Success Stories by Participating Members

Government Success Stories

“As an AFCEA member I think this is very impressive and feel appreciative for forums like GTRA that are facilitating to provide outstanding opportunities for collaboration and convergence of ideas, concepts and thought leadership. GTRA through enhanced collaboration with GITEC has opened the doors in bringing Government and Industry together. It will take synergies such as these to affect positive organizational and national progress in cyber security awareness, knowledge and education through people working together.”
– CIO, ASC (LCMC), Wright-Patterson AFB, Air Force

“I hope your ears burn every time I mention your group to people who can’t get out of their own way. You guys are an awesome display of entrepreneurs, courage and most importantly…excellence.”
-Customer Service Director, Federal Acquisition Service, GSA

“GTRA provides valuable collaboration and networking with executives from across the federal government and commercial business partners in a non-hostile, non-political environment.”
-Chief Architect and Principal Director, Deputy CIO, DoD

“I’m very impressed with the value from the GTRA Council Meeting. First and foremost is an excellent collaboration opportunity across federal agencies. The presentations I’ve attended were not only very interesting but very relevant to what we’re doing in our agency. I certainly plan to follow up with the presenters and use their briefing material to further the collaboration with what we’re doing with the other agencies. I’m very struck with the positive opportunity it represents for collaboration.”
-Deputy Chief Information Officer, Office of Enterprise Development, VA

“Of the 30 events that I have attended this year, GTRA is by far the best organized event and the technology presentations surpass all others!”
-Senior Computer Scientist, NIST

“GTRA brings in the ‘cream of the crop’ in the government and industry! No other event provides us the opportunities and access to high level government executives that GTRA does. For three days we get to connect with people and foster relationships through roundtables, casino night networking and strategy sessions. GTRA gets the right people; the number of high ranking officials is amazing!”
-Customer Service Director, GSA

“Thanks very much for the opportunity to be part of the program. I think it was a very successful meeting.”
Deputy Chief, Computer Security Division, NIST

“I really enjoyed the conference! The food was great but more importantly, it was a great pleasure to meet, discuss, and share with folks who share a common interest.
I look forward to attending next year’s symposium.”
Director, Policy and Management Division, OCIO, HUD

“Thanks and I enjoyed the conference!!”
Chief Knowledge Officer, DoI

“Thanks! I always enjoy the way your team makes learning and networking fun!”
Chief Enterprise Architect and Associate Director, EPA

“This was my 3rd GTRA Symposium and I can truly say “IT ROCKED!” My first experience was overwhelming, last December, I was getting in the swing, but this time the take-back information was GREAT! I look forward to December (2009).”
Director, Division of Enterprise Architecture Program Management, CMS/OIS/EASG, HHS

“The GTRA events are my professional highlights of the year. I really enjoy talking and exchanging ideas in with those I don’t normally get to work with. The nonDoD government has such a refreshing view on problems and solutions that I can’t help but bring back more ideas than I can even begin to implement.
The location was superb, but the friendships and time together was the best.
I love the fact that you know us by name and we’re considered friends!”
Senior Principal, Information Systems Engineer, MITRE

“At the risk of over proliferating my use of metaphors, enterprise architecture is a critical cog in the machinery needed to manufacture organizational transformation, but it alone is not enough. It must work in tandem with a range of other management disciplines to produce meaningful transformation outcomes and results.
The GTRA Symposium provides a unique opportunity for continuous peer-to-peer interaction that facilitates and enriches the entire learning experience.”
Director, IT Architecture & Systems Issues US Government Accountability Office

“I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and thought it was the best one yet with the one caveat that you all killed us with the length of the day. It’s all good though! Very informational and topical and I enjoyed all of the sessions I attended!”
-Chief, Security Policy & Compliance, FDIC
 

“GTRA plays an important role in allowing government and industry leaders to come together to collaborate which is critical to our success.”
-Chief Information Assurance Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Networks and Information Integration, Department of Defense

“The meetings were small, closed and personal–up front and a great format! Thanks for being such a gracious host (Parham Eftekhari, Director of Research, GTRA) and thanks for allowing me to participate in what was truly an informative and enjoyable event.”
-Deputy CISO, IRS

“Great value in a short amount of time. Excellent conversations, and Van Hitch was an excellent speaker!”
-Senior Project Coordinator, Graduate School, USDA

“Thank you. Wanted to thank you and the rest of the GTRA staff for putting on a really informative meeting. We have already started sharing some of the information with our agency and are encouraging staff to attend the next meeting!”
-Chief, System Administration Branch, FNS/USDA

“Wonderful! We had a great time and brought back lots of food for thought to share with our organization.”
-Branch Chief, Program Management, FNS/USDA

“First, thank you for the great Symposium. This was my first time attending the GTRA meetings and I was impressed by everything, especially all your people.”
-Program Analyst, EPA

“Thanks Annie. Your team did a great job!”
-Enterprise Architect, DHS

“This is a very unique venue that offers extensive information among professionals. The Boardrooms are genius!”
-Director, Enterprise Architecture & Standards, Defense (Speaker & GTRA Enterprise Architecture Council)

“As we move to a Web 2.0 collaborative environment, we are at war with an enemy that wants to totally destroy our way of life and society through coordinated terrorist attacks followed by cyber attacks. ‘We have done some significant business collaboration in this event, which should prove very fruitful for the government in the future.”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, Federal Emergency Management Agency (Speaker & GTRA Enterprise Architecture Council)

“Great conference!”
-Chief Information Officer, S&T Directorate, Science & Technology Directorate, DHS

“This is a very successful event! ‘Rocky (Dr. Robert “Rocky” Young, Associate Professor of Systems Management, National Defense University Information Assurance Lab, Information Resources Management College) was great!”
-Applications Development Branch Chief, TSA/DHS (Speaker & GTRA Enterprise Architecture Council)

“I am new to EA and am looking forward to the Enterprise Architecture segment-today IS enterprise architecture day for me!”
-Senior Program Management Analyst, CMS, HHS

“Down-loading podcasting is great! ‘I’m a ‘baby-boomer’ and need to see what the latest and greatest trends are!”
-Deputy Director, Customer Accounts & Research, Innovative Business Solutions Center, GSA (Speaker & GTRA HR Council)

“Some cool stuff! ‘Authernative was very creative in their Authentication Software and will definitely have to show their product around (the department); Authernative was all about product-very interesting!”
-Project Management Executive and Chief Technology Officer, Office of IT Systems, FBI/Justice (GTRA Security Council)

“Gideon tied Configuration Management and IA (Information Assurance) together-it’s an EA problem, they (Gideon Technologies) focused on the problem and I liked the fact that they are in one division in the governance world and they report vulnerabilities, problems and your risks-and are agent less!”
-Director, Governance and Information Assurance Chief Information Officer, OSD, Defense (Speaker)

“This Symposium is a step up from June’s event! ‘I liked Troux-especially if they do what they say they can do! ‘I would also like to see Gideon’s (Gideon Technologies) product in use!”
-Chief, Business & Application Support Branch, NRC

“This is a well managed conference!”
-Director, Office of IT Policy and Planning, FBI

“Deedee (Deedee Akeo, Chief Architect, Business Transformation Agency) was so good, and everyone liked the Department of Labor guy (Pete Sullivan, Director, OCIO, Labor)!”
-Director, Office of IT Policy and Planning, FBI and
CTO, National Business Center, Interior (Speaker & GTRA Enterprise Architecture Council)

“Great format!”
Assistant Director, Information Technology Architecture and Systems Issues, GAO (Speaker)

“It’s what GTRA represents-this platform has consistently continued to do what President Elect Obama has campaigned for: bringing a diverse grouping of ‘disciplined’ from across the government. ‘GTRA is a vehicle to help realize President Elect Obama’s vision for government performance! ‘GTRA preceded Obama and no one can ride the coat tails! ‘If Kelly (Kelly Yocum, Co-founder & Executive Director, GTRA) sees it and says it, it has to come true!”
-Professor of Systems Management, Information Resources Management College, National Defense University (NDU) (Speaker & GTRA HR Council)

“We (GTRA) always put on a first-class event! ‘I am planning on attending and speaking at your next Symposium in June at the Homestead and it is a joy to be here!”
-Senior Enterprise Architect, Treasury (GTRA Enterprise Architecture Council)

“It’s been my pleasure-when we serve a need greater than ourselves, we become citizens of the world!”
-Executive for Programs and Technology, Office of the Program Manager Information Sharing Environment, PM-ISE/DNI (Speaker)

