This week on Amtower Off Center, GovCon expert Katie Helwig of MildRed joins host Mark Amtower to discuss the value of GovCon associations. Topics include: Creating visibility in GovCon The GovCon association landscape Criteria for selecting the association which will be best for you Getting involved with your association ..read more

This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower interviews Fergal McGovern, CEO of Visible Thread. Visible Thread(VT) provides support tools and processes for the contractor side of the proposal community, especially in the evolving area of generative AI. Topics include: Fergal's background and what VT offers to the contractor community An overview of generative AI's impact on the GovCon ecosystem Why hallucinations occur and some potential work-arounds Two questions to ask when applying generative AI Prompt engineering & retrieval augmented generation and how to get bet ..read more

This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower starts year 18 at Federal News Network with guest Kevine Jans, president of Skyway Acquisition and host of the Contracting Officer's Podcast. Topics include: Kevin's background as a DOD contracting officer prior to Skyway Starting his podcast 10 years ago Proposal "do's and dont's" The Aristotelian method of RFPS (ethos, pathos and logos) Why Kevin prefers LinkedIn to conferences ..read more

This week on Amtower Off Center, Nick Wakeman, editor in chief of Washington Technology, joins host Mark Amtower for an animated and wide-ranging discussion of the biggest issues facing contractors. Topics include: The top stories of 2023-24 M&A trends and activity The increasing role of private equity in the federal market Key elements for growth in GovCon The impact of a year-long CR The new National Defense Industrial Strategy ..read more

This week on Amtower Off Center, Host Mark Amtower interviews contract funding expert Teresa Moon of Parabilis on a wide variety of issues facing smaller contractors and those new to the market. Our topics include:  Is your product or service viable in GovCon and have you done enough research to bear this out What is your event/networking strategy? Which events are most germane to what you do and who you need to know? Does your business plan include a plan for funding contracts that you win? Where does LinkedIn fit in all of this? What do you need to know to be successful ..read more

This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower is joined by ACT-IAC CEO Dave Wennergren for a lively and wide-ranging discussion about ACT-IAC. Topics include: a brief history of ACT-IAC the mission of the organization professional development opportunities committees and communities of interest the ongoing events for the councils and the major annual events award programs small business participation ..read more

This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower is joined by Peter Erickson of MoDev, producer of the GovAI Summit. Topics discussed include: the current evolutionary stepping point in technology that AI, ML and LLM represent a little historical perspective on what brought us to this point, including earlier uses of voice recognition the emergence of AI as a tech transformational event key players in this emerging arena and the scope of the upcoming GovAI Summit   ..read more

Government proposal guru Carl Dickson joins host Mark Amtower on this week's Amtower Off Center to discuss several recent topics Dickson has written about, including: 5 Ways to use AI to Improve proposals 14 ways to determine if your proposal is any good How branding can hurt your proposals 10 things the customer might choose to do instead of accepting your offer.   ..read more

This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower is joined by Eileen Rivera, Federal MarCom leader and the author of Hard Talk: Confessions of an Accidental Marketing and Communications Professional. Topics discussed include: Why did you write Hard Talk? Who is the audience Dealing with unexpected situations that can impact a company's reputation Lessons learned from the front lines of MarCom in the government market Advice for would-be authors ..read more

This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower is joined by fellow GovCon consultant Mike LeJeune of RSM Federal for a wide ranging discussion on branding and marketing in GovCon. Topics include: Defining your market niche Being able to enunciate your market position in 90 seconds or less Why your capabilities statement is not etched in stone The power of social media in GovCon Staying on the radar ..read more