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GTPAC launches ‘GTPAC Community,’ a dedicated online social media platform for GTPAC clients

June 1, 2019 By Nancy Cleveland


On May 21, 2019, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (“GTPAC”) launched the GTPAC Community, a dedicated online social media platform for GTPAC clients.  This platform, enables GTPAC clients to connect, communicate, and collaborate.  The primary purpose of the platform is to facilitate greater engagement and collaboration among GTPAC clients in all the activities associated with the pursuit of government contracts. 

“This platform provides a forum where contractors can identify potential teaming partners, and showcase their products, services and capabilities,” said Andrew Smith, Program Manager of GTPAC, he continued, “Clients can also find information related to GTPAC announcements, contracting news of interest, upcoming workshops and events, and other recent developments.”

Clients can access the GTPAC Community by going to: 

https://community.gtpac.org/

To get started by joining the community, clients can click here.  GTPAC clients will need their GTPAC Client ID to create an account and access the system.

For Frequently Asked Questions, clients can click here.

To view a recent slideshow presentation on the GTPAC Community, click on this document:  GTPAC Community Launch Presentation

Filed Under: GTPAC News Tagged With: GTPAC, joint venture, social media, subcontracting, teaming, The GTPAC Community

Clayton County Water Authority hosts social media workshop June 1st

May 3, 2016 By Nancy Cleveland

Clayton County Water AuthorityNow you can learn how to effectively use social media to promote your business by attending training conducted by an industry marketing and advertising expert.

The Clayton County Water Authority is holding a free, two-hour “Social Media” workshop for small businesses on Wednesday, June 1, 2016.

The event will commence at 9:00 am at the Clayton County Water Authority’s headquarters in the Marie Barber Community Use Room, located at 1600 Battle Creek Road, Morrow, GA 30260.

You must register in advance in order to attend.  Space is limited.  Register at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/ccwa-social-media-workshop-for-small-business-tickets-24679961429

Questions about this workshop or business opportunities with the Clayton County Water Authority can be directed to:

  • Email: ccwa_slbe_program@ccwa.us
    Phone: 770-960-5880

Filed Under: GTPAC News Tagged With: contracting opportunities, opportunities, social media, state and local government

In tough times, contractors turn to creative marketing campaigns

September 17, 2014 By ei2admin

In the best of times, selling to the government is not an easy task. In the worst of times, it’s even harder.

As federal budgets shrink and competition intensifies, contractors are battling it out not only for dollars, but also for the attention of their government customers.

That’s sparked a slew of creative marketing campaigns over the past couple of years, featuring virtual conferences, 3-D animation, apps, e-books and the increased use of social media. These are not necessarily groundbreaking ideas in the Internet age, but for the world of government contracting, they mark a shift from the old way of doing business.

Traditionally, contractors set up booths at trade shows to interact with government officials and keep them in the loop about new products or technologies. In fact, that was the dominant method of communication between industry and government up until a few years ago.

But as budget constraints have drastically cut down the number of events that federal workers attend, companies have had to come up with alternate ways to reach them, marketing professionals said.

The share of federal workers who didn’t go to a single trade show, conference or industry event has risen every year for the past four years,according to a study by Chantilly-based research firm Market Connections.  Fifty-two percent of workers surveyed said they didn’t physically attend any events in 2013, up from 38 percent in 2011.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-business/wp/2014/08/30/in-tough-times-contractors-turn-to-creative-marketing-campaigns/

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: budget cuts, data, marketing, selling to the government, social media

FDA looks to small businesses for social media monitoring of risk communications

March 6, 2014 By ei2admin

The Food and Drug Administration is seeking information from small businesses on social media tools for monitoring communications about the risks of products that fall under the agency’s watch.

FDA released solicitation on Tuesday for resources to analyze its risk communication programs through social media buzz reports, dashboard and quarterly surveillance data.

