More changes at 1105 GovInfo — Group publisher Evillee Ebb exits

More changes for the 1105 Government Information Group — Group Publisher Evilee Ebb is leaving. Insiders tell me that she has another job lined up — not in the government or government IT market, but they say that she isn’t saying anything at the moment.

Ebb was hired more than a year ago as group publisher for the 1105 Government Information Group, which includes Federal Computer Week, Government Computer News, Washington Technology. Of course, 1105 GovInfo also owns the FOSE trade show.

Ebb came to 1105 after more than 19 years at IDG Communications and, specifically, Network World, where she was able to grow the publications online brand. But Ebb was based out of Massachusetts and many 1105GovInfo’ers said that hindered her success in the government market, which is so Beltway based.

Here is the portion of the note sent to staff from 1105 Media CEO Neal Vitale:

We have also decided that GIG needs a strong, day-to-day sales and marketing leader based full-time in Falls Church. To that end, we are in the midst of a formal search for a Vice President of Sales & Marketing for GIG to replaceEvilee Ebb, and hope to have made a hiring decision before the end of the first quarter. Evilee is leaving the company at the end of this month, and I would like to thank her for all her contributions to GIG and 1105.

The name buzzing around around the Falls Church, VA 1105 GovInfo headquarters: Jeff Calore, who is currently the publisher at Hanley Wood Business Media and previously served as 1105 GovInfo’s general manager.

Ebb’s departure comes amid a number of changes at 1105 GovInfo, including the hiring of David Rapp to be the editor in chief of Federal Computer Week magazine and the editorial director of the 1105 Government Information Group… the sale of Government Health IT magazine … and a decision not to publish a scheduled issue of GCN… and a change in editorial leadership at 1105’s Defense Systems.

The move comes amid some of the most difficult times for media — Time magazine’s cover story this week by Walter Isaacon is headlined, How to save your newspaper… and WBUR radio’s On Point earlier in the week had a program debating the future of publishing. The past year has been particularly difficult for government publications given the perfect storm of the economic crisis combined with the typical pre-presidential election slowdown that comes with a administration transition. And 1105 is not alone. Federal Times is reportedly going to reduce its frequency.

In 1105’s announcement, Vitale also told staffers that 1105 Media’s Security Products, Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Protection groups will become part of the 1105 Government Information Group, led by 1105 GovInfo President Anne Armstrong. Rapp will take on editorial oversight of those groups.

Read the details of the changes in Vitale’s note to staff after the break.

DorobekInsider: BusinessWeek says DOD dealing with counterfeit computer chips

BusinessWeek has a really excellent story, which they headline, Dangerous Fakes, about the Defense Department dealing with counterfeit computer components — and how those defective computer components from China are getting into U.S. warplanes and ships.

The American military faces a growing threat of potentially fatal equipment failure—and even foreign espionage—because of counterfeit computer components used in warplanes, ships, and communication networks. Fake microchips flow from unruly bazaars in rural China to dubious kitchen-table brokers in the U.S. and into complex weapons. Senior Pentagon officials publicly play down the danger, but government documents, as well as interviews with insiders, suggest possible connections between phony parts and breakdowns.

In November 2005, a confidential Pentagon-industry program that tracks counterfeits issued an alert that “BAE Systems experienced field failures,” meaning military equipment malfunctions, which the large defense contractor traced to fake microchips. Chips are the tiny electronic circuits found in computers and other gear.

The alert from the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP), reviewed by BusinessWeek, said two batches of chips “were never shipped” by their supposed manufacturer, Maxim Integrated Products in Sunnyvale, Calif. “Maxim considers these parts to be counterfeit,” the alert states. (In response to BusinessWeek’s questions, BAE said the alert had referred erroneously to field failures. The company denied there were any malfunctions.)

Continue reading the story here.

Some of these fakes are being blamed on DOD’s increasing reliance on commercial products.

The same BW team that wrote this story did a great story on the government’s cyber-security initiatives that was on the cover of BusinessWeek back in April. Both stories are well worth reading.

UPDATE: We had BusinessWeek’s Brian Grown on Federal News Radio’s Daily Debrief with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris talking about the story. You can hear that interview here. [.mp3]

DorobekInsider: On the covers of the trades

FCW Sept. 28, 2008

The September 29 issue of Federal Computer Week… I know this is shocking, but.. a government 2.0 story is what I read…

What’s wrong with a little networking?
The federal government doesn’t have a clear social-networking policy.

FCW also looks at some of the security aspects of government 2.0.

Play it safe on the interactive Web
Testing new features, sanitizing XML and securing development can help reduce risks from Web 2.0.

