The weather was warm, the mood was convivial, and feedback from the second annual Partners and Pairings reception was positively effusive.

Great idea…great venue…wonderful turnout.  D.M. –  CenturyLink

I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and making many new contacts as well as seeing old friends.  A first class event!  B.M. – DAI Solutions

It was a wonderful event and I found it to be very helpful in the networking process.  S.T. – Radius

On March 1st, M Squared Strategies hosted representatives of 19 companies from around the Beltway to an evening of networking and wine tasting. The event, organized by Selena Hunn of M Squared Strategies, took place at the Lorien Hotel and Spa in Old Town, Alexandria. Renowned DC chef Robert Weidmaier provided the catering. After a brief wine-pairing presentation, the guests indulged in scrumptious hors d’oeuvres while mingling in the elegant living room and library, and around the fire pit on the terrace.

The general consensus was that M Squared Strategies’ annual gathering proved once again to be a great way for consultants to forge new business relationships and to further develop existing ones.

Originally scheduled during the month of January, the First Annual Partners & Pairings event was postponed due to the untimely winter storm of 2011. Fortunately, February 17th proved to be a luckier date for M Squared friends, corporate partners and team members who were able to break away from delivery and intense proposal writing to brave the normal DC traffic for the opportunity to mix and mingle for several hours at the beautiful 2941 Restaurant located in Fall Church, VA.

With the lighted restaurant waterfall serving as a picturesque backdrop, partners from SRA, Miracle Systems, Integrity One, and Avise tasted a variety of selected wines from around the world and sampled an assortment of delicious hors d’oeuvres specifically “partnered” by the establishment’s Sommelier and Head Chef. Not to be overshadowed by the wine and food, the evening proved to serve as a wonderful opportunity for M Squared team members and guests from Innovative Solutions Group, ActioNet, WBB, Triton Federal Solutions, and Hewlett-Packard to talk with current and future partners outside of the work environment, and allowed our special guests to meet one another, discuss their companies’ capabilities and synergies, and to share in discussions for partnering opportunities in the future.

Because relationships matter to M Squared Strategies, we were happy to hear of the successful connections made during Our First Annual Partners & Pairings event and look forward to expanding our circle of friends and partners in the coming year.

In the last quarter M Squared has seen strong growth in the maturation of its business development capacity. With the implementation of the Sugar CRM system, the company has added over $7 million in opportunities. The data collection around this is allowing the company’s business development staff to more effectively track and develop these opportunities. Management is also now using this data to more accurately forecast the company’s revenue growth and staffing requirements.

The result? In the last quarter the company has successfully joined several teaming partnerships for large opportunities, participated in the proposal efforts and is now awaiting word on award. Additionally, thanks to the hard work of Brenda Maynor and Jen Mroczek, the Facilitation Service Line will be supporting SAIC at the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, with the anticipated start date of May 1. We look forward to forging a strong relationship with SAIC and the clients at HHS. Congratulations team!

There’s a lot happening on the Business Development front. M Squared is moving at full speed to define, implement and optimize a mature Business Development function for the company. Jeremy Nurse joined the M Squared team as Senior Market Strategist to help define our business development processes.

Proper growth starts with growing existing accounts, developing a reputation and brand, fostering relationships with supporters and partners, and conducting targeted outbound sales activities. Because it is imperative that everyone in the company actively participates in business development, we recently held a training session for all of our delivery managers to clearly define each of their roles throughout the sales and proposal process.

To enable our new sustained BD approach, we have implemented SugarCRM, a flexible customer relationship management system designed to help us communicate with prospects, share sales information and close deals. Jeremy Nurse and Brenda Maynor have already put the system to work tracking both new opportunities as well as those within our existing client organizations.

Mark Antoniewicz, Ed Adelman, and Rod Witschey line up before the tournament start.

The ASRC Still Serving Veterans (SSV) Charity Golf Tournament held on October 15, 2010, proved to be a rewarding and fun event for M Squared teammates Ed Adelman, Rod Witschey, Mark Antoniewicz and Brenda Maynor. As a $1,000 sponsor of this annual event, M Squared helped ASRC raise funds for an organization devoted to assisting wounded veterans and their spouses reintegrate into new careers and communities.

