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2008 Presenter Bios and Abstracts
Features Speakers: GPS - Getting People in Sync
Who Should Attend: Everyone!
Getting people on a proposal team to perform at a high level takes planning and execution (not that kind of execution…though it has probably been considered!). To ensure we perform at a high level and benefit from the conference, we asked two favorite presenters, Jon Williams and BJ Lownie of Strategic Proposals, to help with team building and get us to a great start. In this lively, engaging, and certainly entertaining session, Jon and BJ will help us get to know our fellow APMP members better—think “Speed Dating” for proposal people—and get the most out of the conference.
Since 2002, Jon Williams, Managing Director, Strategic Proposals, has presented at every APMP conference. He started in procurement and served on the board of PMMS, the influential purchasing consultancy. After managing one of Europe’s leading proposal centres, he founded Strategic Proposals’ UK operation in 2001 and has worked with proposal teams in more than 20 countries. Co-author of the popular blog, “The Proposal Guys,” Jon, an APMP Fellow, served as UK APMP’s first CEO.
BJ Lownie PPF.APMP, Director of Strategic Proposals LLC, brings an incredible amount of experience within the proposal arena. He has more than 25 years’ experience, is a founding member of APMP, has achieved Professional-level accreditation, and is an elected Fellow. He has presented at many APMP conferences, and his presentations are always insightful, informative, engaging, and entertaining. You are sure to leave with a new perspective on proposals and well prepared to develop high-impact responses.
The Audience is Listening
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Motivators to change differ across countries and clients. Using an understanding of the audience, we can choose the right communication theory to tailor oral presentations to the audience’s change motivator. Using the correct communication theory increases the power of the presentation. Conference attendees will learn to select and apply the correct communications theory to speak to the needs of their clients, and they will learn to incorporate this process into their orals proposal development. This presentation and workshop will reinforce best practices for oral presentations and fill a gap in the Body of Knowledge principles.
Carl Rosenblatt leads PwC’s Proposal and Pursuit Organization, which provides full lifecycle proposal and capture support across the company—from inception and strategy through production and delivery. Formerly the head of SRA’s Proposal Development Group, he developed SRA’s first Business Capture Process Guide and a related online training course. The course received the Mid-Atlantic Award for E-Learning Excellence at Perspectives, a nationwide training conference. Carl previously presented at the 1999 APMP Annual Conference.
Melissa Church-Lawton, Director, Proposals for SRA’s Global Health Sector, has spent the last 13 years supporting proposal and capture efforts in many industries, including environmental engineering, drug development, information technology, and domestic and international government contracting. Her current responsibilities include working with various proposal teams supporting commercial, US government, international government, and NGOs to evaluate and improve their business and proposal development processes. Melissa has previously presented at several APMP national and regional conferences.
Benchmarks in World-Class Proposal Writing Capabilities
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
This presentation highlights outcomes from an industry-wide research study of best practices in proposal writing conducted by the Business Development Institute International and sponsored by BAE Systems. The study draws on an in-depth analysis of industry leaders in five benchmark areas:
- Proposal development steps
- Automation tools
- Organization constructs
- Training approaches
- Other factors affecting performance.
The study focuses on the attributes of proposal writing capability that provide actionable results and directly correlate to success. Special care was taken in the methodology to identify and isolate the specific capabilities contribute to effectiveness and efficiencies in proposal writing.
Charlie Divine PPF.APMP currently serves as the Director of Research and Knowledge Management for the Business Development Institute International and as Director of Education for APMP. He led development of a comprehensive body of knowledge, BD-KnowledgeBase, for APMP and the BD-Institute. He is a certified BD-CMM Appraiser for the BD-Institute, an APMP Fellow, and APMP certified at the Professional level.
Paul R. Handwerker is VP of Business Development for Electronic Warfare in BAE System’s Electronic & Integrated Solutions Group. He oversees the business development process, including strategic thinking, market analysis, competitive intelligence, and marketing. Paul retired from the United States Air Force in 1998, where he served as a fighter pilot, as a foreign military sales desk officer in the Pentagon, and as a program monitor for the Secretary of the Air Force.
Roundtable on the Business Development Body of Knowledge
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
This session provides an opportunity for members to participate in an interactive session on the BD-KnowledgeBase™, the APMP body of knowledge. This session is designed to (a) help members understand how they can use the juried information within BD-KnowledgeBase™ to improve their personal and organizational performance, (b) explore the significant role that BD-KnowledgeBase™ can play as a collaborative tool for the business development “community of interest,” and (c) examine how members can share information, expand the boundaries of our known key practices and stimulate innovation in our profession.
