The Little Shop of Proposal Horrors: A Survival Guide

Presenters

Initial SPAC Presenter Lineup Named

The SPAC Presenters committee is excited to announce that the following presenters have committed to share their proposal management and business capture insights at this year's SPAC. Additional presenters are being confirmed and will be announced soon, along with the preliminary conference agenda.

BJ Lownie (Strategic Proposals) - The Little Shop of Proposal Horrors: A Survival Guide

During this session, participants will be presented with various "real life" scenarios/situations that a proposal person might encounter during a typical proposal effort. They will then be asked to discuss in small groups potential avoidance, containment, and contingency plans for each scenario/situation. Each small group will be asked to present the highlights of their plans. The findings will be summarized and discussed, facilitated by a recognized proposal professional, so that participants understand how the concepts and ideas can be applied to proposal efforts participants might encounter in the future.

This highly interactive session will be facilitated by BJ Lownie, Director PPF.APMP, Strategic Proposals LLC. If it is true that the definition of an expert is, "someone who has encountered the situations you've yet to encounter and made and learned from the mistakes you've yet to make," then BJ is truly a proposal expert. With more than 25+ years working on proposals, BJ has quite literally "been there and done that." And while he may not have the "t-shirt," he does have the professional accreditation (APMP Professional level), recognition (Fellow) and achievements (founding member of APMP, various APMP and industry awards). BJ is well known for his informative, engaging, and entertaining presentations, and he is a favorite presenter at APMP conferences. He was one of the Masters of Ceremonies and a featured presenter at 2009 APMP conference and has presented at several previous SPAC conferences.

Colleen Jolly (24 Hour Company) - A DIY Guide to Proposal Graphics

We all know pictures communicate faster and easier than loads and loads of text alone, but who has the time, resources, and wherewithal to actually put them in a proposal? In the spirit of "Do It Yourself," we show you how to make winning graphics-in real time. We'll also answer graphics questions, so that you can walk away with improved skills and an understanding of what works and why.

Participants will be able to:

• Increase win rates
• Save time and money on proposal development
• Turn old proposal graphics into modern marvels
• Apply the basics of information design
• Learn rendering tips and tricks that anyone can use

Colleen Jolly is an owner of 24 Hour Company and a frequent speaker at APMP events around the world, including the APMP annual conference, regional conferences including SPAC, and chapter meetings. Colleen has more than 15 years proposal experience and has helped clients win billions in proposal awards. She has extensive knowledge of art and graphic design and how to apply these disciplines into winning proposal graphics. Colleen is also active in leadership roles with many arts-related non-profit organizations.

Mitch Reed (VT Group) - Managing Inter-departmental Communication for Proposal Development

Proposal efforts require multi-department support to create and contribute to textual content, cost requirements, and solution development. Due to the strict timelines associated with proposal development efforts and as more departments become involved, communications between key business development personnel leading proposal projects must be timely, effective, and efficient to minimize costs in both time and internal resource use.

An Inter-Departmental Proposal Communication Plan (IDPCP) is used to manage the dynamic and complex inter-departmental communications before, during, and following proposal development. This paper presents recommended methods and techniques to create and streamline communications processes in terms of planning and schedule.

A key to a successful proposal communications plan is gaining acceptance from each department and consistently following the plan. Predictability and consistency are critical to gaining and keeping other departments' support.

Mitch Reed PPM.APMP is the Director of Proposal Development at VT Group, which provides Base Operation Support Services for the Department of Defense. Mitch has been involved in proposal development for more than 15 years. Author of the book Developing Successful Internet Request for Proposals, Mitch co-presented "Institutionalizing Proposal Best Practices into ISO and CMM Processes" at the 18th Annual APMP International Conference in Savannah Georgia and presented Managing Inter-Departmental Communications for Proposal Development at the 19th Annual APMP International Conference in Palm Springs, CA.

David Sotolongo (RTI) - The Generation Gap at Work

Tensions abound in the workplace today because of the generation gaps between management and staff. Baby Boomers do not understand why the Generation Y folks are never at their desks. Generation Xers feel old now that the Gen Yers are starting to usurp their hold on social media technology. Everyone is looking for a better work/life balance, but no one seems to understand how the other generations are seeking that balance.

This presentation will reveal how different generations look at leadership, work and family, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and other generation gap issues. We'll look at what motivates a Boomer vs. Gen X and Gen Y to come to work, what their respective expectations are for flex time, training, and career development, and what ultimately makes each generation happy.

So come on people now, everybody get together and learn to love on another right now!

