Category Archives: Gov/Mil News

Gov/Mil News on GovEvents Blog includes editorials and media pertaining directly to current events happening in Government & Military.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month – A Look Ahead

Posted on by

October has been designated Cybersecurity Awareness Month. In 2009, President Obama recognized the need to increase education and dialogue about cybersecurity. As part of this policy review, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was asked to create an ongoing cybersecurity awareness campaign. The Stop.Think.Connect. Campaign that is highlighted in the month of October is a national public awareness effort challenging the American public to be more vigilant about practicing safer online habits.

With this attention on the far-ranging topic of cybersecurity, a number of events are planned for the IT community to educate and collaborate. In this post we wanted to highlight the range of events professionals have to choose from this month.

Continue reading →

Way Beyond the Beltway: Events in Alaska

Posted on by

As was likely the response to our post on events in Hawaii, you're probably thinking there is no way Alaska makes sense for your event. While that may be the case for many, it is worth noting that in Alaska nearly 30% of the workforce are  government workers.  Relatively close by, Washington state also has an above average number of government employees.

Current federal job openings across the state show a wide variety of job types and departments. From Interior, to Justice, to Defense, to Commerce, there is a broad range of federal programs and work across the state. If you think travel cutbacks have been hard in your department, imagine how staff in Alaska feel when every training event requires a lengthy plane ride and hotel stay. It just may be worth taking your message and event to the "last frontier." It might even help you stand out from the competition.

Continue reading →

GSA applying its IT model to overhaul of services schedules

Posted on by

From time to time GovEvents will come across information we feel our members and audience would benefit from. Here's something we wanted to share:

Originally posted on FederalNewsRadio.com

The General Services Administration wants to make it easier for agencies to buy professional, management, technology and a host of other kinds of services from the schedule contracts. To that end, GSA will consolidate seven different professional services contracts into what could end up being one mega- schedule.

Tiffany Hixson, GSA's Federal Acquisition Service's professional services category executive, said the goal is to consolidate the schedules of as many as 500 vendors by November 2015.

Continue reading →

Back to Basics: 5 Tips on Selecting a Venue

Posted on by

With back to school behind us, new routines are set and starting to feel comfortable. Most of us love a familiar routine and familiar places. That's why we may go out of our way to hit our favorite coffee shop. But this comfort in routine can make our events a bit stale.

Are you always planning events at the same locations? Are your events at the same venues that are also used by organizations in your industry? Maybe its time to step out of the comfort zone and pick a new spot to add some new life to your events.

In choosing a new venue think first about what you like best about your old standby venues. Is it the service? Décor? Food? Location? AV equipment? Then put that criteria at the top of your list for selecting a new venue. Can they meet or exceed your expectations?

Continue reading →

In tough times, contractors turn to creative marketing campaigns

Posted on by

From time to time GovEvents will come across information we feel our members and audience would benefit from. Here's something we wanted to share:

Originally posted on WashingtonPost.com

In the best of times, selling to the government is not an easy task. In the worst of times, it's even harder.

As federal budgets shrink and competition intensifies, contractors are battling it out not only for dollars, but also for the attention of their government customers.

That's sparked a slew of creative marketing campaigns over the past couple of years, featuring virtual conferences, 3-D animation, apps, e-books and the increased use of social media. These are not necessarily groundbreaking ideas in the Internet age, but for the world of government contracting, they mark a shift from the old way of doing business.

Continue reading →