SPAC 2011 - Great Proposal Cook-off: Recipes for Winning!

The Georgia Chattahoochee, Carolinas, and Florida Sunshine APMP chapters co-hosted the 15th Annual Southern Proposal Accents Conference (SPAC) at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in downtown Atlanta on Thursday, October 27, 2011. The 2011 SPAC was a full-day event featuring presentations by proposal and business development professionals. The conference theme this year was: Great Proposal Cook-off: Recipes for Winning!

• 2011 Agenda (pdf)
• 2011 Conference Brochure (pdf)
• 2011 Presenters & Presentations
• 2011 Event Pictures
• 2011 Sponsors/Exhibitors

2011 SPAC Sponsors and Exhibitors

The SPAC leadership committee expresses a heartfelt "Thanks" to the following sponsors and exhibitors that supported this year's conference. Please see the 2011 Sponsors/Exhibitors page for information and links. We encourage you to explore the services and products these companies offer to the proposal community and to learn more about how they can support your proposal success.

• Platinum Sponsor - Lohfeld Consulting Group
• Platinum Sponsor - Shipley Associates
• Gold Sponsor - Proposal Development Consultants
• Gold Sponsor - Strategic Proposals
• Exhibitor - Winning Business Development Solutions (WBDS, Inc.)
• Exhibitor - 24 Hour Company
• Exhibitor - OCI (Organizational Communications, Inc.)
• Exhibitor - Intravation
• Exhibitor - CapturePlanning.com
• Exhibitor - OST Global Solutions, Inc.

SPAC 2011 Overview

Even if you don't cook, your proposals can SIZZLE—all you need are the right ingredients, tools, and skills. As proposal professionals we all have our methods for preparing a winning document. But do we always have the right ingredients-that certain spice that makes the secret sauce in your proposal the one your prospect is going to select above all others? Like great chefs who captivate us with their talents in the kitchen and deliver dish after dish of mouth-watering delights, proposal professionals also strive for that winning combination.

In professional cooking, the term "mise en place" describes the assembly of all ingredients for success—from setting out the bowls, pots and pans, measuring ingredients to washing, peeling and chopping. The mise en place for a successful proposal effort includes the RFP, capability matrix, section assignments, proposal schedule, proposal database, and more. Under the pressure of a deadline, the competitive cooking team blends the ingredients using their available tools to offer the perfect meal to the contest judges. Similarly, the competitive proposal team uses its "ingredients," processes, tools, and rules to deliver what is hopefully the winning proposal to the customer evaluators.

Changes for 2011

Several key changes have been adopted for the 2011 SPAC based on feedback from attendees of previous conferences:

• SPAC is moving to a new venue in downtown Atlanta, the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. This 70-story Atlanta landmark has recently been refurbished and will be convenient for visitors that prefer to use MARTA or taxi service from the airport. The Peachtree Plaza is within easy walking distance to many Atlanta attractions for those attendees that want to work in extra-curricular activities.
• SPAC is also moving to a different day of the week—Thursday. Feedback from past conferences indicates that attendees would prefer to have the option of traveling home on Friday so that they don't have to leave the SPAC early to catch a flight.

The change to a Thursday schedule for SPAC means that the pre-conference workshops will be scheduled for Wednesday.