“The boardroom style is a brilliant idea-much better format than the exhibition hall and you get to hear other ideas-it works the way it’s supposed to!”
-Chief Technology Officer for Information and Network Assurance, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Networks and Information Integration, Defense (Speaker)

“Thank you! You all work very hard to make all impossible to possible. Great Job!”
-Ph.D, PMP, Division Chief, IT Development, FMCSA, Transportation

“Congratulations on a well run and well attended conference!”
-former Federal Enterprise Architect Program Chief Architect, Office of E-Government and Information Technology, OMB

“Very good sessions! I liked the informal Q & A’s and Dick Burk was great!”
-Chief Architect, Department of Interior

“I have never attended a conference that was so professionally organized with well informed staff. Thank you so much for allowing me to attend. You all deserve a standing ovation for your professional performance!”
-Customer Service Director, Customer Accounts and Research, GSA

“I gained a lot by the EA crossing over with the Security folks!”
-Chief, Division of Investigation, Department of Labor

“I met good people, Marlene Howze [Chief Architect/EA Program Manager, Labor] and Colleen Coggins [Chief Architect, Office of the CIO, Interior] and got a better sense of what the approach should be.”
-Chief, Program Management and Information Development Unit, Department of Labor

“The one-on-one and roundtable discussions allow for a more interesting interaction and a chain of networking. When you throw everyone in a room, it’s too broad and it’s not effective. This is my first event, but it seems to be very efficient. The personal attention of the GTRA staff throughout the conference was most appreciated. Don’t ever lose the personal touch! It is a great differentiator for your organization to raise you above the pack!!”
-Enterprise Architect, Office of the CIO, Social Security Administration

“This was a great opportunity for the security side to see the EA side and I am walking away with a new appreciation of EA from an overall governance perspective. It gave me a great overview on how to go about EA from soup to nuts and I am walking away with a new knowledge and skill set! I was thinking of it more as Enterprise Architecture teaching you how to put it together and then getting the benefit of having the experts and standing on their shoulders! It was great to hear Neil Lohmann, VP of METLIFE and I enjoyed the roundtable lead by Dave McComb, President of Semantic Arts, it’s a constructive way of approaching EA–I am reading his book now [“Semantics in Business Systems”]!”
-Chief, Security Policy & Compliance, FDIC

“ConsultNet had a vision for people my age, a solution to the aging work force. I would not have given this guy a chance had you not put me with him!”
-Enterprise Architect, Department of Interior

“The speakers were excellent-page after page of information!”
-Computer Specialist, ERS, USDA

“I liked Iona, they had good information on SOA!”
-Chief Enterprise Architect and EA Program Manager, Labor

“Very well run!”
-NWS Enterprise Architect, Office of the CIO, Commerce/NOAA

“Records management is going to be huge in the near future!”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, Health and Human Services

“I enjoyed the smaller group meetings (one-on-one) because they were more personable and people open up more. I got more definite answers.”
-Chief, Program Management and Information Development Unit, Department of Labor

“GTRA [2008] creates an intimate setting which allows true collaboration among senior executives and allows for the dialogue necessary to emphasize the importance leadership plays in creating a “Holistic Approach to Security.”
-Professor, Information Resources Management College, National Defense University

“The presentations were very interesting and beneficial and gave us some new insights to consider in our work. We will keep you in mind for future training needs!”
-IT Specialist, IT Audit Office, GSA

“I greatly enjoyed the unique format that brought together senior-level executives from across the government. This is a great forum for anyone interested in spreading a particular message to a very senior level crowd.”
-Chief of Staff, Interagency OPSEC Support Staff

“I came here mainly to meet with my CISO peers and exchange ideas and information with them, and I’ve achieved exactly what I was looking for!”
-Chief, Office of Communications Systems (CG-62) Assistant Commandant for C4&IT, U. S. Coast Guard

“I liked the presentations; everyone gained something out of them!”
-Information Security Officer, Department of Labor

“Excellent meetings and the (GTRA) staff was great!”
-Chief Investigator, Security Systems, Department of Labor

“I came back all full of new ideas! I have told folks what a useful tool the sessions were and have recommended a couple to my colleagues! It was great to earn the CPE’s! I would be glad to share with you (GTRA Council) what we see as the challenges we face. I definitely made some good contacts and I have at least 3 good products to evaluate and test. Fortify was marvelous and would allow us to automate. I intend to follow your mailing list on future meetings!”
-Operations, Networks Division Chief, State Department

“I have learned the way! It costs to be safe, why should anything else be different?”
-Information Security Officer, Department of Labor

“Thank you for a very worthwhile conference! The meetings with the solution providers were well done, especially the round table forum-no one gave a hard sell, we had lost of time to ask questions and find out more and there were some very interesting products.”
-Director, Office of Network and User Services, State Department

“I would love to attend next year’s GTRA meeting in 2008 and learn how to move some barriers!” “The program was well rounded from an employee development point of view and an HR perspective.”
-Chief of Staff, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)

“Excellent!” “I am looking forward to next year’s meeting and going back to my boss with the information, downloading the content to present to my boss and the team!” “I learned a lot and made a lot of contacts that I can connect with when I get back!”
-Program Analyst, Office of Strategic Planning, Department of Veterans Affairs

“I got a lot of good connections!” “We also use the Ninth House product!” “Our IT security people should attend because they would really benefit!”
-Senior Desk Officer, Office of Government Ethics

“Good format!” ‘The solution providers work well-they are useful because you can see what’s out there and the way they market to the government as a way to meet with best practices and HR systems so we can understand what it’s about. Good keynotes that have in depth knowledge, as well as the co-presenters like Joe Chang (Director of Acquisition Workforce and Career Management, Defense Acquisition University) who is more entertaining and informative-good chemistry and the audience enjoys it more!”
-Deputy Director, Defense Acquisition University

“I liked it better than last years meeting! The folks were more open to conversation-the dynamics were great and had excellent speakers!”
-Chief, Workforce Planning and Development, Office of Human Resources, National Reconnaissance Office

“Congratulations on a job well done! GTRA was a great success and I’m still hearing good things about it! The GTRA team members were outstanding as well in their professionalism, patience and attention to detail. Thank you so much for including me in the planning activities and giving me more opportunities to help agencies understand how the DRM (and info sharing strategies) can help them.”
-Senior Information Architect, US Department of Interior

“I just had a great meeting with BEA and I want to get them in to our office for a product demonstration!”
-Chief Enterprise Architect and Chief, IT Modernization, US Department of Transportation

“GTRA [2007] has more mature and focused topics than other enterprise architecture events. Excellent program!”
-Wireless Program Manager, US Department of Treasury

“This was the best GTRA event yet! Really mature content! The venue best so far!”
-IT Capital Planning, NOAA, US DoC

“I have enjoyed everything at the GTRA meeting! Just to be able to exchange ideas about enterprise architecture with the different departments is an experience we cannot get from anywhere else! This has been really fun!”
-Enterprise Architect, US DoC

“GTRA is better than the EAC conference! In addition to being very well organized, you get away from the power points and get the conversations going. I have met with Information Builders and BEA and they are both very well represented and knowledgeable. We will get both companies working with NIEM and in critical information gathering. I will be working together with BEA to influence NIEM and Information Builders to help promote. We work with 90 corporate partners and would like to add Information Builders to their web site which will be very beneficial and helpful to have them involved. Phase One was also very helpful and I will be in contact with them regarding the reference model.”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, NASCIO

“The interactive sessions and business meetings allowed me to learn from my government peers. I was talking with the Department of Justice Chief Enterprise Architect because they have the same line of business with Case Management. I was able to gain insight into lessons learned and best practices.”
-Enterprise Architect, Commodity Futures Trading Commission

“This event creates a GREAT network of people!”
-Systems Analyst, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

“It’s a blockbuster compared to other government Enterprise Architecture events. This is the place to be for enterprise architecture. It’s really important right now to get together and discuss the topics being covered at GTRA!”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, Department of Commerce

“The GTRA 2007 meeting offered a compelling opportunity to have dialog with government enterprise architect experts, practitioners and advocates regarding enterprise architecture experiences, challenges and opportunities.”
-Professor of Systems Management, Information Resources Management College, U.S. National Defense University

“Some of the agencies are behind in similar areas and GTRA helps them learn about what’s going on and how to catch up.”
-Wireless Program Manager, Department of Transportation