Session participants will learn how to find answers to day-to-day problems they encounter in their jobs, research key practices that will improve both their personal and organizational competencies, and expand their vision of the role of business development. It will include hands on use of the BD-KnowledgeBase.
This session supports the conference theme by helping members take full advantage of BD-KnowledgeBase and stimulating an active discussion of opportunities for collaboration within the diverse APMP community.
Charlie Divine PPF.APMP currently serves as the Director of Research and Knowledge Management for the Business Development Institute International and as Director of Education for APMP. He led development of a comprehensive body of knowledge, BD-KnowledgeBase, for APMP and the BD-Institute. He is a certified BD-CMM Appraiser for the BD-Institute, an APMP Fellow, and APMP certified at the Professional level.
Business Growth Through Great Client References
Presenter(s): Joanne Libby
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
Differentiating your company is increasingly challenging. Quality service, strong relationships, value for price, and a responsive proposal are basic entry prerequisites. The need for great client references transcends industry sectors and international borders, and can occur at any stage in the business capture process. To win these days, you need the endorsement of those you have worked for and provide more than name, title, and contact information. Make it easier on your best clients, all those on the prospect’s review team and internally, by having great contract profiles available and using the Internet to offer secure access to client interviews.
Joanne Libby founded Reference-House in 2007 to help businesses build comprehensive client reference management programs and win more business. She has more than 25 years’ experience in proposal management in the United States and Canada. She has identified and delivered on growth opportunities for clients around the world in professional services, various major infrastructure developments, and engineering and consulting services. Joanne has been a member of APMP for more than 10 years.
Business Partnering—Teaming Simulation
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
Simulation of complex, multi-stakeholder business challenges is used frequently in today’s business environment—from defense-related warfare topics to emergency preparedness and training. Capture managers can experience similar, critical decision-making moments during Gold Team, other bid/no bid meetings, and throughout the capture management process. This workshop will provide the opportunity to experience a dynamic, interactive role-playing experience tailored for the attendees of the APMP International Conference and Exhibit.
Peggy McShane is a provider of full lifecycle business development services for small- and mid-sized company executives. Her company, Net New Growth, LLC, provides professional services including, but not limited to, assessments of marketing opportunities and target markets, intelligence gathering on target clients and competitors, generating leads and supporting the close on sales, follow-up sales activity and customer relationship management, proposal review, oral presentation consultation, and business model design.
Bridging the Solution Gap: How to Get from Capture Strategy to Proposal Solution
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
So often, proposal managers find themselves at the start of a proposal with no clearly articulated solution from their capture team. Regardless of the reason, they are suddenly in the position of needing to provide their writing team with a solution that will adequately address likely RFP requirements, while fully executing the capture team’s win strategy. Building on the importance of an established capture-to-proposal hand-off process, this presentation focuses on the specific challenge of articulating a solution and offers practical tools and methodologies to develop proposal solutions that bring together customer requirements and capture strategies.
Ashley Nichols is a CACI strategic proposal manager with more than 10 years’ experience managing large proposal efforts and providing capture guidance and support. She came to CACI in 2004 through the acquisition of CMS Information Services where she was the Director of Proposal Services. This blend of small and large company business development experience covers multiple service areas, including information technology, military logistics, intelligence, communications, and advertising.
The Capture Phase: Key to Winning and Efficient Proposals
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Proposal development for meaningful programs is usually preceded by a capture phase lasting from months to years. During this phase, the contractor interfaces with the customer and develops technical, management, and financial offerings to meet customer requirements and desires. Experience across the aerospace industry has shown that, unless significant effort is expended in this phase to develop quality inputs, the proposal will require significant catch-up and rework, producing reduced efficiency and a lower win rate. This session will discuss elements that go into developing quality capture inputs and the resultant benefits to the proposal and its outcome.
Dr. Bob Goldstein, an APMP Fellow, has been Director of Proposal Operations at Northrop Grumman Space Technology (NGST) for the past seven years. He has more than 40 years’ experience in the winning, development, and operation of space systems, including leading many successful capture and proposal efforts. Bob has a PhD and MS from Caltech and a BS and BA from Columbia University.
Dana Hill is currently a Business Development Manager in the NGST Proposal Operations organization, where he has been an integral part of numerous capture and proposal teams for five years. Dana has more than 15 years’ experience in capture and proposal efforts for both commercial and government customers.
Capture Successes and Failures: Three Case Studies
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
This presentation focuses on three case studies, two successes and a spectacular failure, to discover best practices in the business development and capture continuum from customer analysis, programmatics, bid decision, capture management, proposal management, and pricing. We will use case studies to present practices that work and yield results, while identifying the results of failure to use best practices. Names may be changed to protect the innocent and guilty, but these are real wins and losses that demonstrate general rules of excellence and best practices. This is an ongoing case study development methodology for the Body of Knowledge.
