Veterans Small Businees Conference

It was very expensive ($200+ for a hotel room, REALLY?) and it was HUGE (three different levels of the Detroit Convention Center with some meeting rooms more than a football field away) but in the end, I got what I wanted; information on how to do business with the governent.

And it didn't take long.  The very first seminar I went to Tuesday afternoon was the best.  And to be honest, the rest of my experience there was less than fulfilling.  I spent an hour and a half standing in a line for pre-registered attendees only to learn they couldn't find my bag and name tag.  At least 'I was in the system' meaning they took my money.  I knew that since I had a confirmation number.  I got a temporary and was told to come back in 30 minutes.  I checked back three times over the next 2 hours -- between meeting -- before I got a real badge.

Perhaps the worse part of this conference -- other than the cost for this tight-wad -- was the way many of the seminars were conducted.  There were perhaps 30 different, 1-hour break-out sessions going on at any given moment.  But the vast majority of them never repeated.  Several times there were two seminars I wanted to attend going on at the same time.  So I would bounce around.

A couple of times I went to a room and the speaker was a no-show or the topic being covered was not the same as was listed in my printed agenda.  Other than the one seminar Tuesday afternoon, the next bast thing was the networking opportunities.  There were ALOT of people there.  Our federal government alone spends more than 6 BILLION dollars a year.  All of us there were looking for our piece of the action.

I also learned a new language; or at least started too.  It was impossible to carry on a conversation with-out at least one acronym per sentence and usually two or three.  Like VSOB = Veteran Owned Small Business; or SDVSOB = Service-connected Disabled Veteran Owned Business; or RFI = Request for Information; or RFQ = Request for Quote, and on and on.  I'm serious when I tell you I felt like I was in a room full of people speaking Klingon.

I attended a seminar on the Verification Process for a VSOB, which I just completed last week.  The poor guy making the presentation was pounded by distraught veterans who had been denied certification.  Judging from the feedback from the audience, the VA has some real issues.  Hopefully, I will not be amongst that group.

I planned to stay thru Thursday -- today -- but left yesterday after the morning session.  I had seen all I needed and that motel room was KILLING me!  Besides, my goal of learning how to get more business from the government was accomplished at my first meeting.  Luckily for me, I caught it.

One final observation about our government is how it is a self-perpetuating  monster.  It is so big and so complex that it takes more and more people to keep it running.  Don't misunderstand me, there is not one other place in the world that I'd rather live than in the USA.  But I think living in a democratic society means accepting that the government is an insanely complex megatron that is nearly impossible to oversee.  It's just too big.  Too many closets.  Too many self-interests.  Too many rules with loop-holes.  Too many people with too many hidden agendas.  Is this another example of 'Too big to fail?'