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14 Tips for Attending a Government Expo or Trade Show

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April 14, 2012 by cs

Federal, state and local government agencies frequently host trade shows or expos to publicize their contract opportunities and attract new vendors.   Wonder whether you should attend a government-sponsored business expo?  What should you expect if you go?  How should you prepare?  Are you disappointed in the last trade show you attended?

These are the kinds of questions often posed by clients of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC).  Fundamentally, businesses want to know how they can gain a competitive advantage by attending an event sponsored by a government agency.  The answer lies as much in preparation and follow-up as it does in actual attendance. 

GTPAC Counselors believe these kinds of events are what you make them.   If you go to just listen, you may come away disappointed.  If, on the other hand, you go to make something happen, you can come away with some good contacts,valuable insights, and solid business leads. 

Here are a few tips …

  1. Establish some objectives for yourself – what do you hope to accomplish by attending?  State this in concrete, quantifiable terms.
  2. Think about the specific kinds of opportunities you want to go after and be prepared to explain how you represent the solution to the government’s contracting objectives.
  3. Identify who is going to be in attendance and research in advance as much as you can about who will be there and those persons you want to meet.  Think about why they are going to the show and what they want to accomplish there – align yourself with their objectives.
  4. Familiarize yourself with all details of the show so that you can envision how you are going to use the structure of the show to accomplish your objectives.
  5. Be prepared with marketing materials, including business cards, brochures and/or product/service fact sheets, product samples/portfolio, and a detailed capabilities statement.  (Don’t have a capabilities statement?  See our article on this subject here.)  Tailor at least one of your handouts to the expo or show itself.
  6. Be prepared to talk about pricing.  You may not need to, but be prepared just in case someone asks.
  7. Begin to envision how your competitors at the show can be potential partners as a result of the show.
  8. Develop and be prepared to deliver a 30-second “elevator speech” which explains in layman’s terms exactly what you are an expert at doing.  Don’t be shy to explain what’s special about your company and why your products/services are the best.  (If you need help constructing an elevator speech, see our article at http://gtpac.org/2010/07/whats-an-elevator-pitch-and-why-you-need-one.)
  9. Remember that buyers don’t have time to waste.  Buyers want specific information, and buyers want to know what’s special about you (that’s your competitive advantage).
  10. Preparation is essential.  It’s better not to go than to go unprepared – you never have a second chance to make a good first impression.
  11. Dress to impress.  And wear comfortable shoes!
  12. At the show, listen to how your competitors are selling themselves and learn as much about their marketing as possible.  Also learn from their mistakes.
  13. Understand that follow-up after the show is critical.  Gather all the business cards you collected, write follow-up notes or emails – promptly.   Set-up follow-up meetings/conference calls, if possible and appropriate.  Send more marketing materials.
  14. Write yourself a report on lessons-learned.  Review this report before planning to participate in another event.

Your GTPAC Counselor will be glad to elaborate on this topic and provide you with additional advice.  You can find our contact information right here.

© 2010 Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center – All Rights Reserved.

Learn ‘soup to nuts’ of government contracting November 7-18

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September 15, 2011 by cs

Serious about learning everything about government contracting?  Interested in learning about contracting from a federal contracting officer’s point-of-view?  Looking for an opportunity to learn government contracting in a comprehensive and interactive way?

If you answered “yes” to these three questions, then “Mission-Focused Contracting” –  a two-week course offered by The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech — is the place to be.

This very comprehensive course is being offered on the Georgia Tech campus over a two-week period, November 7 through 18, 2011.   (Please note that there will be no class on Friday, November 11 in observance of Veterans’ Day.)

Mission-Focused Contracting is the capstone course for Level I contracting professionals and all non-contracting personnel who play a role in the acquisition process.  This class is applicable to both government and industry purchasing and engages participants in the entire government acquisition process, from meeting with the government customer to completing the contract close-out process. Throughout this course, participants have the opportunity to learn and apply problem-solving and negotiation skills.

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech (The Academy) is an approved equivalency training provider to the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and provides continuing education training to acquisition and government contracting professionals as well as to business professionals working for government contractors or pursuing opportunities in federal contracting.

