Government Market Master on LinkedIn

I am very active on LinkedIn and much less so at Twitter, Plaxo, GovLoop, FederalContractor, Facebook, etc.

I have 1,503 connections and belong to fifty (5-zero) groups on LinkedIn. I was not satisfied with a few of the B2G groups I was in, so yesterday I started my own - Government Market Master, with the idea that I would make this one more active than those I was not satisfied with.

The group will provide information for all the "skill" areas of doing business with the government: BD, marketing, sales, program management, C-level, operations, GSA and more.

I have three discussion posts (with 10 comments) and 3 news posts in the first 24 hours - and 177 members in the first 24 hours. Tomorrow I will announce the first free teleseminar for the group, which will be held next week.

Come check out the group when you have a few minutes - Government Market Master -
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1979445

Content Guy as Keynoter - part 2

Yesterday I delivered the keynote at the 10th annual SEWP conference in Austin, Texas. For those of you who do not know the government market, SEWP is a government-wide contract (GWAC in our parlance) for high-end information technology products.

First - I had a great time. I learned that SEWP is not simply a contract and that the conference is not simply an event, but that SEWP is a community comprised of the SEWP staff, agencies buyers, and the contractors. These people know one and respect one another and truly enjoy themselves when they get together.

Second- We have all been to events where have either been or seen the "fringe" people - those who are too new to an event to feel a part of it and who will go to their rooms for meals. This event did everything possible to be inclusive, with the SEWP staff acting as ambassadors, seeking out all the attendees.

Third, looking at the agenda and talking to the attendees, I know that Joanne Woytek, Marcus Fedeli and the rest of the SEWP staff put together a great program, chock full of stuff people could use as soon as they got to the office.

Finally - the content guy as keynoter. As soon as I hit the stage I felt at home. I knew some of the attendees from before, met several others at dinner the night I arrived, and I just felt good. It is not for me to say how I did, so I will ask some of the folks who attended to comment - but I had about 20 people come up to me after the speech to say how much they enjoyed it. As I was only there for about 20 minutes after I was done spoeaking, I think that I must have been OK.

All things considered, I am honored to have been a small part of the event.

Beware of the B2G Institute

I have had several calls lately asking me if I knew of the B2G Institute.

I do not.

Then I got this google alert aiming me at an article highlighting the same B2G Institute as a company to avoid.

http://www.sandiego6.com/mostpopular/story/B2G-Get-Rich-Scheme-Targets-San-Diego-Business/naLrwamJG0yVGJpNkBaAfg.cspx

Make your own decision - but read the article!

Content guy as a keynoter

I am a good speaker, but not a great speaker. I am known for content - stuff you can use, either right then and there, or whenever (if ever) you get to it.

But I am a content guy, not a polished platform guy.

Overall, I think it's fair to say that I am not your usual conference speaker. I dress in all black, wear cowboy boots (or black sneakers), and don't wear ties. I am easy to find as I am not small and dress this way all the time.

Yet I am the keynote at the SEWP conference next week. For those of you who don't know what SEWP is, the NASA SEWP (Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement) GWAC (Government-Wide Acquisition Contract) provides the latest in Information Technology (IT) products for all Federal Agencies. It is a truly great government contract and it hosts it's own event every year, and they asked me to keynote.

Who was I to say "no"?

So when I speak in Austin on Tuesday to kick off this event, I will tell them up front that this is not your typical keynote and that note taking is encouraged. I will give them some info they can use, if they so choose, or ignore. You can lead a horse to water....

And I will report back here next week to let you know how I did and what I told 'em.

Some Tech Blogs to watch, and one to ignore

Patting oneself on the back isn't a bad thing. I have been known to do it myself. But starting a separate "independent" company whose main job seems to be patting you on the back is something else, especially when you make the assumption that people will either not find out or will not care.

The creation of an artificially inflated food chain in an environment like the web is begging for public humiliation. The transparency of the web is real, and the Lincoln adage that "you can fool some of the people all of the time..." may well be passe in an environment where, when they have not heard of you, they can google you in a heartbeat...

TechCrunch references a survey from PR Sourcecode that ranks the tech blogs allegedly used and preferred by PR agencies. The only problem is the #7 ranking...Meritalk, which is owned by the same company that owns PRSourcecode.

Follow the interesting discussion here:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/04/survey-says-pr-people-love-our-no-embargo-policy/

Draw your own conclusions.

Not hat I have an opinion.

Some current and upcoming B2G Stuff

A couple items of interest to the B2G community.

My friends at World Wide Technology are hosting a webinar on Putting Stimulus Doallrs to Work:
http://www.wwt.com/external_content/stimulus_registration.html
WWT is a major provider of Cisco, Sun and other high-end IT products to the government.

The Montgomery County (Maryland) Chamber and its GovConNet program is hosting a Procurement Conference and Expo Wed May 13 - here is the link:
http://www.montgomerycountychamber.com/pubs/main/Procurement_Confer_1.cfm
The lineup is very impressive.

My friends at Onvia are hosting a webinar on May 20, 2009
https://onviaevents.ilinc.com/perl/ilinc/lms/register.pl?activity_id=pwmyvmp&user_id=
This is regarding the economic recovery initiatives that are under way. Onvia is always a good source for this information. Onvia Webcast: Recovery Projects are Underway – How to Secure your Success.

I am back on StartUpNation
http://www.startupnation.com/articles/9439/1/government-contracting-gsa-schedules.htm

For those of you not familiar with http://www.startupnation.com/, is is an information portal for new and small businesses, filled with articles, podcasts, etc, from a variety of niche experts. Take a little time to browse the site.

I am also in the current Maryland Daily Record in an article regarding private business clubs - see
http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=11411&type=UTTM