“This event was so powerful because it is a small enough group to be able to get to know and network with everyone. This casual environment makes it such a great event.”
-Chair, Chief Architects Forum

“It was great to learn about all the current and future technology. Information Builders accomplished a great deal of knowledge on the MySpace technology.”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, US Department of Health and Human Services

“The biggest benefit of GTRA’s meeting was seeing how enterprise architecture is integrated into different organizational structures, learning about their bumps in the road, and appreciating the difference that leadership makes.”
-Architecture Integration, Environmental Protection Agency

“I really enjoyed Dr. Stan Boddie! It was nice to attend this meeting with other enterprise architects. We were able to talk about what we have learned so we can leave with one common understanding. Communicating in small groups makes us able to network and have discussions without stress of talking in a large crowd.”
-Environmental Scientist, EPA

“GTRA (2006) provides an open forum to discuss emerging trends, challenges, and best practices. The open discussions provide invaluable dialog. It is nice to have a focus on information exchanges instead of the usual death by presentations.”
-Deputy CIO and CTO, US Department of Housing and Urban Development

“I heard about the caliber of these meetings and came with high expectations. I have to say that my expectations were extremely exceeded!”
-Network Architect, Missile Defense Agency, Department of Defense

“I did not know much about the enterprise architecture technology because I take care of more of the business aspect. It was great to sit down with the solution providers and gain more knowledge than I had before.”
-Senior Advisor to the Assistant Administrator Office, EPA

“I attended the GTRA meeting to look at trends and the progress of other agencies so I can make sure we are all on the right track.”
-Enterprise Architect, US Department of Agriculture

“This is my first time attending the GTRA meetings, and they offered very informative sessions and great networking opportunities!”
-Director of Information Services, Central Intelligence Agency

“The GTRA meetings have been educational and I can now go back and do research on how other departments and teams handle their similar issues. It has been great to compare notes with my peers!”
-DSB Technician, US Dept of State

“I enjoyed the people! It’s about interacting and hooking up with like-minded individuals from different departments and agencies.”
-Enterprise Data Architect, US EPA

“What I saw was a lot of information exchange with other government agents and with vendors with a lot of one-on-one interaction that has helped me out.”
-Department of Air force, Security Engineer

“GTRA 2006 provided me sit down sessions with vendors, and having enough time and communication to learn about products and companies’ experience with the government.”
-Office of Financial Systems, LendUp payday advance, Department of Veteran Affairs

“It is a scary world that we live in and it excites me to come here and learn that there are young people and companies working to find solutions for the government to implement.”
-CIAO, Department of Defense

“You (GTRA) are a truly remarkable group”

-Customer Service Director, GSA

“I enjoyed the mix of presentations and one-on-one interaction between the government officials and the solution providers.”
-Assistant Inspector in Charge, US Postal Inspection Service

“Most conferences have different speakers and tracks and there is a limited interaction. GTRA 2006 allows smaller groups that are more interactive. It’s a good thing!”
-Software Architect, US Department of Commerce

“The size of this event is #1. Others have had 500 plus attendees and GTRA 2006 is smaller, so it’s much easier to network. It’s a great opportunity to take advantage of each other’s presence in a focused environment.
Because I am familiar with most of the people here and don’t have the opportunity to talk or spend time with them on a regular basis, this type of forum allows us to come together.”
-Chief Data Architect, US Department of the Interior

“The content of this event is on par with or much better than other conferences that I have attended, and I think it’s more in tune with where I believe enterprise architecture is.”
“I think the variety of meetings and keeping in size with the audience allows for more focused attention and you can cover more ground. I can pick up thoughts in larger groups then set up meetings to go over things in more detail.”
-Senior Architect, Canada Border Services Agency

“The opportunity to periodically meet with the EA Community is very important. At the GTRA meeting, a lot of leaders within that community have that opportunity.”
-Deputy Chief Enterprise Architect, NASA

“Basically, GTRA 2006 has exceeded my expectations. The caliber of speakers and content overall and the networking opportunities outside of the meetings were great. I really took advantage of them!”
-Contractor to the US Department of Justice

“The think-tank discussions were excellent. I like the fact that the vendor meetings included individuals from other agencies. I was able to learn about the different challenges faced by other agencies.”
-Acting Chief IT Strategic Planning Branch, US Environmental Protection Agency

“The overall smaller, highly-focused group of participants, coupled with strategy meetings that were based upon personal requests created the optimal meeting experience.”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, US Department of Transportation

“I think this year’s GTRA meeting is a huge improvement over last year’s. GTRA is moving in the right direction with the right speakers, the right topics and the right format. ”
-Director, Human Resources, OPM

“Great content and surroundings [Nemacolin Resort] in comparison to other formats. The format with the vendors [solution providers in their Private Sector Strategy Sessions] was excellent! I was interested in getting to the meetings and I liked the physical layout. I was very impressed with the great GTRA staff and the perfect number of attendees.”
-Acting Chief Human Capital Officer, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

“Super! I loved the venue and every one of the GTRA folks! I liked the content and the size of the groups, I will do it again!”
-Director, AT&L Workforce Plans and Programs, DAU, US Department of Defense

“Great speakers and content! You can count on us for support in the future!”
-President, Defense Acquisition University

“I like what these guys [solution providers] have to offer. We are looking to implement new things. We want to ID the core competencies in progression so everyone has a clear understanding and to cross over to the other careers within the organizational structure. GTRA will continue to lead the road; they [GTRA] are top notch!”
-Human Resources Manager, Office of Facilities Management, US Department of Veterans Affairs

“It’s been a wonderful event and you can count on me next year!”
-Communications Analyst, HCO Communications, IRS, US Department of the Treasury

“I had a lot of fun figuring out what the Private Sector has to offer. I have a lot to learn as I have been in this position for four months. It’s been helpful to learn about the other agencies [Government] and their ideas. I liked how you [GTRA] brought the Private and Public sectors together as well as their service and tools that they [solution providers] provided. They [solution providers] addressed the challenges that I am facing by asking ‘what challenges am I facing?’ This was not a marketing hard sell, but more of an education. I learned more than I ever thought I would!”
-Workforce Planning Supervisor, Office of Human Capital, US EPA

“I had a wonderful time! I never knew I could have so much fun talking about work!”
-Employee/Labor Relations Branch Chief, Office of Human Resources, US Securities and Exchange Commission

“Great event! I work with the HR Director, senior executives and presidential appointees and will be attending the lecture on SES. This is a main area of focus at work. I like the informal conversations–they are better than the scheduled meeting sessions-they are perfect! ”
-Human Resources Specialist, Executive Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

“This was my first GTRA event and I made a lot of contacts through the numerous networking opportunities. Great speaker content! The pace was fast, and the breaks were short. I will definitely recommend the event!”
-Senior Advisor, US Mint, US Department of the Treasury

“Nice facility location! [The Nemacolin Resort] I liked the service, the logistics, and the GTRA staff was friendly and well-organized.”
-Director, Human Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

“I think GTRA’s conferences are some of the most unique events that I have ever attended. I appreciate the way that it focuses on the right way to build relationships: by spending an adequate amount of face-to-face time which is vital to any business relationship. ”
-Ethical Hacker

“I think what I liked about [GTRA 2006] above others is the intimacy; [it’s] small, you get to mingle with just about every different part of the government as well as the industry. It was important to me because at other conferences, you get lost in the crowd and become a number. I think the closeness and size was excellent.”
-Director, Transportation Security Administration

“The professionalism of Kelly’s staff and the personalized attention that was provided to every one of us has been superb! It was the best conference that I have been able to find in the industry.”
-Program Director, Department of Transportation

“You are matching the vendors with the mission.”
-CIO, North Carolina’s Office of the State Auditor

“I thought all the speakers were very knowledgeable in their area. I think the venue here is structured so you can get more out of it. It was more personal. That’s the plus to this conference in comparison to others that I have attended. ”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, Department of Homeland Security

“I have been going to IT conferences for nearly 30 years now and I think [GTRA 2006] is the best conference I have been to so far. In a short time frame, we’re able to learn what is available in the industry and government best practices. GTRA 2006 was the most unique, networking event-better than any other conference!”
-Assistant Director, Department of Justice

“Excellent conference! Jessica and Carlos [are] very proactive with their staff to ensure success for personnel at conference. [GTRA 2005] was an open and positive, intellectual environment away from distractions of DC to exchange info and think of ways to improve overall support to government IT/IA. Thank you for putting on this conference.”
-Director of Defense-wide Information Assurance Program, US Department of Defense