Potential vendors will be required to develop a self-service social media monitoring tool with a dashboard that displays updated reports.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.executivegov.com/2014/03/fda-posts-rfp-for-social-media-monitoring-of-risk-communications

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: contracting opportunities, FDA, opportunities, social media

GSA launches Alliant GWAC social community

February 3, 2014 By ei2admin

The General Services Administration has launched a new social media tool on the Interact.gsa.gov website in an effort to gain feedback from other agencies and industry partners.

The community page is intended to facilitate “transparent and open” discussions pertaining to the Alliant II and Alliant Small Business II government-wide acquisition contract vehicles, GSA said last week.

GSA started the Alliant Interact community to follow OASIS Interact forum’s platform for feedback and dialogue on proposals and ideas.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.executivegov.com/2014/01/gsa-launches-alliant-gwac-social-community

 

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: Alliant, FAS, GSA, GWAC, OASIS, social media

Pinterest is tool for both governments and government marketers

January 31, 2014 By ei2admin

Governments have a sizable presence on Pinterest, the pinboard-style photo-sharing website. Pins and boards on Pinterest cover the following and many other public sector topics:
Public works (in general)
Public works architecture and design
Public parks and recreation
Green government
Public sector tasks such as grounds maintenance
Government procurement

The Pinterest site has a page devoted to businesses that have successfully spread the word about their products and services through Pinterest. Lowe’s, Sony Electronics, Kraft Foods and The Container Store are some of the firms that have won business through Pinterest.

PINTEREST_LOGO_LONG_0Lowe’s, for instance, has created a few Pinterest boards dedicated to smaller design and decor projects. Their most repinned pin—a create-your-own colorful doormat project—has gotten more than 200,000 repins so far. Lowes is also a major player in the government market, with sites for federal and state and local government buyers.

No question about it, Pinterest can help sell products, says Danny Maloney, CEO and co-founder of Tailwind. Tailwind is an Oklahoma City-based Pinterest-analytics firm that offers social media marketing tools. The company’s clients include brands from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies (i.e., Disney, Nike, and Target).

Keep reading this article at: http://americancityandcounty.com/technology/pinterest-tool-governments-and-government-marketers-related-video

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: contracting opportunities, marketing, Pinterest, social media

Surviving and thriving as a small government contractor

December 27, 2011 By ei2admin

During a recent Fairfax County (Virginia) Chamber of Commerce event small, woman-owned and veteran-owned businesses converged to learn about the federal government contracting outlook for 2012 and hear from those who have been in small business shoes.

Freedom Bank’s Vice President and Relationship Manager of Government Contracting Lending, Michael Marsden, led a panel discussion that included an analyst from Bloomberg Government; Phil Panzarella, the president and CEO of CPS Professionals Services, a veteran-owned contractor; and Dawn Halfaker, the CEO of Halfaker & Associates, a woman-owned, 8a, service-disabled veteran-owned contractor.

The panelists’ companies represent a wide array of socioeconomic statuses that act as differentiators and could allow them to fulfill the specific teaming needs of other contactors. However, both Panzarella and Halfaker stated that leading with socioeconomic statuses is not a key to surviving or thriving as a government contractor.

So if your company’s unique qualities won’t make you stand out, what is the best way to get started and win your first government contract?

Relationships and Networking

Data from Paul Murphy, Bloomberg Government Senior Data Analyst, and advice from Panzarella and Halfaker had a common theme: would-be
contractors should network and create valuable relationships.

Murphy’s data showed that while some socioeconomic goals have not been met by certain agencies, they have been increasing. By focusing on the agencies that are striving to meet their small business contract goals and creating relationships with contacts within them, a company will be making a better investment of its time than trying to focus on every agency at once.

The Departments of Veteran Affairs, Homeland Security, Energy and General Services Administration are among the agencies increasing their spending with small businesses. However, not all agencies are making these increases. The Small Business Administration is one such agency: Murphy stated that the SBA will be making cuts, which means less monitoring and enforcement of rules.

Furthermore, heavy cuts will affect the SBA business development centers. This will affect relationships in a couple of ways: Small businesses will have to rely more on each other, and valuable relationships may be better invested in other potential teaming and subcontracting partners.

“We had a lot of success partnering with other large companies. It is easier to connect with their points of contacts compared to agency contacts. Leverage
those relationships. You need to focus on agencies, but limit it,” said Halfaker.

