-financed company that looks for well-run, profitable companies that have room for further growth. MD keeps these companies intact, including management, and assists them in becoming market leaders and niche dominators.

Not that CDW needed much help, but with the quarter-to-quarter blinders removed, the big picture comes into sharper focus.

The good news? CDWG remains unchanged – good for CDWG employees and partners.

The bad news? CDWG remains unchanged, but better financed – bad for other channel players.

Does this really affect other VARs? Yes, if they offer the broad product array that CDWG offers. No, if they are niche masters like Carahsoft and immixGroup.

How sales posted with GSA look so far this year for selected VARs:

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.

June 6, 2007: VMWare SYMPOSIA 2007 Ronald Reagan Center.: http://info.vmware.com/content/Sym?&Src=web_homepage

June 11-15, FBI Global Initiative Conference (on Nuclear Terrorism), Miami http://www.fbcinc.com/event.aspx?eventid=Q6UJ9A00DB3X

June 19, Government Marketing Forum, Tower Club, Vienna VA www.FBCINC.com/gmf

June 21, 2007, Government Women at the Helm, 6 - 830 PM  McLean Hilton, McLean, VA. Speakers: Linda Cureton, Chief Information Officer, NASA Goddard; Deidre Lee, Director, Office of Management, FEMA; Lisa Schlosser, Chief Information Officer, HUD; Kathleen Turco, Chief Financial Officer, GSA;  Moderator: Anne Altman, Managing Director, US Federal, IBM Corporation (invited) www.womenintechnology.org

June 25-28, 2007, National Veteran Small Business Conference & Expo, Las Vegas www.Nationalveteransconference.com

June 26-28, Department of Energy 8^th Annual Small Business Conference,  Washington Hilton, www.smallbusiness-outreach.doe.gov

Nov 6, 2007 – The SIXTH ANNUAL AMTOWER SUMMIT ON SELLING PRODUCTS to the GOVERNMENT, BWI Airport Hilton. Save the date – details to follow at www.FederalDirect.net/2007summit.html

AMTOWER ON THE RADIO - WFED

Amtower Off-Center airs Friday at 2:05 PM on WFED 1050 AM in Washington, DC and is simulcast on  www.FederalNewsRadio.com.

Upcoming show/guests -  The Future of DHS – Scott Lewis, Ray Bjorklund (FSI),  and a  reporter TBA. ….Stay tuned!

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

Thanks
Mark Amtower

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