Power Players | 10 - Anne Armstrong and Neal Vitale

Armstrong is president and group publisher of 1105 Government Information Group and Vitale is president and chief executive officer of 1105 Media. Armstrong is one of the founders of Federal Computer Week. She became publisher in 2002. Vitale, a veteran of the publishing business, founded 1105 Media in 2006. Not listed. 1105 Government Information Group and its parent, 1105 Media, own Federal Computer Week, so including this pair on the list might seem self-serving. Journalists are in the business of covering the news, not making it. However, Armstrong and Vitale have been at the heart of a tectonic shift in the government information technology community’s media landscape. In December 2006, 1105 Media bought PostNewsweek Tech Media, which included Government Computer News and Washington Technology magazines and the government IT trade show FOSE. That brings all of the big government IT trade publications, online media and events under a single umbrella. It is a powerful force. There seems to be no such thing as a monopoly these days, and 1105 Government Information Group faces some serious challenges. Many publications have been foundering as the publishing industry tries to find its way in the new information landscape, and 1105 is not immune to those difficulties. Furthermore, competitors exist in the form of the National Journal Group’s Government Executive, the growing number of Web sites and blogs that cover the government IT market, and the scores of conferences that target the same audience. It is difficult for us to be objective about our own company, so we’ll leave this determination to you and revisit the topic next year.