Government Executive, October 1, 2008

The October 1 issue of Government Executive has a look at what Sen. Barack Obama’s “change” mantra might mean for you. (It’s the best cover image I could find.)

Great Expectations
Sen. Barack Obama has outlined a plan for change, but reforming the bureaucracy requires more than words.

The September 29 issue of GCN looks at telework

Telework in transit
Some agencies embrace telework for recruitment and COOP, but others yet to make the connection.

GCN, Sept. 29, 2008

The September issue of Washington Technology — the October issue hasn’t hit the streets yet — has two interesting columns.

The straight story on contractors in Iraq by Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council

Also…

Look inside for the best new hires by Bill Scheessele is chairman and chief executive officer at MBDi, a business development professional services firm.

Washington Technology, September 2008

To be fair, Federal Times does not put the cover of its publication online, nor are many of its stories.

DorobekInsider: ‘Enough about me… what do you think about me’

One of my favorite quotes (undetermined who said it): “Enough about me. What do you think about me?”

In that vein, there is a interview with me in this week’s issue of PRWeek.

PRWeek’s Washington Bureau Chief Ted McKenna did a really good job.

Chris Dorobek recently left Federal Computer Week as editor-in-chief to anchor a DC-area afternoon drive-time radio program covering the government community in all its sometime innovative, and sometimes bureaucratic, glory. He spoke with PRWeek recently about his new venture and his fascination with that multi-tentacle beast, the federal government.

I’m not sure I’d describe the government as a “beast,” but…

Read the full interview here.

And, to get all the “me” stuff out of the way…

CJD's home fire reconstructuion

Regular readers know that there was a fire in my DC row house earlier this year. But, now more than nine months later, we have reached agreement with the insurance company and… we’ve started reconstruction. ETA: Who knows. But… at least it feels good to be moving forward.

If you are so inclined, you can see the reconstruction photos here.

DorobekInsider: FedScoop.com — the rest of the story

FedScoop.com: All the government news that fit for links?

Earlier I told you about FedScoop.com, a new Web site — in fact, it was just “officially” launched yesterday — that pulls together information from many of the government publications.

I had asked Goldy Kamali, who is vice president of business development, public sector at Adventos and the person responsible for the site, for the story behind FedScoop. She sent me the FedScoop press release, which does provide more information.

Through word of mouth alone, fedscoop.com has become the most popular news source for the Government IT community prior to its official October 1, 2008 launch. FedScoop’s Founder and President, Goldy Kamali, is not surprised. “I guess everyone was as tired as I was of going to 15 different places to search topics like Telework or cloud computing,” says Kamali. A prominent high tech sales and marketing executive, Kamali most recently served as Executive Director of AeA’s Government and Commercial Markets Group where she ran all of AeA’s Federal Business Development programs and initiatives.

FedScoop’s inception and sleek, user-friendly format resulted after a lunchtime brainstorming session with Nigel Ballard, Federal Marketing Manager at Intel. “The Federal space was crying out for single online port of call for busy Federal IT professionals. The solution seemed rather obvious, an onlinemashup of disparate Federal news sources, brought together in one easy-on-the-eyes website. And FedScoop is it,” says Ballard. “For those who have been struggling to settle on one must-read Federal web site to save as their home page, that search is finally over.” Ballard has remained actively engaged in the progress and development of the site.

Existing, similar sites depend on editors to edit and approve individual stories. FedScoop, however, automatically pulls stories from different Federally focused news sources 24/7. In addition, FedScoop allows for custom searches of the entire contents of all of the featured sites and blogs.

I’m thrilled to say that Kamali added this blog to FedScoop — Woot to that! (And I’m right next to CJD-fav Robert Carey’s blog, the CIO of the Department of the Navy and the first government CIO to post a blog. Of course, the editor in me would say that this blog and the Carey blog — and others — are of more relevance to government audiences then, say, the NYT blog, The Caucus. That’s why the “about” page becomes so important… But the WSJ blogs, The Washington Wire and the WSJ’s Business Technology are quite good. But this is really just nit picking, isn’t it? )I said earlier that I think people like to know who is pulling information together, even if it isn’t done by editors, and the above item, which is posted on the “about” page helps. (And, of course, I noted that my “about” page isn’t showing up on this site. I’ll have to get that fixed.)

The layout, designed by FaraJoomla, sure is nice, isn’t it?

I look forward to seeing how it develops and evolved… and if it becomes a resource for people.

Again, stay tuned.

DorobekInsider: Two government (related) pubs shutter

Anybody even barely following the government market knows that it has been a tough year. It’s been a tough year for print publications — but it has been a particularly tough year in the government market.

I’ve confirmed that Penton Publishing has decided to shut down two publications, which covered government stuff to one degree or another: Access Control & Security and Government Security.