Eric Gregory is the Senior Vice President of Proposal Development at CACI. He has been heavily involved with APMP since 1992 and has served twice as CEO and twice as Conference Chair for conferences in New Orleans and Orlando. He is an APMP Fellow and recipient of the APMP William C. McRea Founders Award. Eric now has more than 30 years’ proposal and capture management experience and has the scar tissue essential to lead competitions.
Capture—The Power of Influence
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
This will be a three-person panel discussion with interactive Q&A on the relevance and influence of the capture manager in three phases of a business development opportunity. These phases are: influencing the Request for Proposal (RFP), influencing the capture team, and influencing the response. The discussion will be led by a moderator and the panel through case studies and experience with participation from the audience. The outcome will be tips and techniques that the business development professional can take home and apply.
Tim Budzik has more than 20 years’ experience capturing and winning large programs for industry and government ranging from multimillion-dollar programs to $9B acquisitions. He is currently the Senior Capture Manager with United Space Alliance, responsible for developing new business markets. He has worked with a number of businesses to help them capture new opportunities, customers, and partners. Tim has represented NASA to Congress delivering demonstrations and leading discussions with members and subcommittees.
Eric Gregory is the Senior Vice President of Proposal Development at CACI. He has been heavily involved with APMP since 1992 and has served twice as CEO and twice as conference chair for conferences in New Orleans and Orlando. He is an APMP Fellow and recipient of the APMP William C. McRea Founders Award. Eric now has more than 30 years’ proposal and capture management experience and has the scar tissue essential to lead competitions.
Morris D. Goodrich was a member of the Senior Executive Service, the Director of the Contracting Directorate, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, UT, which contracted logistics support for various weapons systems and commodities. He served as Director for the National Contract Management Association, held membership in the local chapter of the Air Force Association, and participated in the Certified Acquisition Professional Development Program Level III Contracting. Morris currently is a Defense Aerospace contractor.
Teaming/Subcontracting: Relationships to Successfully Pursue, Win, and Perform
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
Teaming, and related business agreements, can be key to your Win Strategy. These relationships must be considered from the start of strategy formulation and managed throughout the capture process and project execution. Developing and implementing an integrated and comprehensive proposal strategy requires that the issues and questions of each strategy component are resolved. After your win, the teaming agreement influences the resultant subcontract and how your team performs. Getting it done right requires that subcontractor considerations are integrated into scope, technology, licensing, investment, politics, management, logistics, risk, cost, and price. Success is not an accident, but a result of asking the right questions and documenting clear answers. Oh, and it will probably take more time and effort than you think.
Matt McConville has over 25 years of Contracts Management experience with several US aerospace and defense firms. He has extensive experience in new business proposals, including negotiating complex contracts, teaming, and other agreements in diverse international environments. In addition, he has had a senior staff Strategic Business role with a major A&D company. As an SM&A Associate, he provides client leadership in the Competition Management and Program Management business areas. He has taught Negotiation at the corporate and university continuing education levels, and been a speaker at National Contract Management Association (NCMA) events.
Collaboration and Competencies in Business Development
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
This panel explores interdependencies and the need for shared competencies among key stakeholders in business-development endeavors. Panel members share perspectives of business developers, project managers, and contract managers on issues and challenges in creating winning solutions that can be delivered successfully. They discuss implications of these considerations on roles and competencies needed within each profession to build business-winning capability described by the BD-CMM for higher-maturity organizations. During the discussion, they will address work being done to include business development competencies in certification programs and other initiatives that create an expanded community of practice in business development.
Howard Nutt is Executive Director of the BD-Institute, an international non-profit organization. He managed development of the BD-CMM and works with companies around the world to implement this best-practices model. He has more than 25 years’ business development experience and is a former owner of Shipley Associates, where he established the Business Development Process Consulting Practice. In addition, Howard is an APMP charter member, Fellow, and past Board member.
Tim Cummins is President and CEO of IACCM. He works with leading corporations, public bodies, and academic organizations, educating executives on the role of commitment management in today’s business performance and public policy. Prior to IACCM, he held executive roles at IBM and worked on the Chairman's staff, leading studies on impacts of globalization and re-engineering on IBM’s global contracting processes. Tim’s work has been extensively published, and he has advised government bodies around the world.