“It is the best networking forum I’ve ever attended. From interactive sessions to personal meetings with solution providers, to group social events.”
-Assistant Director IT Security, CIO/Ops. Services

“I think this conference format and content was perfect. Security info and various presentations were beneficial. 45 minute presentations are equally perfect timing so we don’t get overload.”
-IT Specialist, Office of Government Wide Policy

“I appreciated the ‘Heads Up’ on the GTRA 2005 meeting. I received a lot of good info from practitioners. I also made contact with a bunch of vendors who may have products that can address some of the IT Security Compliance Review requirements I am developing for my agency.”
-Engineer/ Security Officer, Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission

“I AM DEFINITELY EXCITED ABOUT IT! These interactive presentations have been right on target. Every time I wasn’t in a business meeting, I was right there soaking up everything I could.”
-Information Management Officer, US Department of Defense

“If people can see it and they can play with it, they’ll be more interested in it. The biometrics demonstration was PERFECT.”
-Supervisory Special Agent, US Department of Justice

“The customer service was exceptional. I’m definitely going to come back and recommend this event to my colleagues. Thank you very much for an informative and productive session. It was a pleasure to meet you and your staff. I would like to especially thank Seth and Amanda for their professionalism, business savvy, and dedication.”
-IT Program Manager, US Department of State

“I very much enjoyed the conference. As always, you and your team did an excellent job.”
-Chief Information Officer, Virginia Worker’s Compensation Commission

“GTRA put on one hell of a conference! I can’t wait to attend another one. It was wonderful networking with the IT professionals. Again, thank you GTRA for an enlightening experience.”
-IT Specialist, J-63, Defense Logistics Agency

“I will be an advocate for GTRA, as I thought the organization pulled together a high quality and user-friendly program. Thanks GTRA for your personal attention.”
-Program Executive Officer, Department of Homeland Security

“GTRA 2004’s format assisted in raising awareness of products and services available. I was provided with solutions to capability issues of Blackberries and EVDO. There is a high probability rate for future business with the companies at GTRA 2004.”
-Customer Service Director, Department of Defense

“GTRA 2005 was an excellent, well-managed conference. GTRA opened doors to potential solutions.”
-Chief, Classroom Operations, Graduate School, USDA

“Just comparing my attendance to GTRA’s council meeting only a few months ago, to this time at GTRA 2004, the quality of presentations has improved and all of the presenters are very knowledgeable. I create my strategy/budget for IT purchasing within my department, and I authorize/approve the acquisition. There is a definite probability with one vendor that I plan on [implementing] future business.”
-Chief Information Officer, Virginia Workers Compensation

“I came away feeling better as to how I should deal with my core missions in the ever changing technology world.”
-Staff Advisor, Federal Transit Administration, Department of Transportation

“I wish to express your [GTRA’s] impeccable management of this event! What you [GTRA] are doing is very well thought out, very well executed and very useful. I hope you [GTRA] have a mechanism to quantify the trilateral exchanges (GOV-vendors, vendors-vendors and GOV-GOV) so that you [GTRA] can really see what success this may have and what an impact it may also have. You [GTRA staff] are all working very hard and in a very important area of enterprise meta-modeling that may end up having a very crucial impact (long term) on how organizations from the groups involved in GTRA may evolve.”
-Senior Research Scientist, Naval Research Laboratory

“I really enjoyed GTRA 2005 and all of its presentations. Great Job! I will definitely pass on vendor information as well as the GTRA conference information. I hope to attend another GTRA meeting in the future.”
-Program Analyst, Internal Revenue Service

“It’s a unique approach that I’ve never done before, and I found it very useful being able to sit down with vendors for a good period of time to talk about what we’re doing at the FCC, and seeing how their solutions might really map well to our systems and our processes. I hoped to get some new ideas and insights into how to do things better and that aspect was very successful. It was a new experience for me and a different format. At first I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out, but I think GTRA 2004 overall worked out very well.”
-Associate Computer Security Officer, Federal Communications Commission

“I liked both the private and public sector networking. It really cemented good relationships and I got to meet some new friends and colleagues. The number of people involved added an intimacy you don’t find at other conferences. I am expecting to hear from quite a few of the firms I had discussions with at GTRA 2004. I enjoyed networking, meeting people, finding out about new companies, and new products I was not aware of. It was a good bang for the buck.”
-Chief Architect, Department of Commerce/NOAA

“I got a lot of good networking done and I made some good solution provider contacts. It’s good to have some one-on-two time and one-on-one time without the distractions in Washington, quality time, there’s a huge amount of networking going on outside in the hallways and other places. “In general, as a business process, GTRA 2004 helped me identify new and evolving trends, techniques and technology and again it was an efficient way of doing things.”
-Chief Information Officer, Federal Aviation Administration

“I’ve been able to take a look at the different vendors and what they have to offer and now I am in a position to go back to my organization and tell the different agencies in the organization which of the companies we need to contact.”
“I enjoyed GTRA 2004’s enterprise architecture session because we are doing a lot with our architecture and how to integrate our federation because the army is so diverse and we are really trying to get our hands around what we have out there. Everything was so good, even the wireless panel yesterday was excellent because at DoD our thought is if you have a technology, has NSA approved it? And we all have blackberries, we all have pocket PC’s, but how do you secure it? Everything was excellent! I’m very impressed.”
-Chief, Strategic Partnering Division, US Army

“GTRA 2004 was well-organized. You brought in great vendors and the panels yesterday and today were excellent.”
“I had a chance to meet with two or three companies with products that we hope to be able to integrate in our environment very soon.”
“I would certainly do it again if given the opportunity!”
-IT Program Director, US Military Academy

“In one conversation with a company called Intelligent Decisions, I learned about web portals that they developed for the Department of Education that we may be able to use at the FAA. It’s for provisioning PCs and one of my colleagues is interested in a solution just like that. So we’re going to work with the vendor to try to take advantage of the software they developed for education.”
“I have also met some people from other agencies, and we were able to talk about our enterprise architecture and look for opportunities to share some models and requirements across agencies.”
“I found the GTRA 2004 one-on-one meetings to be quite useful because it was a simple low-key conversation, not a high-pressure sales pitch. We can get to know each other a little bit and the contractors and vendors know a lot about what is happening in other agencies. I learned what they were doing elsewhere that could help us at the FAA.”
“Two benefits to GTRA 2004. First, the opportunity to network with other people from other parts of the government (It’s hard to find out what’s going on in other agencies because they’re so big), the other is talking to solution providers and contractors about what they’re doing, because sometimes it’s easier to find about someone face-to-face than it is through a website.”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, Federal Aviation Administration

“I wanted to say again how much I enjoyed GTRA 2004. I received more benefit than I had anticipated. The power of networking is not to be underestimated!”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce

“There is high probability of future business with the companies present at GTRA 2004.”
-Telecommunications Manager, Department of Homeland Security

“GTRA 2003 has provided an excellent opportunity to network with IT professionals and learn about innovative products and solutions to address such IT challenges within my agency. It’s been a fun three days and I’ve really enjoyed the experience.” “GTRA 2003 proved to be an excellent opportunity to meet professionals within other government agencies.”
-Assistant Inspector General, Tennessee Valley Authority

“Through GTRA 2003, the solution providers are able to provide a kind of `just in time’ product technology that can be implemented quickly throughout government agencies to FIX things, not just make recommendations that would take years to implement.”
“What I think GTRA has done is put together the right blend of CIO’s, CISO’s, government officials and the appropriate solution providers to give [the government] the necessary tools to actually fix the problem, rather than just talking about it.”
“The ease and flexibility of GTRA 2003 was marvelous!”
“I plan on working with GTRA on their advisory board so that we can continue to pull together government and solution providers to provide solutions to protect this country by improving the technology infrastructure of these different agencies.”
-Chief Information Officer, North Carolina State Auditor

“I loved the small GTRA 2003 one-on-one business meetings; they provide opportunity to target product capabilities tuned to unique agency needs.”
-Authorization Management Division Chief, Department of State

“GTRA 2003’s private meetings allowed education and exposure for further evaluating products and services.”
-IT Manager, Department of State

“GTRA 2003’s format assisted me in evaluating products and services through a relaxing environment, low pressure sales representatives with viable solutions.”
-Assistant CIO, VA Workers Compensation Commission

