Circuit

It’s a competitive world these days, even for networking groups. A team of marketing pros is forming — or, more accurately, reforming. They call themselves the Government Marketing Forum. The original Government Marketing Forum started in 2001 but faded in 2004. Now a new crop of marketing experts are retooling the group. The new group’s leaders are Amtower and Co., ConnellyWorks, the Federal Business Council, immixGroup, Market Connections, Sage Communications and 1105 Government Information Group, the parent company of Federal Computer Week. , founding partner of Amtower and Co., and , founder and chief executive officer of Sage Communications, are co-chairmen of the forum’s steering committee. “What we’re trying to form here is a peer networking group that is collaborative in nature,” Amtower said. “The only fees are the fees to attend the event.” The government IT market lacks an open networking forum, Amtower said. “There is a closed group, but no open opportunity for people to network and discuss issues,” he added. The forum will host bimonthly peer-networking events that will be paired with an educational component. The events will focus on the interests of people in marketing, sales, business development and other business- to-government positions. “It’s critical for marketing people to start mingling more — and not just with ourselves, but with sales and business development people,” Amtower said. The first meeting will be June 19 at the Tower Club in Vienna, Va. It will feature a presentation by , co-founder and executive vice president of immixGroup and a columnist for Washington Technology, one of FCW’s sister publications. Charles will present an overview of the federal government budget environment. For more information or to register for the program, contact Amtower at . Leave it to the marketing wizards at O’Keeffe and Co. to come up with an unusual way to celebrate 10 years in business: Invite the most famous “10” to the party. That would be none other than , who became a cultural icon for her role in the 1979 movie “10.” The movie made Derek a star and a sex symbol. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of ’s public relations shop, the firm has promised that Derek will attend the event. “We’re not saying that our 10 years have been perfect, but we are proud of what we’ve accomplished,” the company’s Web site states. “We hope you’ll join us for our 10-year anniversary party with special guest ‘perfect 10’ Bo Derek.” The announcement notes that “cornrows and gold swimsuits are not necessary but would certainly make us smile.” We’re guessing that most of O’Keeffe’s employees were born after the movie was released, but you still have to respect the firm’s creativity. We put the event on our calendars and are looking forward to it. , former chief information officer at the Commerce Department, has left General Dynamics’ IT shop to be president and CEO of Dataline, a systems integrator based in Norfolk, Va. His hiring comes on the heels of DLN Holdings’ purchase of the company, which was announced May 1. DLN is a part of the White Oak Group, a private equity firm based in Atlanta. “This is an exciting time for Dataline, as it now has the financial backing to make investments in its key growth areas of IT solutions, military communications and critical infrastructure protection,” Baker said. DLN has more acquisition plans for Dataline, saying in a statement that it will use the company as a platform to acquire other government contractors.