Anybody even barely following the government market knows that it has been a tough year. It’s been a tough year for print publications — but it has been a particularly tough year in the government market.

I’ve confirmed that Penton Publishing has decided to shut down two publications: Access Control & Security and Government Security.

The big IT publisher, CMP, has all but eliminated Government VAR, essentially merging it in to VAR Business. They do have a government business section on their Web site.

There had also been rumors around that Homeland Defense Journal, published by Market*Access International, was also shutting down. I touched based with Don W. Dickson, president of Homeland Defense Journal Media & Training, and he said they are doing just fine, thank you very much. They have built out and moved to new, much larger offices in Crystal City, VA, they have expanded their training courses, and they have hired three new marketing staff including a VP for Sales. They are working on a new Web site, and their newsletter continues its weekly release to over 24,000 subscribers, Dickson said.

Read Dickson’s full note after the break.

DorobekInsider: Site worth watching — FedScoop.com

FedScoop.com

So I discovered a new Web site: FedScoop. The site pulls the news from various news sources — GovExec, FCW, GCN… Federal News Radio — and puts them all in one place. So it trys to bring all the headlines together for you.

The site also has some of the popular federal blogs — with one noticeable missing blog! (They tell me the Dorobek Insider will make the page.)

The site is pulled together by Goldy Kamali, who is vice president of business development, public sector at Adventos.

Of course, I have just a few critiques:

• ID yourself: This site, like many sites out there these days, doesn’t say specifically who put it together. Why? In the age of transparency, why not say who did the work? Have a way to contact that person.
• Great layout: The site was designed by FaraJoomla and it is very sleek.
• FedScoop vs RSS feeds: I’m guessing that FedScoop pulls from RSS feeds, so… in the end, why would somebody not just use RSS feeds? We’ll see.

Over all, the site is nice looking and it is great to be able to find stuff in one place. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

DorobekInsider: Happy birthday to Washington Technology’s Nick Wakeman

A happy birthday to Nick Wakeman, the editor in chief of Washington Technology.

Nick has had a very exciting year — welcoming the newest Wakeman into the world.

On this date in history:

It was this week in 1066 that William the Conqueror of Normandy first arrived on British soil. (Read more here.)

In 1896, F. Scott Fitzgerald, the famed American novelist of the Jazz Age, was born.
1755… John Marshall, (9/24/1755 – 7/6/1835), the fourth chief justice of the United States, was born in Germantown, Virginia. Marshall also served as a congressman and as Secretary of State.

1789… Congress passed the First Judiciary Act, which provided for an attorney general and a Supreme Court.
1869… Financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market, sending Wall Street into a panic and leaving thousands of investors in financial ruin.
1960… The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Va.
1968… “60 Minutes” premiered on CBS.

Other people born on this date:

* Joseph Kennedy II, former U.S. representative, D-Mass., turns 56

And some people born on this date in history:

* Jim Henson (Sept. 24, 1936 – May, 16, 1990), the American puppeteer; creator of the Muppets
* Stephen Bechtel (9/24/1900 – 3/14/1989), the American construction engineer; founded Bechtel Corp.

DorobekInsider: Doan-Palin — separated at birth?

Needless to say, Lurita Doan is a controversial person. As most people know, she does a weekly column for Federal News Radio. This column about oversight was particularly controversial. Frankly, regardless of whether you like or dislike her, it makes for great radio because she’ll say things other people will not say.

But Doan sent out the following e-mail that included this link that had a Doan-Palin separated at birth.

Doan’s note:

A friend just sent this weblink (linking me to Palin) to my attention and I decided to forward it on to you.

I think it is interesting to note, that there are obvious similarities in the “playbook” run by media, namely,

1. Don’t attack the policy, attack the person.
2. Allege “corruption” of whatever action is taken regarding any procurement.
3. Allege “interference” when an executive questions a decision
4. Drag the executive’s young daughter into the mud slinging
5. Crank up the bloggers and the media to spew the mud as thickly as possible.

Quite comical really, but, then again it is effective. Gov. Palin, no doubt, has already gotten used to this…took me a while but eventually I did too.

Have to admit that I rather admire Gov Palin, so if the bloggers and nutjobs want to cite similarities and suggest that we are separated at birth….well there is a lot worse that has been said about both of us.

Cordially,
Lurita

To be honest, I can understand how difficult it must be to be under the media spotlight. Frankly, we in the media — and the public at large — is quick to judge. And, frankly, we as the media don’t always get it right. And there is often more to the story.

To be fair, it is often difficult to get ‘the rest of the story.’ That often becomes more clear over time, and by the time that picture becomes more clear, we’ve moved on. So I hear — and understand — her frustration.