How You Will Benefit:

By attending this course, participants will learn how to:

  • Complete market research to identify procurement sources
  • Develop a bid or proposal package
  • Evaluate proposals and award contracts
  • Monitor contractor performance, apply remedies, and make proper contract payments
  • Modify contracts, exercise options, and complete the contract closeout process

Business people taking this course have the unprecedented opportunity to sit side-by-side with government contracting personnel to learn the ins and outs of federal contracting.  In addition, many of the principles of federal contracting apply to state and local government procurement.

To learn more about this course — and to register– please visit: http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-120-mission-focused-contracting.

Perry, GA the place to be Nov. 15-17 to learn about business opportunities at Robins Air Force Base

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September 14, 2011 by cs

The Robins AFB and the Air Logistics Center will be holding its annual “Requirements Symposium” on Nov. 15-17, 2011 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter, Perry GA.

This is a unique 3-day event where senior leaders and managers at Robins Air Force Base share their current and future business requirements and organizational vision of the future. This insight into requirements at Robins AFB and the Air Logistics Center allows aerospace industries and businesses to appropriately plan for capabilities to support the needs at Robins AFB and the Warfighters they service.

The base and WR-ALC spend approximately $4.1 Billion dollars each year.  By attending, you can see if you can help provide what is needed.

The agenda looks like this:

  • Tuesday, November 15 – Optional Golf Tournament at Robins AFB Golf Course
  • Tuesday, November 15 – Pre-symposium registration at Museum of Aviation Century of Flight Building
  • Tuesday, November 15 – Contractor Vendor Booths, Century of Flight Building
  • Tuesday, November 15 – Evening Social, Century of Flight Building
  • Wednesday, November 16 – Thursday, November 17, 2011 – Symposium at Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter

The complete program appear at http://www.wrcoc-aic.org/RS/Agenda.aspx and registration and other information is at http://www.wrcoc-aic.org/Page8.aspx.

Archives of the past five years’ of Symposium events may be found at: http://www.wrcoc-aic.org/Page9.aspx, including lists of attendees.

State updates purchasing manual

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August 15, 2011 by cs

The State of Georgia’s Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) recently updated its purchasing policies and procedures.  If you’re a vendor interested in pursuing work with a state agency, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the new manual.

The latest revised Georgia Procurement Manual (GPM-V2-July2011) can now be found online at http://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/GPM_Main_File.htm.  The new version has all the policy changes described in the recent Official Announcement SPD #01-12, dated July 18, 2011.

This new GPM version does not have the policy changes that will take effect on September 1, 2011. The text of the upcoming September policy change can be
found in the SPD #01-12 Official Announcement Supplement located at http://doas.ga.gov/StateLocal/SPD/Policies/Pages/Home.aspx.  For further details, review Official Announcement #02-12.

Project management consultants expand business with help from Georgia Tech

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August 12, 2011 by cs

Project Success, Inc. (PSI), an Atlanta-based project management training and
consulting firm, recently utilized the services of Georgia Tech’s Procurement
Assistance Center (GTPAC) to expand its business into the government sector.
GTPAC is a program that assists companies with all aspects of government
procurement processes.

“We’ve been in business for almost 28 years now, and we teach the practical
aspects of project management. We work in all industry sectors, in
manufacturing, energy, marketing, software and IT,” said David Halm, a senior
consultant at the company. “With the downturn in the economy in late 2008, we
recognized that the manufacturing sector was going to continue to decline, so we
took a suggestion from one of our consultants to get on the U.S. General
Services Administration schedule.”

The General Services Administration (GSA) oversees the business of the U.S.
federal government. According to its website, GSA supplies federal purchasers
with “cost-effective, high-quality products and services from commercial
vendors.” Halm was referred to GTPAC after attending a GSA-sponsored event in
Atlanta.

“We learned about the educational and classroom offerings through GTPAC, and
I took several classes, including Introduction to Government Contracting,
Understanding the GSA Schedules Process and Using the Computer to Win Government
Contracts,” Halm recalled. “Those classes allowed me to get connected to Chuck
Schadl, director of GTPAC, and Joe Beaulieu, a procurement counselor. As we
researched the GSA requirements, we jotted down ideas about the best way to
structure our proposal.”