David Sotolongo is Vice President of Business and Proposal Development at RTI International. He co-founded the Carolina APMP chapter and served as chapter chair for 5 years. David also served on the APMP Board of Directors for 2 years. He has co-chaired the SPAC for many years, including 2009. David has presented at numerous APMP conferences and regional events, including the SPAC, as well as at local chapter meetings. David is an avid supporter of APMP and of reducing stress and workloads for proposal managers from all generations.

Ed Alexander (Shipley) - Lessons Collected Ain't Lessons Learned: How to Stop the Bleeding

Most organizations try to capture lessons learned but do not socialize them back into the BD process to benefit from them. Positive and negative lessons learned can save time and money-a premium in today's acquisition world. Working knowledge of past things done well and/or poorly can be used to a great advantage. That can only happen if lessons learned are shared and integrated into a BD process. Most companies do a poor-to-non-existent job of doing lessons learned correctly. Why do we keep reinventing the wheel when we can benefit from the past?

Currently Shipley's Vice President of Training, Ed Alexander is one of Shipley's senior leaders. A dynamic, seasoned platform professional, he is certified to consult in all of Shipley's focus areas: training, proposals, and process. As the Vice President of Capture and Proposal Consulting, he provides seasoned capture and proposal managers to help organizations win. He has structured capture plans and decision gate criteria, and has designed, delivered, and supported training programs to roll out new processes. A retired Army Colonel/paratrooper/pilot, Ed served more than 28 years at all levels of command and staff.

Chuck Keller (Keller Proposal Development & Training) - The APMP Accreditation Program: Q&As for Professional Growth and Recognition

Learn about the APMP Accreditation Program from Chuck Keller, the APMP Accreditation Program Director. He will pose questions (and respond with answers) to help you understand the requirements for attaining and maintaining the three levels of accreditation and the benefits (to you and your employer) for becoming accredited. Chuck will also answer questions from the audience about accreditation. Almost 1,200 individuals have earned at least one level of accreditation. If you haven't, this presentation might provide the information (and encouragement) you need to become accredited or to upgrade your accreditation.

Chuck Keller is the APMP Accreditation Program Director. He is also an APMP Fellow and charter member, SPAC 2009 Conference Co-chair, and Chapter Chair of the Florida APMP Chapter. The owner of Keller Proposal Development & Training and president and co-founder of ProposalCafe.com, he has been in the proposal business for 26 years. Chuck was also a founding member of the Georgia Chattahoochee and Florida Sunshine APMP chapters and is widely considered to be the "father" of the SPAC.

Kevin Bodiford (RTI) - Eat or Be Eaten: Doing More with Less

With the shadow of a sagging economy looming, proposal organizations, like many others, must increasingly do more with less. Many find themselves managing twice the work with half the staff. Other factors, such as the procurement spike created by the "Stimulus" Act, have exacerbated this situation for many government contractors, conspiring to create their own "Little Shop of Horrors." While no fix-all exists for understaffing, this presentation offers some simple, proven time-saving techniques that your team may adopt for an immediate, measurable impact. Template use is nothing new to proposal professionals, but this how-to discussion takes the "do it once" philosophy to an extreme.

Kevin Bodiford is a proposal manager at RTI International, located in Research Triangle Park, NC. With more than 15 years of professional experience, Kevin began his career as a professional geographer and GIS consultant and has held a range of management roles in the mapping and technology industries. Joining RTI in 2006, he manages about 100 research and international development proposals per year to such federal clients as DoJ, DoD, and USAID, as well as numerous PHS agencies. Representative international clients have also included the World Bank and an array of foreign governments.

Kevin is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a certified project manager. He is also certified by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) as a Geographic Information Scientist and is currently accredited by APMP at the Foundation Level.

Lisa King (National Government Services) - Little (Virtual) Shop of Proposal Horrors

Running a virtual proposal shop does not have to be a scene out of a film noir or end like a Greek tragedy. With preparation, you can avoid the horrors that may crop up such as team conflict, absent SMEs, or the challenges involved in virtual solutioning. Topics to be discussed include:

• Prologue: How we got to be a virtual team
• Feed Me: Social nourishing for a virtual team
• Dentist!: How to lessen the pain (dealing with SMEs, the right collaboration tools)
• Somewhere That's Green: Virtual solutioning-Green Teams through Gold

Lisa J. King serves as a senior team member in Business Development at National Government Services, developing bid solutions, identifying business opportunities, and analyzing competitor strategies. This virtual team boasts multiple national contract wins exceeding $200M each. She earned an undergraduate degree from Indiana University, a master's degree in library science (MLS) from Indiana University, as well as a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from Indiana Wesleyan University. Lisa holds certifications in project management, knowledge management, and has achieved the APMP Foundation Level. She also serves as the Secretary/Membership Chair for APMP's Greater Midwest Chapter. Lisa works from home as part of a virtual business development team.