“Every event (meals, sessions, and meetings) became a networking opportunity. Access to anyone, almost anytime, over the three days was easy and appreciated.”
“GTRA 2003 offered a unique opportunity for focused, extended discussions with many different individuals and groups.”
-National Defense University

“I would definitely recommend GTRA meetings to my peers within the public sector. There were a variety of solutions providers, but the more intimate atmosphere allowed you to know the products and people that represented them.”
-Senior Security Communications Engineer, Department of Defense

“The organization and flow of GTRA 2003 was superb. GTRA did an excellent job – everyone was friendly, personal and professional.”
-Senior Security Analyst, US Mint, Department of Treasury

“The vendor communications at GTRA 2003 were done in a low impact approach. It provided the opportunity to informally explore future alliances more fully.”
-Information Risk Manager, Department of State

“I was able to establish many contacts, discuss our IT issues and receive many good offers and recommendations. We plan on contacting and following up with a number of vendors we met here at GTRA 2003. Well Done!”
-Chief Scientist, Department of State

“What can I say? …Wow!!!”
-Deputy Chief Information Officer, Department of Defense

“The GTRA staff was extremely attentive and the entertainment was a great opportunity for networking. The sessions were targeted for strategic planning and the meetings were unique and productive. I would definitely recommend a GTRA meeting for my management.”
-Principal Deputy, Secretary of Defense

“I thought GTRA 2003 this summer was excellent! The sessions were great, the accommodations were awesome, and the social events were a blast.”
-Lt. Col, US Army

Industry Success Stories

“I’ve been at this 20 years and this was the best conference that I’ve been to. GTRA has a young aggressive staff who is able to pull in key people and the roundtable concept worked very well. The government executives were committed to the process as well as the solution providers. I spent major individual time with all participants! GTRA did a tremendous job! We closed one contract within the first few months and have a seven figure deal that is also going through!”
-VP Federal, Fortify

“GTRA did a great job. We had a helpful team and it was a lot of fun! It was intimate, you could talk freely and it was an equal playing field. We closed a contract (Transportation) and have another in the making (HHS)!”
-Enterprise Architecture, Solutions Director, Citizant

“This is our third year at GTRA Symposium. The benefit is in the relationship building. The business meetings allow us to be able to talk and understand the obstacles of what the government is trying to achieve and then we can provide them tailored solutions. GTRA has absolutely 100% opened doors for MEGA. We were able to close our 1st deal within 3 weeks of the event, and 3 deals within the first 4 months. We were able to go into several substantial contracts jointly as well. Overall, the event provides technical impressions and brings a social networking element instead of always being formal. You can build a relationship which is critical.”
(Former) Vice President NA Operations, MEGA

“We had an opportunity with a particular agency that we were trying to move forward with and I met with one of the executives at the GTRA Council Meeting and 6 months later turned it into a million dollar contract.”
-Vice President, Federal Operations, CipherTrust

“GTRA is probably one of the only events I’ll attend from here on out. If I am going to spend time and money on a conference, this would be it! We will definitely be back next year! This is by far the best conference I have attended-on a 1 to 5 scale, I would rank this event a 5! Dealing with high decision makers has been great. I loved the roundtable discussions because you get to sit down and talk to customers about their problems. This is far better than a regular conference where the government officials just pick up a brochure and then leave. You get the opportunity to discuss new solutions and share data with the government. I would be surprised if we didn’t get a few deals from this event and we have several follow up meetings this week!”
-Director of Sales, TopQuadrant

“The GTRA Council Meeting is more personal and more one-to-one interface opportunities.”
-DoD Account Manager, Software AG

“The networking experiences at the GTRA Council Meeting are much better than other events—more direct discussions.”
-Chief Consultant, ArchSmart

“The captive audience in my boardroom meeting enabled me to reach my business objectives—this was the best part of the GTRA event. Attendees wanted a “personal” walkthrough of this difficult tech space.”
-CEO, ArchSmart

“GTRA has great opportunities and these events keep getting better and better! The business meeting system works very well. This is a world-class organization!”
-Vice President, Authernative

“FAR, FAR, FAR, better environment that is conducive to feds and private sector feeling comfortable working together – awesome opportunity to meet and build relationships with key thought leaders.”
-Director, PPC

“Very good meeting where the setting was intimate and the delegates were eager to meet with us!”
-VP Sales, Titus Labs

“We’ve been to six events and they have all been great! The opportunity to network with the right executives has been very successful!”
-EA Solutions Director, Citizant

“The GTRA Council Meeting exceeded our expectations! The GTRA Staff pulled together meaningful meetings for LexisNexis in a very short amount of time—simply exceptional, no comparison to other events!”
-Strategic Sales Executive, LexisNexis

“The GTRA Council Meeting was an easy way to cut down on our federal sales cycle. All of our top targets were here! GTRA is very efficient provides a great way to actually build relationships.”
-Program Manager, LexisNexis

“This is definitely the best conference event I have been to. We will definitely be re-booking every six months!”
-CTO, HBGary

“The board meetings and general networking experience is the best format of any event I have attended!”
-Director, Business Development, ISOCORP

“This small intimate setting is definitely the best. At most conferences you hear one speaker speak and then 400 vendors try to speak to them and give their their business card. It’s nice to have the one-on-one time. GTRA runs a well-oiled ship!”
-HBGary

“It’s been great! This event has been paced well. It’s very organized—we’ve loved it!”
-Director, Sales Engineering Federal, McAfee

“We get about 50 phone sales calls a week about other industry events-each telling us they have the greatest show out there. I myself have been to a number of different events and have found GTRA to be the best event I’ve ever been to. The event had the highest quality of attendee to vendor ratio, better than any other event that I’ve ever attended. GTRA did a great job making sure that all our priority meetings were met and that we were able to meet with other people that we weren’t scheduled to meet with. I would definitely come back next year!”
-GM, Systinet Federal, Systinet

“GTRA is a unique forum, bringing together many senior, technically focused, executives in a single interactive setting of roundtable and one-on-one discussion. The symposium format allows commercial and government IT Leaders to come together and discuss information management solutions to their shared mission critical challenges. This non-sales environment builds trusted, long-term relationships and allows the sharing of requirements, architectural frameworks, and valuable insights from an operational perspective.”
-Chief Security Officer for Cisco Collaborative Software Group (WebEx), Cisco Systems, Inc.

“Congratulations on a job well done! GTRA Symposium was a great success and I’m still hearing good things about it! The GTRA team members were outstanding as well in their professionalism, patience and attention to detail. Thank you so much for including me in the planning activities and giving me more opportunities to help agencies understand how the DRM (and info sharing strategies) can help them. GTRA provided AirDefense with a unique forum to spend one-on-one time with over a dozen government IT/security decision makers over a period of two days. It would have taken a considerable amount of time and effort for us to facilitate these meetings ourselves. The organizers worked hard to schedule individuals we wanted to network with. I strongly recommend GTRA Symposium to all security vendors interested in government customers.”
-Chief Technology Officer, Air Defense

“The GTRA Symposium is unique in giving solution providers a dedicated opportunity to sit down with some of the best thinkers in government IT and share ideas about how to solve some of the toughest challenges they face. In our case, it allowed us to build new relationships, to gain new insights into how cloud computing was being perceived and addressed across a range of Federal agencies, and to bring that knowledge back into how we evolve our service offerings in this area.”
-Senior Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton

“It’s been a million-dollar day!”
-President, Semantic Arts

“GTRA provides a very easy, relaxed form to interact with government executives, which is critical to business success! GTRA meetings provide an atmosphere where you are not trapped into booth talking to ‘trick or treaters! GTRA makes a conservative effort to make sure that we are paired with the appropriate decision makers within the government and our company, and the government executives do not feel the pressure that they need to go to their meetings – they want to be here!”
-Vice President, Federal Solutions Group, Troux Technologies

“Unlike most conferences, the GTRA Symposium allows federal IT thought leaders to discuss specific and relevant subject matter at length in an informal setting. Therefore, all attendees walk away with actionable information that can truly make an impact rather than high-level marketing information.”
-Vice President, eGlobalTech

“The GTRA Symposium provided government leaders with great insight into numerous security-related issues. The GTRA Symposium is a world-class government event that brought high level executives together and featured thought-provoking semniars.”
-VP Marketing, Mingle360

“I’m a big fan of the event! You bring in good people, and we get great contacts!
-Director, Public Sector Sales, Fiberlink