Beaulieu helped PSI structure a proposal under GSA’s Mission Oriented
Business Integrated Services, or MOBIS. Under the MOBIS schedule, PSI may
provide mission oriented business integrated services and products to U.S.
Government agencies. The MOBIS objective is to enable federal agencies to
improve performance, quality, timeliness and efficiencies throughout their
organizations.

“Getting a GSA contract basically means that all the negotiating points – the
pricing, the delivery – all those terms have already been negotiated. So a
government agency can purchase from Project Success through the GSA process. It
opens a lot of doors,” Halm noted. “In the GSA seminar, the speaker said that
more than 90 percent of companies that set out to get a GSA contract never get
there. Having this contract offers great marketing potential and has helped us
maintain and generate business in this downturn.”

GTPAC, part of the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, provides
no-cost assistance with government procurement to any company licensed to do
business in Georgia. Each year, GTPAC conducts seminars in Albany, Athens,
Atlanta, Augusta, Carrollton, Columbus, Gainesville, Rockmart, Savannah and
Warner Robins. The center assists companies with all aspects of federal, state
and local government procurement processes, including solicitation analysis,
proposal preparation, pre- and post-award counseling, and quality and accounting
systems. Procurement counselors also analyze whether companies have the
potential for participating in the government procurement process.

“It’s very useful to be able to use GTPAC as a sounding board, because the
counselors understand the specific requirements,” Halm said. “In dealing with
us, Joe helped us maintain the confidence we needed to stay on track. GTPAC
provided tangible, direct guidance, as well as the more intangible, but equally
important, encouragement.”

About Enterprise Innovation Institute:

The Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute helps companies,
entrepreneurs, economic developers and communities improve their competitiveness
through the application of science, technology and innovation. It is one of the
most comprehensive university-based programs of business and industry
assistance, technology commercialization and economic development in the
nation.

Enterprise Innovation Institute

Georgia Institute of Technology

75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314

Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: JohnToon@innovate.gatech.edu

Writer: Nancy Fullbright, published Aug. 9, 2011

GTPAC website celebrates 1st anniversary with 45 thousand visitors

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May 7, 2011 by cs

It was back on Mar. 16, 2010 that the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) launched its newly-designed website.  It got off to a great start — 392 people visited http://www.gtpac.org 469 times that day, looking at 1,503 pages on the site.

Over the next 365 days, interest has steadily increased.  By Mar. 16, 2011, an analysis of the GTPAC website shows that a total of 45,689 visitors made 74,155 visits to the site, viewing our articles and pages 161,322 times.

Visitors to the GTPAC website have come from 141 countries around the world.  In the United States, there have been 72,023 visitors — representing all 50 states.   Of course, within the U.S., most visits came from within the state of Georgia — 40,616 to be exact.

Outside Georgia, the states from which the most people have visited are (in descending order): Virginia , California, the District of Columbia, Florida, New York, Texas, Maryland, Illinois, Alabama, and North Carolina.

What are GTPAC’s most popular web pages?  Other than many of the daily news stories pertaining to developments in the government contracting arena, the pages that are most popular are:

45,000 people can’t be wrong!  Maybe you should bookmark and visit the GTPAC website (http://www.gtpac.org) regularly!

GTPAC director named education vice president for national organization

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May 6, 2011 by cs

At the spring training conference of the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) last week, Chuck Schadl was named Vice President of Education for this national organization.

Schadl is the program director of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC).   GTPAC is one of 93 procurement technical assistance centers (PTACs) that operate across the country.  PTACs assist businesses in identifying, competing for, and winning government contracts.  APTAC is the trade association that represents and supports PTACs.

As Vice President of Education for APTAC, Schadl is one of six officers of the organization who make up the executive committee.  As VP, he is responsible for overseeing APTAC’s Education Committee as well as the organization’s Professional Review Board.   His appointment became effective on March 24, 2011 when he took the oath of office with other board members.

APTAC’s Education Committee determines the type and content of – and arranges for – the training courses to be presented at national training conferences, including the training courses that fulfill the certification requirements of the Professional Review Board (PRB).  The PRB  is responsible for managing and administering APTAC’s certification program, including developing and maintaining a method of recognizing the professional qualifications of procurement technical assistance specialists, promoting the value of APTAC’s certification and upholding the integrity of the certification process.