Terry Clayton - Secrets of the Proposal Whisperer

What makes proposals for services so tricky? When a government agency requires services from a contractor, the agency defines the location, the hours and days of the week, the levels and mix of personnel, and the wages to be paid. As a result, all bidders propose to hire qualified incumbent staff, hold local job fairs, hire from the same pool of available personnel, and pay the required wages. This makes differentiation more "trick" than "treat." To resolve this, the agency often requires bidders to describe their plans, approaches, or strategies, and/or to demonstrate their understanding, knowledge, abilities, or capabilities to achieve requirements. This session will discuss what these terms mean and how they differ, and offer "tricks" for keeping your proposals out of the graveyard of undistinguishable proposals to achieve "shortlist" treats.

Terry Clayton, AM.APMP, a member of APMP since 1997, is a mathematician by education and former electronic components engineer with a knack for Mil-Spec compliance. She first got introduced to proposals while contributing as an SME. Bitten by the proposal bug, Terry made a career change and progressed quickly from SME to Author to Proposal Manager. After leaving aerospace, she discovered the world of bidding services, which she compares to the challenge of a good chess match: all the players constrained to the same pieces and moves, but the better strategy and execution wins. For 13 years, Terry served as the Director of Business and Proposal Development for Wackenhut, managing proposals with values ranging from many millions to over one billion for services that include security, fire protection, emergency management, facilities maintenance, mental healthcare, and prison operations, among others. Today, Terry is an independent consultant.

Kim Holmes (Nortel) - Keeping Your Proposal Shop Running Smoothly

A skilled Proposal Management team enables sales to drive revenue by producing timely, comprehensive, innovative, and persuasive customer quotes and proposals. Best practices can be leveraged to effectively manage the core competency teams needed to create winning proposals. Well written and well managed content can increase effectiveness of the sales force as well as the proposal teams.

Kim Holmes is the Director of Global Proposals Management at Nortel. In her current position, Holmes' major objective is the development and consistent implementation of strategy for proposals across all Sales regions and all Nortel solutions. Included within that strategy are standardizing workflows, methods, common tools, common operating objectives and overseeing continuous improvement in quality, timeliness, and cost of delivering the required outputs. Proposals Management consists of three core competencies: Complex Bid Management; Content Management; and Quote Management. Throughout her career at Nortel, Kim has been responsible for increasing revenue while driving down costs. This has been accomplished through customer engagements, process improvement and increasing Nortel's ability to propose solutions to meet customer objectives.

Wendy Hersh (Willis Re) - Hide and Seek: Keeping info at Hand to Keep Proposal Monsters at Bay

Too often we can't find what we need when we need it. Where is that logo, what's the correct way of writing that, what else do I know about the prospect, what is the best way to approach this task? There is a world of information online-everything from how to put together a RFP (which might be useful for respondents to understand), how to find them, how to write good ones and design them well, to where to find the best (or cheapest) art. I've compiled a list of useful sources for every aspect of writing a proposal. I will help attendees find their way to and through these often difficult to navigate sites. This presentation is intended for anyone who doesn't search for information online, for anyone who would like to know more about what is out there. Both newbies and veteran proposal managers can benefit from this information. An updated list of resources will be provided to participants as a take-away.

Wendy Hersh received her BA in English (minor in art) from SUNY Albany, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. She currently works closely with brokers at Willis Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance brokers, to develop successful reinsurance responses to National and International RFPs issued by insurance companies, winning over $20 million to date. Previously, she worked in Communications, Marketing, PR, Project Management, Publishing, and Research.

Robin Davis - Take Your Kick-Off Meeting up a Notch

Have your kick-off meetings lost some steam? Are they stale and often not attended by key members of the project team? Are they strategic, thought-provoking, and mandatory? Knowledge is power for any team working on a proposal, and the kick-off meeting is key to the success of the process and proposal. Take your kick-off meeting up a notch by laying out the prospect's needs and the strategy to meet those needs, defining how to win against the competition, defining the three key messages of the proposal, defining the roles and responsibilities of the team members, and communicating the project steps and timelines. This presentation will demonstrate the effectiveness of the meeting style and format and will provide you with the tools you need to establish a similar process in your organization. Get your sales person and senior leadership re-engaged and re-energized about proposals.

Robin Davis is an APMP-accredited proposal professional with more than 8 years experience in proposal development and leadership, specializing in process design and implementation, opportunity assessment, capture management, strategy development, and project leadership. She has successfully led more than 700 projects resulting in more than $500M in revenue. Robin earned Pragmatech's Leadership Award for Excellence in Sales Support in 2004, is a member of the Georgia Chattahoochee Chapter of APMP, and is a strong advocate of APMP.