Agenda

Pick up your name badge, then enjoy breakfast and networking before we kick off GAIN 2024!

Hit the ground running as Juliana Slye, Chair of this year's GAIN Executive Committee and CEO of Government Business Results, leads you on an exploration of the Government Buyer's Journey as she kicks off GAIN 2024.

Juliana Slye

CEO
Government Business Results

Content marketing and storytelling offer a vast opportunity for all businesses. Yes, even in B2G.

Here at GAIN, Ann Handley will inspire you to rethink the role that content plays in igniting real results. Through real-world examples and thought-provoking perspectives, Ann will empower you to be successful in today’s rapidly evolving digital world.

Drawing from her 25 years of experience as a marketer, entrepreneur, and best-selling author, Ann gives you practical tools and insights to create powerful work that connects with those you seek to reach.

In this session, you’ll discover:

• How businesses can avoid marketing mediocrity to achieve tangible results  
• What makes engaging content and how to break through the noise  
• New approaches to building customer relationships and loyalty  

Don’t miss this fun session from the world’s first Chief Content Officer herself! Who’s in?!

Ann Handley

Chief Content Officer
MarketingProfs

This session will provide marketers with an overview of the latest government technology policies, bills, and related laws set to impact 2025. We’ll cut through the noise and focus on the most significant updates, ensuring you leave with actionable insights that fuel prospect engagement and pipeline momentum.

Rob Efrus

Founder & CEO
Efrus Federal Advisors, LLC

We live in the world of more and now - where revenue and pipeline targets are always up and to the right, but budgets are flat or falling, resources are spread thin, and both patience and attention spans are in a constant battle for which can be shortest. And that’s before the inherent challenges of marketing to a public sector audience.

During this session, we'll explore the following:

• How Account Based Marketing (ABM) can help you rethink and reframe the demand from qantity to quality in your mind, in your teams' mind, and in the minds of your stakeholders.
• What you can count on ABM to do really well and where you shouldn't over rely on it.
• Understanding how the orchestration of data-driven insights, personalized content, and comprehensive marketing integration can drive results on almost any budget.

Colby Proffitt

Vice President of Marketing
Shift5

Tanner Bokor

GTM Operations Director
Shift5

Refresh your coffee and jot down your thoughts before we continue with the next leg of GAIN 2024.

Marketing is challenging for everyone in the B2G space – but it’s especially tough for small firms focused on rapid growth. For some of them, graduating out of the small business designation for federal contractors is the goal – an exciting time that brings a variety of new challenges like competing against industry giants or taking an entirely new approach to marketing and communications. This session brings together senior leaders who have faced down the “small business cliff,” punched above their weight class, and won against the big kids on the block.

In this session, you’ll discover:

• The impact of creativity, smart choices, and innovative branding on the bottom line
• Foundational needs for scaling and maturing your marketing department and program to meet the demands of a new competitive environment
• How to set your team and business up for a successful acquisition or graduate out of the small business designation

Anatalia Macik

Director of Proposal Operations
Excella

Erin Grace

Co-Founder
Storyboard Creative Group

Effective partner marketing for companies that sell to the government hinges on relationships built on a foundation of shared understanding. This panel will explore how marketers can develop clear marketing strategies that highlight the combined value propositions tailored to government needs. In addition, panelists will discuss how to create and utilize co-branded materials and case studies that demonstrate past successes and compliance with government standards. Lastly, the panel will explore how to align on goals, share insights, and coordinate efforts, ensuring consistent messaging and seamless collaboration.

In this session, you’ll discover: 

• How to leverage different types of partnerships to overcome the challenges of government marketing
• How to partner in a way that amplifies your brand and company mission
• What successful partner marketing looks like.

Tiffany Goddard

Vice President of Sales
Carahsoft

Sieg Leahy

Senior Public Sector Marketing Manager, Federal
Okta

Pilar Mejia

Senior Distribution Manager, Public Sector
GitLab

Katie Hanusik

EVP, Public Relations
REQ

In today’s growth-driven landscape, managing the transition between Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) is critical to building a strong pipeline. But where should you focus your resources, and how do you balance your investments across the two? This session will explore into the key strategies that today’s B2G marketers use to navigate this challenge. Discover how to optimize your pipeline by aligning marketing and sales efforts to drive conversions and long-term growth.

In this session, you’ll discover:

• Strategies that deliver the right balanced investment between MQL acquisition and SQL conversion.
• The benefits of optimizing of your MQL and SQL investment mix over the year.
• Best practices for refining lead qualification to maximize conversion rates and accelerate pipeline growth.
• How to evolve your MQL and SQL strategies to stay ahead in a shifting market landscape

Darci Hunt

Marketing Director, U.S. Public Sector and Healthcare
CrowdStrike

Josie Smoot

Sr. Director, U.S. Public Sector Marketing
Zscaler

Molly Tomevi

Director of Marketing
Carahsoft

Alison Mitsuhashi

Senior Director, Marketing
Government Business Results

Enjoy lunch and explore the exhibit hall as you reflect on the morning sessions, then get ready to dive into part two of GAIN 2024.