“GTRA and this event are great! The whole thing was very well done and very well organized.”
-Chief Technology Officer, NetWitness

“We definitely had some great boardroom meetings!”
-Regional Sales Manager, NetWitness

“Business meetings are all about having the right people-the people we want to meet! From a vendor’s standpoint, GTRA does a great job!”
-Solutions Director, Citizant

“You guys [GTRA] set the bar very high! It’s great!”
-VP Business Development, Citizant

“Thanks! I’m looking forward to the next event. The GTRA Council Meeting was one of the best I went to in 08.”
-Staff Writer, Federal Computer Week, Washington Technology Magazine

“These meetings are very valuable with intimate settings!”
-Intrepidus Group/PhishMe.com

“Things went well and all the meetings were productive. We have 6-8 follow-up meetings out of our 8! We came in with low expectations and (GTRA) exceeded our expectations! 35-40 minutes for each Board room meeting was successful and we were very pleased to have an extra meeting with Brian Seborg (Brian Seborg, Chief, Security Policy & Compliance, FDIC)”
-CEO and Paul Bailor, CTO, Seros

 

“The end result will be good! ‘The government attendees represent potential – real opportunities with the right people to talk to. The attendee caliber was the highest I’ve seen at an event!”
-Vice President, Federal Sales, Gideon Technologies

“I am very satisfied with the value received from the GTRA Councll Meeting. This has been the most effective expenditure of my time. This is a good use of your time if you are looking to establish relationships with top federal government executives. I am very pleased with (GTRA’s efforts) efforts-nice people matter to me! This was an effective Symposium, and we will definitely re-book!”
-Director, Federal Sector, Q1 Labs, Inc.

“This conference is an excellent form to network and meet influential executives. I liked the one-on-one face time!”
-CEO, Adaptive

“The board meetings are invaluable! ‘To have the staff (GTRA staff), actually bring the people to us, really helped let us focus on networking and conversation.”
“We loved the boardroom format, and we felt the staff was incredibly accommodating and we were glad to have someone to assist us! We were glad to meet with upper-level management folks, and we did a lot of networking during free time!”
-Federal Business Development Manager / Security Strategist & Federal Sales Engineer, Splunk

“I like the way GTRA runs the show! The staff really takes care of us and the networking opportunities the conference provides are great! I liked the format this year, and wish I had purchased more appointments. I recognize the value of participating at a higher sponsorship level and will do so next time! I love that I have opportunities, both structured and less formal to network. We received a contract from FEMA!”
-Vice President Product Marketing, IronKey (Speaker)

“This is my first time to attend your conferences, the staff (GTRA staff) made sure of the flow and I enjoyed it a great deal. I am really impressed with how smoothly things are going. As a vendor, the set-up is really beneficial. I appreciate the private meeting space and the fact that we have scheduled meetings rather than having to compete for time!”
-Secure64

“You all did an excellent job. Congratulations!”
-Associate Partner, IBM Global Business Services, Public Sector Technology Strategy

“GTRA has done a phenomenal job developing a conference format that facilitates effective collaboration with and between senior government executives. Delivered over a two-and-a-half day period and through a series of well-organized break-out sessions, roundtables, one-on-ones and social events, this non-sales or marketing environment is designed to meet the needs of executives and representative vendors alike. This conference format saves a significant amount of money and time, by minimizing travel and marketing costs as well as pre-event meetings, logistical coordination, and the potential for delays. I highly recommend GTRA conferences to those interested in building true value-add, collaborative relationships that can help solve the complex challenges of architecting, securing, and managing government and associated national infrastructure IT networks and solutions.”
-Secure Unified Wireless and Mobility Solutions, Corporate Security Programs & Global Government Solutions, Cisco Systems, Inc.

“The most important thing I see from GTRA is the fact that you get the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with decision makers, multiple times within a compressed time frame. It gives you the ability to understand and get reinforcement on both sides from the users needs and requirements and the ability to reinforce you’re offering and capabilities to meet those needs.”
-Worldwide Sales Executive, IBM

“I am having a FABULOUS time. This event ranks head and shoulders above every other industry event I’ve attended.”
-Senior Territory Manager Federal, Clearswift

“The meetings were tremendous and very interesting! I really liked talking to the senior level because they own the problem and they are the ones empowered to solve it!”
-Vice President, Product Marketing, IronKey

“I liked talking with current clients as well as potential. I enjoyed the large roundtable discussions and had people as me to have another one! We used the full 35 minutes and could have gone another 45 or 50!”
-Chief Solution Architect, Federal, Telelogic

“We thought it was very important to have both the one-on-one sessions as well as the group roundtables!”
-Project Performance Corporation (PPC)

 

“Everything has been outstanding! The group strategy sessions (that we lead) have been such a success our entire team has follow-up items resulting from new government contacts-that is literally what we are working on right now and we just ended the last session 20 minutes ago! That’s how fast they want the information from us!”
-Senior Director, Secure Unified Wireless and Mobility Solutions, Corporate Security Programs & Global Government Solutions, Cisco Systems, Inc.

“The intimate setting and atmosphere greatly contributed to the success of the show for us.”
-Director, Professional Security Services, Verizon Business

“GTRA has a great format and I enjoyed the opportunity to speak! I am looking forward to more opportunities in the future!”
-Senior Vice President, Global Services, DAON

“It was the most animated in dialog and one of the best panels I’ve been on! It was time very well spent!”
-Program Manager, Federal Civilian Enterprise Services Practice, Microsoft

“Great forum and the round table discussions were very successful! We plan on doing business with GTRA in the future!”
-President, NetWitness

“It’s a small community and any chance to help each other out is great! If you are trying to work through an issue, it is nice to speak to others who may be having the same problem and get their feed back.”
-Solutions Architect, Information Assurance, Avaya

“Well organized! The meetings were successful and met our expectations!”
-President & CEO, Authernative

“Good underlying theme-now it’s how they (government) go forward to use the information. It’s important to push the solution, not the product.”
-SumTotal Systems, Inc.

“It was a kick-ass conference!”
-Beeline

“Most of the agencies were excited to talk about the next steps in strategy meetings so they can start to plan for the future. The presentations are a helpful aspect as we get to learn about the directions and trends in the government industry.”
-Federal Systems Group Manager, Information Builders

 

“All the meetings have been very positive! It was a very valuable forum to have a dialog with both existing and potential customers. The service and support from the GTRA team has been outstanding and the environment is top notch!”
-Robbins-Gioia

“The conversations that I heard were on target and I definitely appreciated the opportunity to sit in and hear what the government has to say as far as what issues and problems they are facing. I also enjoyed the opportunity to sit down with some key individuals from the department of defense such as John Hooder and Robert Lentz and gain an understanding of their prospective.”
-IBM Executive

“I would like to thank you for inviting Authernative to GTRA Symposium. It was a well-organized and useful marketing and educational event. I’ve got some good follow-up connections and look forward to explore these venues. I am pleased with services provided by all people on your team.”
-President & CEO, Authernative

“GTRA Symposium provided me with intimate, personal meetings with decision makers that helped me understand their departments pressing concerns.”
-VP Federal Operations, Secure Computing

“GTRA Symposium is unique and one of those events that government officials (the ones that can’t get to regular conferences) actually look forward to going to because they have an opportunity to discuses their fears without being pressured. I am not just saying this from my standpoint but from what I have heard from information officers saying the same thing. It is a non-pressure situation to talk about solutions without having to worry about being in a meeting or buying something.”
-Director of Business Development, (ISC)2

“The benefit of attending GTRA Symposium is that it gave us the opportunity to talk to a lot of Federal agencies in a short amount of time. It eliminated the day-to-day travels and phone calls. Everybody is in one central location-it’s very pleasant.”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, Robbins-Gioia

 

“Sessions with the thought leaders from different agencies allow us to learn what’s going on with their technology and where they’re going with their transition into information sharing and a lot of enterprise architecture.”
-Director, Public Sector Strategies, BEA

“This is our second year attending the GTRA Symposium and it’s another successful event for us. There are three things we like as a vendor and focus on: 1. The nature of the topics is very key to our development of business with the federal government, 2. Intimacy, the small numbers and one-on-one sessions 3. Once you attend more than one event, you can come back and see the same folks, how they’ve developed, and continue to develop the business relationship which ultimately leads to doing business with these agencies.”
-Federal Branch Manager, Information Builders