“I’ve been active in APTAC ever since I joined GTPAC in 2003,” commented Schadl.  “In my new role, I’m looking forward to making an even more meaningful contribution to the organization and its membership.  In turn, this should translate into better service to the businesses that PTACs serve nationwide.”

“Start-Up America” event scheduled for Georgia Tech on May 2nd

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April 28, 2011 by cs

Entrepreneurs are a powerful economic force.  They create jobs, grow businesses, and develop the innovations on which America thrives.  In order to help entrepreneurs thrive, the White House announced the launch of an initiative called “Start-up America”  to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth
entrepreneurship throughout the nation.

This initiative comes to Georgia Tech on Monday, May 2, 2011.  The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required.

The “Startup America: Reducing Barriers” event will be held from 1:00 until 4:30 pm on Monday, May 2 at Georgia Tech’s Global Learning Center, located at 84 Fifth Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30308-1031.

Administration officials will join local high-growth entrepreneurs to discuss the regulatory reforms, reductions and improvements that could be enacted to help high-growth entrepreneurs grow in our country. 

This event is free of charge, however pre-event registration is required, and space is limited.

Scheduled to participate are: Marie Johns (Deputy Administrator, US Small Business Administration), Michael Fitzpatrick (Associate Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs), Teresa Rae (Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office), Ronnie Chatterji (Senior Economist, Council of Economic Advisors) and local leaders.

Again, you must register in advance.  RSVP to reducingbarriers@sba.gov.

‘Missing Middle’ companies to get help with federal contracts

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April 1, 2011 by cs

The U.S. intends to increase competition for contracts by reaching out to “medium-sized” businesses that can’t use incentives reserved forsmaller firms and aren’t large enough to compete against the biggest vendors.

The General Services Administration, the agency that bought $52 billion in goods and services for the federal government last year, plans to focus on the issue in May, officials said.

“There are numerous businesses all over the country that have never seriously considered entering into the government market,” said Chuck Schadl, director of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center in Atlanta. “Nobody has ever reached out to them before.”

Many medium-sized companies, a difficult-to-define segment GSA officials dubbed the “missing middle,” haven’t bid for government work because of misconceptions, a lack of knowledge about the process or a perception of bureaucratic gridlock, business owners and agency officials said.

Companies with more than $35 million in annual revenue or more than 500 employees typically can’t qualify for government programs aimed at steering federal contracts to small business.

A planned series of workshops is intended to help companies win GSA orders by explaining the benefits of selling to the federal marketplace, subcontracting opportunities and partnering with large vendors, they said.

Procurement Pool

The workshop series begins in ten locations across the country over the year, agency officials said.  Each week-long event will host 100 companies at little or no cost, said Jiyoung Park, the GSA’s associate administrator of small business utilization.

GSA plans to emphasize the size of its procurement pool — $52 billion last year in so-called “schedule” contracts, government-wide acquisition and building leases and management. It will also present case studies on medium-sized companies that successfully maintained federal business, or adapted to changing needs from agencies.

“It’s often hard to predict the demand for products and services given budgetary constraints, given new legislation that may alter missions or eliminate or create programs, or given the confidential nature of work,” Park said.

Medium-sized businesses that are successful in the private sector may also be reluctant to seek out government work because of perceptions of bureaucratic slowdowns and an opaque bidding process, agency and company officials said.

Giving Up

“Most folks from a commercial background throw their arms up and say, ‘let’s forget it, it’s too long of a cycle, it’s too expensive for me to figure this out,’” said Michael Agrillo, executive vice president of Arlington, Virginia-based OnPoint Consulting Inc., a provider of computer network and cybersecurity services to civilian agencies.

Triton Federal Solutions, a McLean, Virginia-based software developer for the Energy Department, said its parent company, Project Performance Corp., accepted a takeover by London-based AEA Technology Group Plc in 2008 because it “graduated” from small business status.

Ivette Granier-Smith, Triton’s president, said the purchase forced her to “find a niche” to keep winning government work.

“As a small business, we did a little bit of everything but when you graduate doing a little bit of everything does not serve you well,” Granier-Smith said. “You have to really have some muscle somewhere.”

