New government marketing group

It's a competitive world these days, even for networking groups.

A team of marketing pros is forming — or, more accurately, reforming. They call themselves the Government Marketing Forum.

The original Government Marketing Forum started in 2001 but faded in 2004, according to Mark Amtower, founding partner of Amtower and Co. and one of the leaders of this new group. Now a new crop of marketing experts are retooling the group.

The new group's leaders are Amtower and Co., ConnellyWorks, the Federal Business Council, immixGroup, Market Connections, Sage Communications and 1105 Government Information Group, which, of course, is the parent company of Federal Computer Week.

Amtower and Larry Rosenfeld, founder and chief executive officer of Sage Communications, are co-chairmen of the forum's steering committee.

"What we're trying to form here is a peer networking group that is collaborative in nature," Amtower said. "The only fees are the fees to attend the event."

The government IT market lacks an open networking forum, Amtower said. "There is a closed group, but no open opportunity for people to network and discuss issues," he added.

The forum will host bimonthly peer-networking events that will be paired with an educational component. The events will focus on the interests of people in marketing, sales, business development and other business-to-government positions.

"It's critical for marketing people to start mingling more — and not just with ourselves, but with sales and business development people," Amtower said.

The first meeting will be June 19 at the Tower Club in Vienna, Va. It will feature a presentation by Steve Charles, co-founder and executive vice president of immixGroup and a columnist for Washington Technology, one of FCW's sister publications. Charles will present an overview of the federal government budget environment.

For more information or to register for the program, contact Amtower at amtower@erols.com.