“The amazing part is the intimacy of the show. The networking outside of the scheduled meetings were invaluable. There is definitely a high caliber of people attending. This saves us a tremendous amount of time. Within three days we accomplished what normally would have taken us 6 months.”
-Chief Enterprise Architect, Phase One Consulting Group

“I am very impressed with the format; this is a much more productive use of my time and resources.”
-VP, Global Government, Sun Microsystems

“There were just the right amount of people to speak with, it wasn’t overcrowded at all, and we’ve received some great follow-up meetings already!”
-VP, Global Sales, Jobster

“GTRA Symposium 2006 allowed me to learn firsthand the Federal Government’s pain points in implementing a pay for performance culture.”
-Product Marketing Manager, SuccessFactors

“This is by far the most effective way to do business, and I’ve tried everything; this has been the best investment we’ve made.”
-CEO, President, Investigative Services Agency

“By meeting with the senior leadership here and having them identify to us exactly who to follow up with, you have that ability to create a warm follow up with the reference from above.”
-Vice President, Sales, Avaya

“I think the opportunity for one-on-one and extended one-on-one meetings, without the commotion of grabbing someone off the trade room floor, is pretty unique.”
-Director, Federal Programs, AirDefense

“Most of the industry events don’t have this type of one-on-one discussion. At other conferences, you are amongst a cast of 100s or 1000s and there is no way to talk to someone who is either presenting or knowledgeable from a particular industry.”
-Vice President, Verizon Federal

“The GTRA Council Meeting was a great opportunity to get real-time feedback from decision-makers and evaluators. I appreciated the ability to meet many more people than just the ten in the schedule. Good job arranging extra contacts!”
-Vice President, Federal Government Sales, Phoenix Technologies

“The GTRA business meetings give us access to the buying network of government officials which are normally hard to get in touch with. By doing so, it accelerates the buying process.”
-Client Executive, Sogeti

“This was an excellent forum/event to enable my organization to ‘jump start’ our sales efforts with government agencies.”
-Senior Vice President, Sogeti

“We are impressed with the quality of attendees. These people are truly willing to listen and share information. You know they are here for a reason.”
-Vice President, Federal Operations, CipherTrust

“The GTRA business meetings provide more one on one time, which lets you have more time to discuss what’s really important to the customer.”
-Director of DHS/Civilian Agencies, Cingular Wireless

“Everything is as advertised. We are getting very good leads. GTRA is better than other industry events because of the overall management and the layout. These little offices they set up for us, the delegates coming in on time, it’s all run very smoothly. The attending delegates are definitely the right people to talk to- the right level.”
-Senior Director, NitroSecurity

“The unique format of GTRA Symposium makes the time well worth it. These one-on-one meetings provide an opportunity to better understand government needs and requirements.”
-Worldwide Sales Executive, IBM

“The GTRA Symposium social and professional environment was conducive to forming great relationships.”
-Federal Sales Manager, Q1 Labs

“GTRA’s format was actually the only one I’ve ever attended where you’re actually learning something! Each person I spoke to was really focused in our conversation and that attention was wonderful. I can’t think of one GTRA meeting that didn’t go well! After each GTRA meeting, I would sit in our Watson Wyatt business meeting area, taking notes of ideas that had come out of my previous appointment in order to discuss them with the next person.”
-Practice Leader-Strategic, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

“The business meetings were extraordinary & a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with senior delegates. This is the only seminar of this kind, that I know of, that attracts the quality CIO’s and CTO’s at the federal level and allows the accessibility for the vendors to get to know them better. I have not found an opportunity like this at any other trade show. Both GTRA Symposium’s were extremely cost effective and time effective. I would highly recommend GTRA, especially to a small business that wants to get a foothold in the federal space.”
-VP, SiloSmashers

“I didn’t recommend GTRA to my competitors because I wanted to keep it to myself. I think this was the best thing since sliced bread. Meeting vendors in a focused environment like this was a benefit for both parties. GTRA Symposium was the best conference I’ve been to in 12 years of attending them!
-VP Federal, WildPackets, Inc.

“The best part of GTRA’s Symposium forum was its innovative format, setup to interact with government clients in a way that was non-threatening. Building a core relationship was effortless, making it pretty easy to just follow up. From a business perspective, GTRA’s Symposium 2005 was a great conference.”
-VP, VERTEX Solutions

“Our NIST meeting at GTRA Symposium 2004 went very well. It provided a great chance to meet with some of the consumers to discuss ideas and solutions to help them. These meetings were very focused and they gave us time to talk to consumers.”
-Director of Marketing, Network Intelligence

“I thought the GTRA Symposium business format was excellent! It gave Oracle an opportunity to meet with high -ranking officials in the federal HR that would normally be somewhat apprehensive to talk because of the vendor relationship with the federal government. GTRA Symposium was very relaxed. Oracle took the approach that we would not solicit or give out any marketing materials. This approach opened the door for questions to come up with some roadmaps for the government attendees from where to move off some of their solutions without absolutely putting the marketing materials forward from Oracle’s perspective. I would recommend GTRA forums absolutely, hands down, no doubt!”
-Senior HCM Solutions Manager, Oracle Corporation

“GTRA Symposium concept, model and network opportunities were very good because the government attendees were more accessible than most traditional trade shows.”
-Federal Operations, Account Executive, Actional

“The format of GTRA provided us with a lot of information in a very comfortable setting. I think that the vendors and attendees were comfortable and didn’t have the distractions of a traditional trade show. We were able to talk with a group we don’t usually get exposure to. They have different input and we give them different perspectives that they don’t get from their own staff internally. As a result, they get more candid information and we receive a new and different approach to the agencies. It’s very valuable. I plan on coming back. We are hoping for about 50% follow-up for legitimate opportunities, and that would justify us doing it again plus it was a lot of fun.”
-Director of Government Sales, Visual Networks

“The GTRA Symposium business meetings were the work of many weeks or many months distilled down to a couple of days because everyone I wanted to speak to were all in one place. These were the right people and it seemed very practical. We will be able to develop business opportunities with these people, yes, without question. People seem generally less distracted here. I didn’t see blackberries or cell phones being used too much. It seemed for a day and a half or so that everyone’s attention was largely trained on both the contact of our discussions and what we are going to do afterwards. I liked the meeting scheduler very much. We would not have been as productive if the meeting scheduling was random. I would say that for solution providers that have something substantial to bring to the government, this is a big bang for your buck type of event. I would highly recommend it. This is where the customers are.”
-Director of Federal Sales, Ounce Labs

“I hoped to gain a better understanding of federal government and how each agency works. For IBM, I hoped to help develop the business more quickly. I have successfully accomplished those goals at the GTRA Symposium and recommend GTRA forums to other solution provider companies. The format works well with the relatively small sessions which provide quick turn around for business prospects. I will be recommending this event to my colleagues because GTRA forums are a very useful way of making connections and getting to specifics, quickly.”
-Director, Worldwide Sales, IBM Pervasive Computing

“I found the relaxed conversation at GTRA’s Symposium very conducive to getting to know and understand people. I would highly recommend a GTRA forum to any company that’s interested in understanding the government community and what their needs are. Organization Metrics’ objective for attending GTRA Symposium was to let the government community know who we are and what we do; this was definitely accomplished. The one-on-one sessions gave Organization Metrics an opportunity to introduce our company to the right people who are in need of our services and products and who can make decisions about buying them.”
-Managing Director, Organization Metrics

“For me, meetings that go particularly well are those that are one-on-one, providing customer and vendor opportunities to talk through some specific scenarios. We gained a couple of phenomenal components that are coming down the pipe in the next month or two and quite honestly, I’m looking forward to next year’s GTRA forum.”
-Business Unit Executive, Americas Group, IBM Pervasive Software

“GTRA Symposium was fantastic! It gave us the opportunity to meet with government officials who came with a vision of what they wanted and were looking for. It was a very productive use of our time as a solution provider. No time was wasted speaking to those who had no interest in what we had to offer. The facility was fantastic, the food was great, and the GTRA staff did a great job at making sure our time was being used efficiently. The speakers were excellent and the utilization of everyone’s time was extremely effective. Thank you GTRA and we look forward to working with you again!”
-Business Unit Executive, IBM