Seeking Leverage

Blackstone Technology Group opened its government practice in Washington in 2002. The San Francisco-based company’s federal contracts now account for 65 percent of its business, the result of starting out as a subcontractor, said Jesse O’Gorman, a partner in the company’s Arlington, Virginia office.

Schadl, whose Georgia Tech procurement assistance center works with 2,700 Georgia businesses to obtain federal, state and local government contracts,said it’s a misconception that government work can’t provide a reliable income stream.

“A lot of businesses we’ve seen have never really considered government contract work before, and not necessarily for good reasons,” said. “Their impression is that government pays slow, and that’s not true at all.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Nishad Majmudar in Washington at nmajmudar@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Cary O’Reilly at caryoreilly@bloomberg.net

Published by Bloomberg Government – Mar. 31, 2011 – http://about.bgov.com/

OMB seeks to bust contracting myths

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February 7, 2011 by cs

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a lengthy memorandum on Feb. 2, 2011 outlining 10 myths commonly-believed by businesses about government contracting.

OMB pointed out that it wishes to address these misconceptions as a part of a “myth-busters”  educational campaign, one of the key tenets of the OMB’s 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management.

A recap of the “Top 10 Contracting Myths” appears below:

Misconception #1 – “We can’t meet one-on-one with a potential offeror.”
Fact – Government officials can generally meet one-on-one with potential offerors as long as no vendor receives preferential treatment.
Misconception #2 – “Since communication with contractors is like communication with registered lobbyists, and since contact with lobbyists must be disclosed, additional communication with contractors will involve a substantial additional disclosure burden, so we should avoid these meetings.”
Fact – Disclosure is required only in certain circumstances, such as for meetings with registered lobbyists. Many contractors do not fall into this category, and even when disclosure is required, it is normally a minimal burden that should not prevent a useful meeting from taking place.
Misconception #3 – “A protest is something to be avoided at all costs – even if it means the government limits conversations with industry.”
Fact – Restricting communication won’t prevent a protest, and limiting communication might actually increase the chance of a protest – in addition to depriving the government of potentially useful information.
Misconception #4 – “Conducting discussions/negotiations after receipt of proposals will add too much time to the schedule.”
Fact –Whether discussions should be conducted is a key decision for contracting officers to make. Avoiding discussions solely because of schedule concerns may be counter-productive, and may cause delays and other problems during contract performance.
Misconception #5 – “If the government meets with vendors, that may cause them to submit an unsolicited proposal and that will delay the procurement process.”
Fact – Submission of an unsolicited proposal should not affect the schedule. Generally, the unsolicited proposal process is separate from the process for a known agency requirement that can be acquired using competitive methods.
Misconception #6 – “When the government awards a task or delivery order using the Federal Supply Schedules, debriefing the offerors isn’t required so it shouldn’t be done.”
Fact – Providing feedback is important, both for offerors and the government, so agencies should generally provide feedback whenever possible.
Misconception #7 – “Industry days and similar events attended by multiple vendors are of low value to industry and the government because industry won’t provide useful information in front of competitors, and the government doesn’t release new information.”
Fact – Well-organized industry days, as well as pre-solicitation and pre-proposal conferences, are valuable opportunities for the government and for potential vendors – both prime contractors and subcontractors, many of whom are small businesses.
Misconception #8 – “The program manager already talked to industry to develop the technical requirements, so the contracting officer doesn’t need to do anything else before issuing the RFP.”
Fact – The technical requirements are only part of the acquisition; getting feedback on terms and conditions, pricing structure, performance metrics, evaluation criteria, and contract administration matters will improve the award and implementation process.
Misconception #9 – “Giving industry only a few days to respond to an RFP is OK since the government has been talking to industry about this procurement for over a year.”
Fact – Providing only short response times may result in the government receiving fewer proposals and the ones received may not be as well-developed – which can lead to a flawed contract. This approach signals that the government isn’t really interested in competition.
Misconception #10 – “Getting broad participation by many different vendors is too difficult; we’re better off dealing with the established companies we know.”
Fact – The government loses when we limit ourselves to the companies we already work with. Instead, we need to look for opportunities to increase competition and ensure that all vendors, including small businesses, get fair consideration.

– published by the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center, Feb. 3, 2011.

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