GovMark Gazette

Caroline's Council Connection

A new year always brings new resolutions that, for better or worse, most of us can't keep. We simply are too busy with daily life to fit anything else in the schedule. So here at the Council we hope to help you out with at least one critical element of your professional life – keeping connected to the wider government marketing community.

Washington is all about connections and it isn't easy to keep up with our professional peers on a regular basis. There are best practices to learn from, programs to attend, and constant policy changes and funding challenges affecting even the best laid marketing plans. And of course, there's the general uniqueness of the public sector environment that no one else in our corporate structures seems to understand.

The Council offers the opportunity to stay connected with your marketing peers; hear from government customers and marketplace experts; platforms to raise awareness of your programs and events and share opportunities; and access research on timely, relevant topics. Also, in this issue, be sure to check out our update on ethics regulations, which may affect some of your government-focused marketing activities and programs.

Lobbyist Gift Ban Proposed Rules – Update

On September 13, 2011, The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a proposed rule that would implement the lobbyist gift ban in Executive Order 13490 for all Executive Branch employees. This ban imposes limits on the use of gift exceptions when a gift is from a registered lobbyist or lobbying organization. Previously these applied only to political appointees. In December, GovMark provided an update and presentation on what these proposed rules may mean for marketing programs and activities your organization is planning or executing with Federal government participants.

The expansion of the lobbyist gift ban to all Executive Branch employees means changes in gift limits and gift exceptions, travel, attendance at widely attended gatherings, and other restrictions that may not have applied to your customers or your organization previously. Check out the GovMark Council presentation here to see what changes may occur and things you can do to make sure your programs stay above board.

Member Spotlight on Ginger Kessler

We are pleased to feature Ginger Kessler, Government Product Marketing Manager for Avnet Technology Solutions, in this quarter's member spotlight. Ginger hails from Pennsylvania and is a Penn State alum. With a strong sales background and 15 years in the IT marketing industry, she specializes in field, Federal, and channel marketing.

Ginger was kind enough to answer some questions about her career, the marketing business, and life in general.

Start Planning Your Super Bowl Party...

Whether or not your team is playing, the Super Bowl calls for a celebration. Want to brush up on your Super Bowl trivia so you can impress your guests? Play the 2 Minute Trivia game here.

And, since we're all marketing geeks, here are the 12 ads that changed Super Bowl marketing, according to Ad Age.

Finally, those of you who attended the GovMark offsite in December might recall the delicious hot crab dip at the wine tasting/happy hour. Well, we pulled a few strings and have the recipe – thanks to Chef Dean at Keswick Hall for sharing. Enjoy!

2012 Membership: Renew Today

It's officially 2012, so what are you waiting for? Renew your GovMark Council membership today and take advantage of all the benefits we offer:

• Participation in and exclusive access to research projects – including the forthcoming 2012 Marketing Investment Report
• Participation in the annual GovMarks Awards, which recognize excellence in marketing programs within the government IT marketplace – membership includes program submission
• Complimentary registration for the annual awards luncheon and executive program
• Invitation to join the exclusive annual offsite conference focused on key issues for the government IT marketing community

Individual and group packages are available. To sign up for membership, please visit us here or contact kmaxwell@govmarkcouncil.org. We hope you'll join us for another great year with the Council in 2012!

Research and Resources

• Red Hat's Introducing JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.0 archived webcast (1/24/2012)
• NextGov, Federal CIO Launches Mobile Roadmap (1/11/2012)
• immixGroup's The Department of Health and Human Services: Sales Opportunities for the IT Product Community archived webcast (12/15/2011)
• immixGroup's December 2011 Public Sector Business Alert
• Data Center Exchange's Data Center Consolidation Cookbook

And, coming soon – GovMark Council's 2012 Marketing Investment Report, which is free to GovMark members. Keep an eye out for this in February.

Make sure Council members are seeing your resources, research, and news – send items to Katie Maxwell by April 10, 2012 for inclusion in the April issue.

Upcoming Events and Webinars

• February 8: immixGroup's Fundamentals of Selling Technology to the Federal Government training course
• February 9: immixGroup's Federal Procurement and Contracting Essentials training course
• February 10: immixGroup's Public Sector Channel Strategies and Management half-day workshop
• February 23: Telework Exchange's Turn the Key on Telework: Telework Pilot to Enterprise-Wide Program webinar
• March 5-9: Telework Exchange's Telework Week 2012

Want your events and webinars to be featured in the next Gazette? Send information to Katie Maxwell by April 10, 2012. We look forward to hearing from you. Catch upcoming events in real time on our LinkedIn group.

Jobs

• Marketing Associate – Federal Government Services, Deloitte
• Civilian Sales Rep, DOD Sales, and Pre-Sales Engineer opportunities through immixGroup clients

Have a new position that you're looking to fill? Let us know! We'll post open positions here and on the GovMark LinkedIn group, so you reach the right folks – the government IT marketing community. Please feel free to send information to Katie Maxwell by April 10, 2012 for inclusion in the next issue.