She went on to say that at times, it can be difficult to identify the right point of contact in both agencies and large companies. Relationships with existing connections can help point you in the right direction.

When it comes to partnering and opening a line of communication to other contractors, there must be a give/take relationship, and you must work at it.  Unless you continue to communicate with agencies and partners, your relationship could become strained. “Out of sight, and out of mind,” said Panzarella.

Panzarella also stated that prior to building a partnership, CPS Professionals Services requires that small businesses already have a scope and plan in place.

Planning and Preparing for Growth

Though Halfaker & Associates and CPS Professionals Services may have started in the proverbial basement and were initially funded by equity loans, they knew that as they began to win more contracts, growth and complications would be inevitable. Contractors must plan not only how to grow by adding new
employees and infrastructure, but what to do in case of delays in federal payments. Panzarella and Halfaker suggested that spending time wisely (not wasting it on events that won’t result in new connections or beneficial information) and creating a focused plan led to their companies’ growth.

“Hard work. We put in a lot of hours because I believe in where we are going as an organization. We don’t have to go in and win multi-million-dollar awards, we can take the million-dollar contracts,” said Panzarella. His company remained very focused on what it wanted, picked a few agencies, and pursued them.

Tips from Dawn Halfaker

  • Know what drives revenue – Focus on the events that will provided the best return.
  • Leverage social media – Appear as big as you can. Brand yourself internally and externally more effectively.
  • Know your next hire – Make sure you can afford and pay for the new employee.

Related Link

Five Keys to Small Business Government Contracting in 2012


About the Author: Elliot Volkman holds a Masters in digital communications and is the Community Manager of GovWin from Deltek.  Published Dec. 19, 2011 at http://govwin.com/elliotsv_blog/surviving-and-thriving-as-small/340486.

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: budget cuts, marketing, relationship building, SBA, small business, small business goals, social media, subcontracting goals

Tornadoes knock out power to Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space Flight Center

April 29, 2011 By ei2admin

The tornadoes that barreled through Alabama Wednesday night and Thursday knocked out power to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, headquarters of Army logistics and missile commands and the home of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The power outage and center’s subsequent closure will not affect the launch of the space shuttle Endeavor planned for Friday.

Emily Smith, a NASA spokeswoman at the Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida, said the “shuttle mission is still a go” despite the closure of the Marshall Space Flight Center. The Huntsville center has responsibility for the shuttle propulsion systems, the external fuel tank and operations center, which supports shuttle launches.

Daniel Kanigan, a spokesman for Marshall Space Flight Center, said the Huntsville Operations Support Center is running on backup generators “and launch support operations are up and running.” He said engineers from Huntsville “are on the ground at Kennedy Space Center who monitor and evaluate the main engines, solid rocket boosters and external tank to ensure they are ready, performing well and safe to fly.”

Bill Costlow, a spokesman for the headquarters of the Army Installation Management Command in San Antonio, Texas, said Redstone will remain closed until the storm-damaged statewide power grid can provide power to the base.

Dave Childers, a spokesman for the southeast region of the Installation Management Command in Atlanta, said communications systems are for the most part inoperable at Redstone due to the power outage, including email and videoconferencing systems.

The base’s emergency operations center is running on backup power, with sporadic communications. Only mission essential personnel are working at Redstone, headquarters for the Army Materiel Command, Aviation and Missile Command, and Space and Missile Defense Command, Childers said.

Dan O’Boyle, a Redstone spokesman, said the base does have some connectivity on secret networks and is working to restore service in unclassified networks.

The primary means of communications with employees is local television and radio stations, O’Boyle said. He added that a public affairs staffer who does have an Internet connection at home is providing Facebook and Twitter feeds.

John Cummings, a spokesman for the Space and Missile Defense Command, said Redstone employees started to head home yesterday at 2 p.m. under a liberal leave policy. Cumming said while he can receive voice calls on is Army BlackBerry, he cannot send emails because of the lack of power for the server at Redstone.