In a market full of twists and turns, how do you leverage the unexpected—or mitigate its impact? From layoffs and budget fluctuations to influencers, AI advancements, and election years, these disruptions can either hinder growth or open new opportunities. Success lies in building marketing strategies that are both resilient and adaptable, seizing opportunities while navigating risks. Join us for a dynamic discussion on how to not just weather the storm, but harness it for growth—packed with inspiration and actionable insights.

In this session, you’ll discover:

• How to identify and capitalize on growth opportunities in market disruptions.
• Proven strategies to adapt marketing plans during budget cuts, technological shifts, and other challenges.
• Tactical insights and best practices for maintaining agility in your marketing strategies

Kelly Amacher

Strategic Partnerships
NBC

Brian Chidester

Head of Industry Strategy, Public Sector
Adobe

Lauren Franco

Director of Public Sector Marketing
Nutanix

Christina Botto Morrison

Public Sector Marketing Leader
NVIDIA

Many great marketers succeed in managing events and budget spreadsheets, but growing their career can be a real challenge. How can you go from marketing associate, to marketing manager, to director, or even head of marketing? What’s the right route? Who are the decision makers? How is this done internally? When is it time to move on?  This panel will review keys to personal and professional growth designed to help you architect and navigate those difficult questions and unlock the next level in your marketing career.

In this session, you’ll gain: 

• A better understanding of the different career models in B2G marketing
• An action plan for growth
• A sense of belonging – you’re not alone but part of a vibrant and ambitious community!

Stephen Ellis

Director of Public Sector Product Marketing, Global Defense
ServiceNow

Allan Rubin

Vice President, Segment Marketing
Granicus

In the competitive landscape of B2G marketing, effectively driving the pipeline requires strategic branding, timely PR efforts, and targeted campaigns. This presentation delves into how unique branding and well-timed PR can align with contract timelines to create impactful growth. We will focus on contractor stories like Aeyon, Sigma Defense and Alion to illustrate successful strategies and analyze campaign tactics through the lens of enterprise value creation. Attendees will gain actionable takeaways and insights into the critical aspects of targeting the Ideal Government Persona (IGP), developing a unique and memorable brand, and aligning PR with contract timelines. By understanding these elements, marketers can enhance their efforts to secure contracts and drive pipeline growth in the B2G sector.

In this session, you’ll learn: 

• How to develop a unique and memorable brand in a crowded B2G market
• The best way to align PR efforts with contract and opportunity timelines
• About leveraging personas to focus your resources and efforts and improve success rates
• How integrated brand awareness and demand-generation campaigns can be a force multiplier for growth

Brian Lustig

Public Relations Practice Lead
Bluetext

Sunny Singh

Former President & CEO
Aeyon

Scott Aukema

Vice President of Marketing
Sigma Defense

Robin Vaitonis

Chief Operating Officer
Grafik

Take a stretch break then get ready for the final sessions of GAIN 2024.

The world of marketing tools, technologies, and techniques has become an incredibly complex and ridiculously fast-moving environment. As you start to build your marketing plans, the biggest hurdle can be simply overcoming the deer in headlights effect after being met with an overwhelming rush of tasks, actions, data, algorithm changes, trending social platforms, and more. For more mature marketing programs, that flurry of activity – and rapid incorporation of new tools and technology – can also make it difficult to create a seamless experience across all customer touchpoints. This presentation introduces a unique way to transform the looming cloud of marketing complexity into an organized series of interlocking marketing spaces that help capture value from your government customer – and accelerate growth while making effective use of all the resources available to you. 

In this session, you’ll learn: 

• How to break down the B2G marketing landscape in distinct media spaces – rented space, owned space, paid space, and earned space (ROPE)
• To architect a well-constructed, reliable ROPE bridge that builds relationships and drives pipeline
• Ways to build a mutually beneficial relationship between your federal customers, your company, and its unique products & services

Elizabeth Nerland

Sr. Director, Marketing & Communications
Chugach Government Solutions, LLC

Drawing from her experience developing AI-driven marketing strategies at Google and applying them across companies around the world, Natalie Lambert will demonstrate how AI is more than just a tool—it's a strategic approach that can transform your marketing efforts.

During this session, Natalie will share actionable insights and proven techniques to elevate your marketing. She will teach you how to leverage AI to execute campaigns faster and enhance your overall marketing impact. With AI, your company can achieve its marketing goals more efficiently, producing high-quality content and reaching your target audience more effectively.

In this session, you’ll discover:

• The most impactful use cases for AI in marketing strategies
• Tools and best practices to enhance creativity, productivity, and efficiency with AI
• Practical steps to immediately enhance your marketing impact while preparing for an AI-driven future

Don’t miss this chance to learn from one of the top voices in AI-driven marketing innovation.

Are you ready to elevate your marketing approach with AI?

Natalie Lambert

Founder & Managing Partner
GenEdge Consulting

Reflect on everything you learned as we close out GAIN 2024.

Juliana Slye

CEO
Government Business Results

Celebrate the winners of the 2024 GAIN Awards, the top honors for B2G marketers.

Francis Rose

Host
Fed Gov Today

Unwind with complimentary refreshments as you take advantage of this final opportunity to build lasting connections with your peers.