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 are available at http://www.federaldirect.net/newsletterarchives.html)

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

AMTOWER OFF-CENTER OBSERVATIONS

Item: Tom Temin takes over from Mike Causey soon on the AM drive time show at WFED, AM 1050 in Washington. Tom will partner with Jane Norris. Mike is staying at the station but giving up the early show. Also, WFED will be boosting its strength to 3500 watts later this year so the signal will be much stronger and cover much of the local area.

Item: I have been playing with LinkedIn lately, and there may actually be some good uses for this. If you are on LinkedIn – look me up and Link. Stay tuned for more!

Item: Any thoughts on the new WalMart tag line: Save Money. Live Better?

Item: Rudi G is doing it again, saying the federal workforce is way too big, and when elected, he will cut it down to the right size. Rudi, I know where the fat is, but you would not like my take on this one. 

Item: SpeakerBoxPR (formerly SheaHedges) is celebrating its 10^th anniversary. Congrats to Elizabeth Shea and crew. http://www.speakerboxpr.com/     Former partner Kristi Hedges has opened The Hedges Company and will focus on teaching IT leaders communication skills. http://www.thehedgescompany.com/ 

Repeat Item: If you sell products to government (as in commodity products, including IT), the place to be this November 5-6 is The Sixth Annual Amtower Summit on Selling Products to the Government. This is the only event focused exclusively on selling products to the government and we offer information you can act on immediately. We have a great lineup of speakers and we are in a great new Hilton hotel, the BWI Hilton, 5 minutes from Baltimore-Washington International airport. Join us for good food, great speakers, excellent networking and more. This is a limited seating event, so register NOW. See Events below for the link.

Item: Bob Prosen, author of the  multiple-award winning Kiss Theory Goodbye, has an excellent (free) e-newsletter, Results. Go to www.BobProsen.com and the sign-up form is on the left side. Bob and I will also be announcing a series of tele-seminars on Thought Leadership in the near term. You can monitor  www.GovernmetnExpress.com or www.BobProsen.com for updates, We will also have the dates for this announced in the next newsletter.

Item: Here is another online resource that we are keeping an eye on:  www.MySuccessGateway.com is a small business coaching and mentoring web site makes a move towards assisting small businesses in working with the government.  Interviews are provided with Paul Murphy of Eagle Eye Publishers, Paul Miller of Miller/Wenhold, small business lobbyist and me. Jim Peake is Founder and CEO of My Success Gateway, LLC.  Jim has also released a new eBook called The Super Simple Success eBook that can be downloaded on www.jimpeake.com.  

Item: A local PR firm is offering a $5,000 prize for those who share their best PR tactics of the past year. Hmmmm, is this a way to get new ideas for your clients without having to think them up yourself…

THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY: MEA CULPA ON PR RANKINGS

Some of you know there are a couple people out there tasked with keeping me in the bounds of acceptable behavior. It was pointed out by Anne Armstrong that my assessment of the local PR scene was flawed.

Several excellent PR/ad firms did not make the list. A few editors and reporters I emailed but who did not respond the first time also emailed to point this out.

Anne wrote: I guess my question would be whether reporters are the only judge of what makes a good PR firm. Making life easy for a reporter is not always what resonates with corporate objectives. After all, the final measure of what makes a good PR firm is which one matches the chemistry and objectives of the client. One can do a very good job for a customer and not be on the radar of reporters. Since I have been told I am to tell you when you have crossed the line, I will say your Work Harder comment crossed the line.

I asked Anne who she liked when she was still reporting and she responded:

I also think there are some very good in house PR people. Keith Hodson at Microsoft is one. John Gulick who was at CSC for years was another. Bill Ritz at EDS. We used to divide PR types into two types--facilitators and gatekeepers. The first would find an appropriate executive to speak on a topic if he or she had to chase them across country. They always make your job easier by doing part of the work. They understand deadlines. The gatekeepers just make life difficult and their job is to keep all media at bay and protect the inner core.

Be assured, next time I will do a more thorough job, or perhaps outsource it to Market Connections, so we all get a better feel for which PR firms are best.

 
EVENTS WORTH ATTENDING

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.

October 16, APMP-NCA Professional Day, The Association for Proposal Management annual professional day, 8:00 AM- 4:30 PM, Fairfax, VA http://apmpnca.org/professional_day/

October 18, 7:00PM - 11:00PM, GIT ROCKIN' 2nd Annual BATTLE OF THE GOVERNMENT IT BANDS, The State Theatre, Falls Church, VA  www.GitRockin.com

October 23-25, Federal Information Assurance Conference 2007, University of Maryland at College Park http://www.fbcinc.com/fiac/

November 2, Heroines in Technology, Hyatt Regency Reston, www.WomenInTechnology.org

November 5-6, 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

November 7-8, The Coalition for Government Procurement Annual Fall Conference, Hilton Arlington, http://www.thecgp.org/

AMTOWER ON THE RADIO - WFED

Amtower Off-Center airs Friday at 2:05 PM on WFED 1050 AM in Washington, DC and is simulcast and archived on  www.FederalNewsRadio.com. Tune in to the only show for the government contracting market!

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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