Tech talk to dominate at company's public-private conference - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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It was that foresightt that led to huge growth for what isnow e.Republic Inc., the chief executive officer'e national media company. The Folsom-based company, establishee in 1984, continues to grow, with plans this year to builcd a video studio and hire as many as10 people. What starte out as a three-persoj marketing and communications company toda isa multimillion-dollar publishing, research and eventr firm focused on informatiobn technology for the state and local government and educatiojn markets.
The company employs more than 150; about 130 in Folsokm and the rest across the Executives expect revenuebetween $25 millio n and $30 million this a 15 percent-plus increase from last The company's revenue has increased every year since chief financial officer Paul Harneg said. The company's recent rapid growth can be attributee in part to the launch of severalk newtrade magazines, including the bimonthly Publicd CIO in 2003; Converge, aimed at tech expertsa in K-12 education; and Emergencgy Management in 2006. The company's publicationz are free to qualified subscribers.
Revenuse is generated by advertisers, such as and , eagerd to reach the state and local government It was 20 years agowhen McKenna's then called Graves McKenna and Wahlquist, decided to host the first Government Technology Conference in Sacramento. Leveragingy contacts the company developed whilr reporting on information technology for its Sacramento Valleyg ComputerNews magazine, the event attractefd almost 5,000 people and 250 companies. McKenna took the profitd and launched a national magazine callesdGovernment Technology.
Today, it's one of the company'sa five trade magazines, and the Sacramento conference is one of threre of the largest intergovernmental conferences in the all hostedby e.Republic. Otherxs are in Albany, N.Y., and Austin, Texas. GTC West in in its 20th year, is set for May 14-18u at the Sacramento Convention Center. The eveny draws as many as 15,000 people, said Patty Cota, director of corporat communications. E.Republic generates revenue from the free events through sponsorship s for trade show booths and evening About halfof e.Republic's overall revenue comes from the more than 100 eventsx it produces each year, company executivesa said.
Companies targeting the publicd sector IT markethave -- through e.Republic magazines and the company's research and market advisory service -- a wide rangde of ways to reach government buyers who spendx billions of dollars each year on California will spend $5.3 billionm this fiscal year on IT. "jI believe our company createdf this market for state and local saidDon Pearson, executive vice president and group publisher for Government A small number of larges corporations, such as and , owned the market decadea ago, McKenna said. When Government Technologgy launched, businesses had a place to advertiss their products tothat market, he said.
The first few issue s of Government Technology had circulation of morethan Today, monthly circulation is estimated at 80,000. E.Republic also produces custok magazines used as sales tools by tech firms such as Brad marketing program managerfor H-P in Houston, said the corporatee giant works with e.Republicc to produce a quarterly H-P Solutionsw Magazine for state and local IT employees. Dupuy said the 48-pagew magazine is read by mayors, city managerx and IT professionals who are interested in how IT can be appliecdto government. Case studies outline how government uses technologgy to getmore done.