Amtower Off-Center

By Federal News Network | Hubbard RadioBusiness Government

Amtower Off-Center episodes

June 27, 2024Q4 do's and don'ts
This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower is joined by Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners and a regular on Federal News Network.
The wide-ranging conversation covers:
Q4 do's and don'ts
Issues around the GSA Schedule program, including why many do not require a Schedule
The delay in Alliant 3 and issues surrounding the awarding of IDIQs
Why contractors need to be agile now more than ever
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
42 min
June 12, 2024All things SmartPay
This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower is joined by Brian Stauffer, CEO of Paperless Innovations at Actus, for a wide-ranging discussion on issues regarding the government purchase card- SmartPay.
Topics include:
The possible increase in both micro-purchase and simplified acquisition threshold
Issues confronting the agency comptroller regarding audit-ready data
Oversight and audit issues from a cost and burden perspective
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
43 min
April 25, 2024The keys to winning government contracts
This week on Amtower Off Center, Dr Bob Frey, author author of Successful Proposal Strategies On-the Go and principal of Successful Proposal Strategies LLC, joins host Mark Amtower for a discussion on winning proposals.
Topics discussed include:.
The six functional areas needed for winning proposals
What do evaluators across the spectrum (DOD, military,IC, civilian) care about when reviewing proposals
Differences in federal vs commercial and international proposals
Key elements of and the importance of the executive summary
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
41 min
April 20, 2024Navigating the capture process
This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower is joined by capture guru Jennifer Namvar, CEO of The Peerless Group. Namvar developed a multi-point "cheat sheet" on the capture process, which we discuss on the show.
Topics include:
The fundamentals of opportuities
Acquisition timing and capture process
Corporate capabilities to win
Customer intelligence
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
42 min
March 30, 2024The value of GovCon associations
This week onAmtower 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
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
42 min
February 23, 2024An overview of generative AI
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 better results
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
42 min
February 16, 2024The "do's and don'ts" of GovCon
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
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
45 min
February 01, 2024The top contracting stories of 2023
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
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
41 min
January 31, 202425 things all small busines contractors should know
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 in your online networking

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
43 min
November 16, 2023All things ACT-IAC
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
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
42 min

About Amtower Off-Center

From the publisher's feed

Hosted by nationally-known speaker and consultant Mark Amtower, Amtower Off-Center highlights the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain silly of doing business in the government market. Every…