It’s official: FOSE is dead — for now

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Originally posted on FedBiz

It's been a long time coming: Murmurings of the demise of government technology conference FOSE are officially confirmed -- just as its owner, 1105 Media, shakes up its leadership.

GovLoop's Chris Dorobek, who is also the former editor of 1105 Media's Federal Computer Week, wrote Monday that the 37-year old event won't happen in 2015. Mark Amtower, a government contracting consultant and host of his own radio show on WFED, posted an obituary to LinkedIn Tuesday: "After a long coma, FOSE has passed away. Efforts to revive the once healthy computer show were, well, unsuccessful."

I wrote a blog in 2011 about the changing FOSE landscape, noting that "what used to be a primary gathering of federal contractors has become dominated by mostly small product manufacturers peddling their latest gadgets and software applications."

So, yes, this has been a long time coming.

I'm told by a source who asked not to be named that internal conversations were happening for some time to decide how to announce the news. Some speculated the company might try to sell the brand, widely recognized among industry influencers from its heyday. But the fact that Henry Allain, the new chief operating officer of 1105 Media, suggested FOSE might return seems to indicate that won't likely happen.

I spoke to Allain Tuesday afternoon about the conference staff, and was told that some would be moved to other roles at 1105, while others would be let go. He didn't have any specific numbers.

This news comes after 1105 announced Nov. 3 that Rajeev Kapur was taking over for founding CEO Neal Vitale, who moved on to pursue other interests. Kapur is a tech guy, having spent 11 years at Dell.

Of course, as Amtower rightly noted in his LinkedIn post, the demise of FOSE would simply reaffirm what has grown increasingly apparent in recent years: industry expos aren't quite the draw they used to be. Anchor companies are pulling out, not seeing massive booths translate into actual business opportunities. And companies don't have the available cash to put towards such things in a more challenging market than years past.

Even the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting, the largest military trade show in the U.S., was affected. You might not have known it, wandering the two-floor expo as I did to peer at everything from the tanks to helicopters that were showcased, but organizers expected about 5,000 fewer attendees. Soldiers got the OK to attend the event, but only after service officials pledged to significantly scale back exhibit hall space, Defense News reported in October.

Still, many defense giants opt to attend AUSA because of that government audience, which includes a fair number of Army officials. Having attended FOSE for years, I saw the crowd meandering the expo floor transition from decision makers to lower-level staff. It was also heavy on the industry attendees, which may be good for partnering opportunities but not as much for contracting ins.

None of this is to say that contracting events are dead and gone in Washington. Slim down or eliminate expos, and there's still demand for networking and sessions that help address the growing challenges associated with government sales. Perhaps we'll see more of that from 1105 Media -- Allain pointed to "some very cool new offerings" that are in the works.

We'll stay tuned. But it's also not easy to shed the very component that made an event a household name without raising a few eyebrows.