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The Amtower ReportVolume 5, #21, June 5, 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: Market Connections has a new URL if you are looking for the reports I mentioned last week. It is www.MarketConnectionsInc.com . Repeat Item: Along these same lines, I am interviewing Eloqua CEO Mark Organ in a webinar on June 13. Our topic is online selling and the ability to monitor and fast-track sales using web-based tools. Click here to register Item: IAC announced its new executive committee members: Executive Vice Chair 2006-2007; Chair 2007-2008: Venkatapathi Puvvada of Unisys; Vice Chair for Management and Finance: Paul Cohen of Pragmatics, Inc;Vice Chair for Programs: Tricia Iveson of SI International; Vice Chair for Shared Interest Groups: Daniel Matthews of Lockheed Martin Information Technology; Vice Chair at Large: Mary Ellen Condon of SRA International; and Vice Chair at Large: Leslie Steele of InterImage, Inc. Item: I got as call from a reporter outside this market asking if the FEC would be making any changes in campaign finance laws. My response was short: waiting for the FEC to act on behalf of democracy (read: lack of influence peddling) was akin to thinking the House Ethics Committee had….ethics. I am pretty sure Sam Beckett wrote a play about this. Not that I have an opinion.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY: READER Q&A I had an inquiry last week for an e-list of all Federal CISO personnel. I replied that I did not have such a list, and that the time required to create even a partial list would make it expensive. Several problems arise. First, DOD and military do not list many individuals in the post 9/11 environment, so the list would be restricted to civilian names. Regardless of some of the email offers you may see, good email lists like these are not available by compiling from the web. They simply are not there – so beware of e-offerings of ALL the key people you need to reach. The second problem is that many of the people tasked with info security do not carry job titles that reflect IT security. So even if you find a name and email address, it may – or may not – be who you need to reach. The third problem of course, is unsolicited email reaching the wrong audience. Another question involved use of snail mail, particularly for catalogs. The question was is late August too late to mail to get good results. My answer was I would think that to maximize your sales – especially to existing accounts (low hanging fruit - people that already know you) that mid-late July would be much better - that way you have 2 full months. And catalogs do have some shelf life. If you mail late August, and it goes bulk - it could be 2nd week of Sept (or later) before the mail even arrives - and the $$ impact- would be minimal. The third question was in reference to the impact Best Buy (BB) may have on the Federal market. CRN (Computer Reseller News) started a three-part series (by Steve Burke and Scott Campbell; go to www.crn.com and type Best Buy in the search bar) on May 26 about BBs major initiative targeting the Small business market. This looks like it will be a great series of articles. My disdain for BB is known by those who attended the early versions (2002-2003) of Government Marketing Best Practices – a personal shopping experience there several years ago showed me that their view of customer service and mine were not in the same universe. I will leave my personal feelings aside and answer with available empirical data. Government VAR, over a year ago, did an article with the BB government director, which stated that BB would have a GSA Schedule in place by end of FY 2005. That did not happen. I have seen a couple of the BB Small Biz catalogs. I have worked with about 100 catalogers over the past 20 years, and this catalog was not put together by catalog professionals. The BB web site does not make it easy to find the BB small biz site. The BB GovEd site remains one page with a phone number. Impact near term, minimal, as the BB act does not seem to be together. Long Term: with the right management, and dispensing with the Fortune 100 quarter-to-quarter mentality, they could have a significant impact on the small and medium business market, especially because they own The Geek Squad (house calls are nice). However, if they are successful, Geek Squad calls will be scheduled several days or weeks out, not in a day or two.I do not see them making any significant move into the government market. This game is too complex, and the major players here too sophisticated in the nuances of this market to cede any significant marketshare to a company with a quarter-to-quarter focus. 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 6-7, 2006 NSA SIGINT Technology Exposition and Conference, Fort Meade, Maryland June 6, 2006: Coalition for Government Procurement Spring Conference, McLean Hilton, www.thecgp.org June 13: Eloqua Webinar: 6 Ways to Fast-Track Your B2G Sales: www.Eloqua.com 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 5: Neil Sexton on Telemarketing June 12: Courtney Fairchild of Global Services.
May 30, at 7:40 AM on The Bob Cudmore Show, WVTL 1570 AM, Amsterdam, NY. 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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