SSV has helped more than 2,500 wounded veterans and their families connect with the services they need to deal with life-changing injuries and has become a nationally recognized center of excellence as a grass roots-level reintegration orchestrator for wounded veterans and their families. SSV helps veterans assess their medical, vocational and counseling needs, and then connects those veterans with existing federal, state and local support services.

Networking Dinner at Chima after the ACT-IAC General Membership Meeting, Sept. 22. Aaron Vicknair, Barrister Global Services Network; Brenda Maynor, M Squared; Steve Olshefski, PCPC Direct, and Carmine Taglialatela, Oakhill Farm Group.

Autumn ushers in a flurry of Business Development activities, starting with volunteer committee work for the ACT-IAC Executive Leadership Council (ELC) Outreach Committee, the AFFIRM Sustaining Partners Membership Drive and AFFIRM Turkey Shoot Golf Tournament Sponsorship Committees. Active participation in organizations like ACT-IAC and AFFIRM not only allows M Squared to give back to the organizations through our time and services, but also enables us the opportunity to work side-by-side and network with some of the beltway’s top Federal Government executives and industry members.

This year the ELC 2010 Outreach Committee is co-chaired by Pete Tseronis, Acting Associate Chief Information Officer for Advanced Technology & Systems Integration at Department of Energy and Rosemarie Franz, Business Development Manager for RCG. Our Outreach Committee goal this year is to set a conference record for Government attendees that will include representatives from all agencies.

The 2010 ELC scheduled for October 24-26 in Williamsburg, VA, will focus on Delivering Transformation, with agenda highlights that include: Cloud Computing, Sustainability, Cyber Security, Health IT, Transparency and Web 2.0.

ELC Outreach Committee Meeting members, September 22, 2010 – David Hull, EMC2; David Yang, Sapient Government Services; and Ellen Kuhn, Sapient Government Solutions

The 2010 AFFIRM Sustaining Partner Membership Drive and Turkey Shoot Golf Tournament Sponsorship Committees are both Chaired by Tom Ragland, Vice President of Business Development for CACI. By serving on both AFFIRM committees, we are able to connect with industry leaders who also share in M Squared Strategies’ commitment to public service.

Proceeds from Turkey Shoot Golf Tournament will go directly to the AFFIRM Scholarship Fund. AFFIRM maintains partnerships with six Universities to provide scholarships to undergraduate students studying some aspect of information technology. These Universities are also partnered with the Federal CIO Council to deliver Federal Executive IT Competencies through the CIO University.

Conferences and events where you will find M Squared this Fall:

• October 24-26 ACT-IAC Executive Leadership Conference
• November 4 INPUT 8th Annual FedFocus Conference
• November 22 AFCEA Luncheon- DHS Panel
• December 7 AFCEA Winter Gala 2010

AFFIRM May Health IT Luncheon – Sarah Nurse and Kendall Lott speak to a senior IT leader within the Department of Energy

Business Development efforts during the second quarter of 2010 were primarily focused on connecting with government and industry experts in an effort to develop a better understanding of current government procurement and acquisition trends as they relate to and impact small businesses like M Squared Strategies.

As Federal Government agencies embrace the current administration’s initiatives for more accountability and transparency, enhanced collaboration, and accelerated innovation, more contracting offices will rely on multiple-award, indefinite delivery, and indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts. Contracts of this nature will enable government long-term planning of large-scale program requirements, save time and money by reducing procurement lead time, promote contract compliance, reduce risk of adverse audits, and offer flexibility of contract types in order to mitigate risk. IDIQs will be awarded to both large and small business primes, which will further enable federal agencies to earn Small Business credit needed to meet their statutory goals.

Over the past three months, M Squared Strategies has successfully reached out to industry organizations and actively participated in events that have elevated the company as a credible contender and partner in the federal contracting arena. Through this exposure, we hope to identify future opportunities and develop valuable relationships with government and industry leaders.

M Squared Strategies was also present for many industry executive sessions, conferences, special events, and fundraisers. As the company matures in its business development efforts over the coming months, more team members will be called upon to be a part of this fun and exciting endeavor. Should anyone be interested in learning more about upcoming events, please contact Brenda Maynor.