Huntsville television station WHNT reported cellphone service was spotty throughout the region, largely due to the sheer volume of calls being made.

The Utility DXers Forum, an online group that monitors military shortwave communications, reported Thursday that the Alabama National Guard had activated its shortwave network to communicate with the state emergency operations centers.

Also on Thursday, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley mobilized approximately 1,400 Alabama National Guardsmen help with search-and-rescue operations, logistical coordination of debris removal, and security assistance to local law enforcement agencies.

— By Bob Brewin and Erin Dian Dumbacher 04/28/2011 – NextGov.com at http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110428_2259.php?oref=rss?zone=NGtoday.

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: Kennedy Space Flight Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, Redstone Arsenal, social media

Sen. Isakson to host small business summit in Macon

July 26, 2010 By ei2admin

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson has announced that he will host a free statewide Small Business Summit on Tuesday, August 17, 2010. 

This workshop will be held at Macon State University, Conference Center, 100 College State Drive, Macon, Ga., from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. 

Advance registration is required, and registration details appear below.

The forum is an opportunity for small business people to hear from professionals on best practices, federal and state tax responsibilities, information on contracting with the federal government, using social media to enhance your business, and growing a business through exports. 

The summit will also feature a panel discussion on credit available to business owners in the current economic climate.  Presenting organizations will include the Small Business Development Network as well as over 40 state and federal agencies that work specifically with small businesses. 

Warner Robins Procurement Counselor Larry Selman will be representing the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center at this event.  

“I am honored to be able to offer this excellent opportunity to small business people from across Georgia,” said Sen. Isakson.  “As someone who ran a small business for more than 30 years, including in difficult economic times, I know how helpful it can be to get good advice from professionals. Whether you are considering opening a small business or have run your own company for many years, this summit has something to offer you, particularly in the current economic climate.  I encourage anyone interested in meeting with professionals in the field to participate.”

All persons who are interested in attending must make a reservation online at rsvp@isakson.senate.gov, or by contacting Isakson’s office at (770) 661-0999.  All persons who wish to attend must do so by the registration deadline on August 9, 2010.

Filed Under: GTPAC News Tagged With: federal contracting, financing, government contract training, government contracting, small business, social media, tax

How social media is changing the way government does business

July 7, 2010 By ei2admin

There has been plenty of discussion about how governments are using social media to engage with the general public and open up their vast amounts of data to collaborators. The interagency collaboration occurring behind government firewalls using wikis and blogs is also well-publicized. A topic that’s received less attention are the ways that social media and the principles of openness, collaboration, and authenticity are transforming how the government does business. How is social media changing the government contracting process? That’s the $500 billion+ question.

The world of contracting is one of the most important, complex, and least transparent within our Federal Government. From 100-page Request for Proposals (RFPs) to GSA schedules to organizational conflicts of interest to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), the environment has long discouraged real discourse in favor of strict rules, processes, and policies. Too many companies of all sizes are frustrated and overwhelmed by the intricacies and red tape connected to doing business with the government.

But social media has brought about some positive changes. Here are three important ways it’s done so.

As Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan put it, “bureaucracy is the ultimate black box of government … [it] is impervious to full public understanding, much less control.”

Five years ago, if a junior consultant wanted to talk with someone like Linda Cureton, NASA’s Chief Information Officer, about Spacebook, he would have to:

  • Brief his manager on why he wants to talk with her
  • Discuss his business objectives for the meeting
  • Get his manager to contact a senior manager within the NASA account team and schedule a meeting with him/her to discuss intentions
  • Discuss his business objectives with him/her
  • Hope that this person would then have the time to reach out to Linda’s assistant to get on her calendar
  • Attend the meeting with a NASA account representative (because a junior consultant couldn’t go by himself)

Those are six steps of red tape, all for a quick follow-up conversation with an acquaintance from a networking event. Unfortunately, the culture of the government contracting industry was one where everything, including everyday conversations, was heavily controlled and regulated. Nevermind if the conversation had nothing to do with a current procurement or new contract — it was just safer to avoid talking altogether.