“The opportunity to meet people one on one and learn from them about the government experience and where opportunity might lie was very valuable. GTRA’s Symposium 2005 met all of our expectations and I think beyond that, the intensive education that BrassRing received as newcomers to the federal market over the last three days has been invaluable. BrassRing looks forward to sponsoring more GTRA events because they supply a unique place in the market for suppliers and agencies to get together in a relaxed environment to exchange ideas in a non-commercial setting. I highly recommend GTRA!”
-EVP, BrassRing

“GTRA Symposium 2003 was our first GTRA event and I was impressed over and over again throughout these past three days. I was able to speak directly to the decision makers to understand their IT requirements and, in fact, have a number of follow-up meetings scheduled. I would recommend GTRA events for any solution provider interested in really understanding the government’s requirements in terms of their technology needs. It is the most direct approach to present solutions to the public sector customer. Thank you very much for the opportunity!”
-Wireless Specialist, IBM

“GTRA Symposium 2003 was my first GTRA event and I found it to be a very refreshing, different and effective approach to targeting the government customer. The meeting format of GTRA is far superior to the traditional tradeshow format. The environment for developing partnerships was head and shoulders above any other I’ve experienced. The GTRA format is a far more spirited approach than the traditional trade shows type of environment. I look forward to attending many more! I would say that for any solution providers considering the public sector market, this event was well worth the investment!”
-Business Unit Executive, IBM

“GTRA Symposium 2003 was the best bang spent for my marketing dollars. It allowed us to get a good feel for the federal market needs and establish very solid relationships and potential revenue opportunities. I would definitely participate in another GTRA event.”
-SVP, Gold Wire Technologies

“The accommodations were great, the (GTRA Symposium 2003) meetings were focused and well-utilized, and we met with people it would have taken months to get direct access to.”
“The environment was relaxing and gave us the ability to find out the government’s needs and communicate our value proposition in the federal market space. We viewed the past three days as a tremendous success and would like to thank GTRA for the effort and opportunity.”
“Great Job! One of the best events I have attended. Very focused agenda and having the ability to meet one-on-one with key individuals and discuss their needs will save us months!”
-VP, Gold Wire Technologies

“Gold Wire is a small company, so it is difficult for us to meet with such a wide range of government officials as we have here at GTRA Symposium 2003. The GTRA format is a tremendous blend. The arranged meetings allowed us to get exposure to such a wide range of federal agencies that we never would have achieved in such a short period of time.”
“GTRA allows solution providers to really understand the needs of the federal market and allows a chance to generate a lot of potential opportunities. From my perspective, the GTRA Symposium proved to be a tremendous success and a great use of our time, which is much appreciated these days!”
-EVP, Gold Wire Technologies

“The GTRA meeting was a complete success and GTRA has been incredible. We had support instantaneously from the staff and they did an awesome job! The networking opportunities provided through the GTRA meetings will launch our business into the stratosphere. We will be back for every future GTRA meeting, absolutely!”
-CEO & CTO, CO2 Consulting Group

“GTRA Symposium 2003 proved to be a much more focused event with a much higher quality of attendees. Attendees were decision makers instead of just tire kickers.”
-VP, Cryptek

“It was a pleasure meeting the GTRA team at the GTRA Meeting in Hot Springs. The conference was a big success for MapInfo, and we met with several key government officials in a short period of time, which I am sure will pay off in the long run. The conference was well run. Thanks again for everything. I’m sure we will be looking forward to more conferences sponsored by GTRA.”
-Chairman, MapInfo

GTRA is a unique forum, bringing together many senior, technically focused, executives in a single interactive setting of roundtable and one-on-one discussion. Their unique version of a Summit format allows commercial and government IT Leaders to come together and discuss information management solutions to their shared mission critical challenges. This non-sales environment builds trusted, long-term relationships and allows the sharing of requirements, architectural frameworks, and valuable insights from an operational perspective.

ciscologo

As an AFCEA member I think this is very impressive and feel appreciative for forums like GTRA that are facilitating to provide outstanding opportunities for collaboration and convergence of ideas, concepts and thought leadership. GTRA through enhanced collaboration with GITEC has opened the doors in bringing Government and Industry together. It will take synergies such as these to affect positive organizational and national progress in cyber security awareness, knowledge and education through people working together.

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CIO, ASC (LCMC), Wright-Patterson AFB, Air Force

I’ve been at this 20 years and this was the best conference that I’ve been to. GTRA has a young aggressive staff who is able to pull in key people and the roundtable concept worked very well. The government executives were committed to the process as well as the solution providers. I spent major individual time with all participants! GTRA did a tremendous job! We closed one contract within the first few months and have a seven figure deal that is also going through!

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I’m very impressed with the value from the GTRA Council Meeting. First and foremost is an excellent collaboration opportunity across federal agencies. The presentations I’ve attended were not only very interesting but very relevant to what we’re doing in our agency. I certainly plan to follow up with the presenters and use their briefing material to further the collaboration with what we’re doing with the other agencies. I’m very struck with the positive opportunity it represents for collaboration.

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Deputy Chief Information Officer, Office of Enterprise Development, VA

GTRA is probably one of the only events I’ll attend from here on out. If I am going to spend time and money on a conference, this would be it! We will definitely be back next year! This is by far the best conference I have attended – dealing with high decision makers has been great. I loved the roundtable discussions because you get to sit down and talk to customers about their problems. This is far better than a regular conference where the government officials just pick up a brochure and then leave.

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Director of Sales, TopQuadrant

GTRA has consistently continued to do what the past two Presidents have agreed is a top priority: bringing a diverse grouping of ‘disciplined’ from across the government. ‘GTRA is a vehicle to help realize our administration’s vision for government performance! GTRA preceded Obama and no one can ride the coat tails! If Kelly Yocum, Co-founder & Executive Director, GTRA, sees it and says it, it has to come true!”

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Professor of Systems Management, Information Resources Management College, National Defense University (NDU)

FAR, FAR, FAR, better environment that is conducive to feds and private sector feeling comfortable working together – awesome opportunity to meet and build relationships with key thought leaders.

Director, PPC

This is definitely the best conference event I have been to. “This small intimate setting is definitely the best. At most conferences you hear one speaker and then 400 vendors try to speak to them and give their their business card. It’s nice to have the quality face-time. GTRA runs a well-oiled ship!

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CTO, HBGary

We get about 50 phone sales calls a week about other industry events – each telling us they have the greatest show out there. I myself have been to a number of different events and have found GTRA to be the best event I’ve ever been to. The event had the highest quality of attendee to vendor ratio, better than any other event that I’ve ever attended. GTRA did a great job making sure that all our priority meetings were met and that we were able to meet with additional executives that we weren’t scheduled to meet with. I would definitely recommend it to my peers!

GM, Systinet Federal

GTRA brings in the ‘cream of the crop’ in the government and industry! No other event provides us the opportunities and access to high level government executives that GTRA does. For three days we get to connect with people and foster relationships through roundtables, casino night networking and strategy sessions. GTRA gets the right people; the number of high ranking officials is amazing!

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Customer Service Director, GSA

The GTRA events are my professional highlights of the year. I really enjoy talking and exchanging ideas in with those I don’t normally get to work with. The nonDoD government has such a refreshing view on problems and solutions that I can’t help but bring back more ideas than I can even begin to implement.
The location was superb, but the friendships and time together was the best.
I love the fact that you know us by name and we’re considered friends!

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Senior Principal, Information Systems Engineer, MITRE

The boardroom style is a brilliant idea-much better format than the exhibition hall and you get to hear other ideas-it works the way it’s supposed to!

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Chief Technology Officer for Information and Network Assurance, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Networks and Information Integration, Defense (Speaker)

The face-to-face collaboration and roundtable discussions allow for a more interesting interaction and a chain of networking. When you throw everyone in a room, it’s too broad and not effective. This is my first event, but it seems to be very efficient. The personal attention of the GTRA staff throughout the conference was most appreciated. Don’t ever lose the personal touch! It is a great differentiator for your organization to raise you above the pack!!

ssa
Enterprise Architect, Office of the CIO, Social Security Administration

I hope your ears burn every time I mention your group to people who can’t get out of their own way. You guys are an awesome display of entrepreneurs, courage and most importantly…excellence.

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Customer Service Director, Federal Acquisition Service, GSA

GTRA provides valuable collaboration and networking with executives from across the federal government and commercial business partners in a non-hostile, non-political environment.

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Chief Architect and Principal Director, Deputy CIO, DoD

Of the 30 events that I have attended this year, GTRA is by far the best organized event and the technology presentations surpass all others!

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Senior Computer Scientist, NIST