Social media however, has allowed us access to this black box and the humans inside. According to a recent 2010 Federal Community Social Media study by Market Connections, 55% of respondents are using social media either formally or informally to communicate with their government audiences. I can now follow more than 30 government CIOs on Twitter, I can friend them on Facebook, and I can comment directly on their blogs. What used to take six steps now takes one direct message: “Linda, I’ll be down at NASA HQ for a meeting today – would love to talk with you about Spacebook while I’m there if you’re available.”

For me, the tipping point came when potential clients started contacting me on Twitter and my blog instead of calling the “official” points of contact listed on established org charts. Once we saw social media as a new way to actually conduct business, our legal and marketing teams went to work revising our communication and social media policies. While we’re still highly encouraged to involve the right people with the right expertise as we talk with our clients, the social networks of many of our junior employees are now rivaling the Rolodexes of some of our senior staff.

If you’ve ever done business with the Federal Government, you’ve probably encountered a process that is “challenging, complex, convoluted, and inconsistent,” and you’ve “encountered high barriers to entry, or didn’t get the communication you thought you needed or had to have.” That was the opening line of Mary Davie’s address at Tim O’Reilly’s Gov 2.0 Expo held in Washington, DC this past May. Davie is the Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) in the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS).

Disclosure: I was on the Gov 2.0 Expo Program Committee.

Yet we all accepted these struggles as the norm because “that’s the way the government works.” Government contracting is a $500 billion a year industry, involving thousands of people, thousands of companies, and just as many rules and regulations. The complexity of this problem has been exacerbated as government agencies all interpret these rules and regulations differently.

That’s where the Better Buy Project comes in. Developed as a joint project of the National Academy of Public Administration and the American Council for Technology in conjunction with the GSA, the Better Buy Project implements Uservoice to create a public platform where anybody can submit, view, and comment on ideas to make the government acquisition process more collaborative and transparent.

One of the implementations is the Better Buy wiki where anyone can ask questions and help shape future procurements in a transparent manner. The GSA is using Twitter to update interested parties on the status of active procurements. The Better Buy blog allows the public, the government, small business, big companies — anyone — to get new perspectives and expert viewpoints on making the acquisition process more open and accessible.

What if the Federal Government, industry, local governments, small business owners, concerned citizens, and academia worked collaboratively to solve some of our nation’s toughest problems? It’s happening in the government contracting industry.

Thanks to social media, the walls that guarded against leaks of proprietary data have given way to conferences, meetups, and webinars where most participants subscribe to the “rising tides lift all boats” theory. At these events and sites, contractors, government staffers, media, and interested citizens gather together to talk about everything from the challenges of implementing open government to how government can better collaborate on issues related to the Gulf Coast oil spill.

Larger and more complex contracts mean many former competitors have now become collaborators. Government contractors large and small have recognized that instead of waiting for proposals and information, they can now work together to help define those requirements, saving time, improving quality, and increasing transparency.

These benefits don’t come without risks though. Complex contracting rules and regulations still exist and still apply. The culture of collaboration among the contracting community at events like the Gov 2.0 Expo does not decrease competition in the industry, but rather increases the quality of competitive submissions for billion dollar government contracts. The wiki that the GSA is using to bring more transparency and collaboration to the federal procurement process is leaving ethics officers, contracting officers, project managers, lawyers and technical advisers grappling with how to adapt to these new open and transparent processes.

Despite how far we’ve come over the last five years, there is still a long way to go before doing business with the government is as easy as doing business in the private sector. The Federal IT Dashboard is a great start, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Data transparency doesn’t necessarily lead to operations transparency.

Policies, regulations, and laws need to be updated. Contracting professionals need to learn new skills. IT security and privacy controls need to be adapted to protect confidential and proprietary information. Most of all, the people — the contracting officers, the project managers, the lawyers, the marketers, the proposal writers, and the IT specialists — need to stop talking about how difficult it is to do business with the government and instead focus on asking, “What makes this process so complex and what can I do to make it better?”

— by Steve Radick, a communications consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, a global technology and strategy consulting firm – Mar. 7, 2010.

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: government trends, innovation, procurement reform, social media

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