Competing to Win
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
For organizations to succeed in sport or business, a necessary ingredient is High Performing Teams (HPTs). They rarely self-form by chance, and no business should rely on achieving success by chance. Today, businesses need to provide predictable, profitable growth to deliver shareholder value, and they do this by having HPTs in both their business-winning and project-execution areas. The necessary key ingredient for the predictable achievement of HPTs is leadership. This presentation will outline the cultural change programme introduced by QinetiQ (a global Defence and Security Company), which focuses specifically on leadership in the business-winning process.
Chris Mead, Commercial Director, QinetiQ EMEA, manages customer and supply chain commercial commitments. He has more than 28 years experience in the defence, nuclear, and systems industries with positions in business development, commercial, project, and general management at GEC-Marconi, Rolls-Royce, Kellogg Brown & Root, and QinetiQ. Passionate about winning, he has led and acted as sponsor for numerous successful multi-£bn pursuits, including the UK Defence Training Rationalisation PFI and the NHS National IT Programme.
Maria Moreno, Programme Leader, QinetiQ, has more than 10 years’ experience in management and organisational development. Through a range of learning and development roles, she has engaged individuals, groups, and leadership teams to facilitate change and strengthen business performance. As a leader in the implementation of organisation-wide development and change programs, she has been responsible for the successful delivery of “Competing to Win.” An experienced coach, Maria is passionate about people development and maximising potential.
Wendy Wates, CTW Pursuit Leader, is responsible for accelerating QinetiQ’s business through leading large scale, innovative deals. She applies energy and enthusiasm in challenging the business to deliver to the edge of its capabilities and reposition QinetiQ in the eyes of its customers. She is motivated by new, innovative opportunities and was awarded salesperson of the year and deal of the year in recognition of her positive and effective contributions to QinetiQ’s business in the defence and nuclear markets.
Effective Campaigns: Global Perspective, Opportunity Focused
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
The global economy is presenting more opportunities for growth and more challenges for winning capture and proposal strategies. Linking an organization's mission and vision to well-qualified opportunities has never been more important. More complex win strategies demand increased focus and disciplined campaign strategies. From a structured approach to assessing the value of new business opportunities to developing a broad-based marketing and positioning strategy, this presentation offers insights into campaign best practices, citing examples of major contracts wins that incorporated effective campaign strategies. It will also focus on the importance of business-case-driven strategies.
Chris Coyle has been a business development professional in the government market for more than 25 years. He brings a hands-on perspective and years of experience building successful win strategies, from campaign inception to contract negotiation. He led the development and implementation of an opportunity capture process that helped decrease costs; increase win rates; and sustain margins under intense international, price-driven competition. Chris is also a contributing writer to various business and professional publications.
How Competitive is Your Competitive Assessment?
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
This question is invariably asked when undertaking competitive proposals. In answer, this session includes an innovative way to develop comprehensive competitive assessments of your competitors and yourself that reveal important relative strengths and weaknesses. The strategic model underpinning the technique is complete and easy to use. Real examples show the power of the technique and the types of competitive insights it uncovers that typical competitive assessment methods often overlook.
Dr. John Barker of SM&A has 35 years’ business development experience. His innovations have been applied to proposal communications, proposal development, and win strategies by multiple Fortune 500 companies. His has a record of winning large proposals based on strategic insights motivated by techniques he developed. John was also the founding Director of the APMP Speakers Bureau.
Using Competitive Intelligence to Create Significant Advantage
Who Should Attend: Senior Management—Intermediate Levels
Competitive Intelligence (CI) is a systematic and ethical program for gathering and analyzing information about your competitors' activities and business trends (e.g., emerging technologies, marketplace changes, potential legislation, disruptive competitors, or new executives). Using CI enhances capture strategies and business proposals, prevents costly mistakes, clarifies the win probability, and supports business development activities to ensure success. Join us for this interactive session with experts from the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). Topics include an overview of CI; collections and analysis techniques; how to access, share, and use CI in your organization; and how to apply CI to your business.
Vicki Griesinger is Director of Operations of the Business Development Institute International and a certified BD-CMM Appraiser. She has more than 25 years’ management experience in business development, strategy, proposal development, talent acquisition, and competitive intelligence. She is a long-time APMP member; she served on the Board of Directors and as CEO during 1991-1996. Vicki has also led competitive/market intelligence organizations and is an active member of SCIP and its Women’s Leadership Council.
Joe Goldberg is Senior Director of Business Intelligence in the Corporate Strategy Office of Motorola, Inc. He is responsible for business intelligence processes and competitive analysis and collection on a worldwide basis. He has been a Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) member since 1994. Joe is the current President of the SCIP Board of Directors and is Chair of the Competitive Intelligence Foundation. He received SCIP’s prestigious Fellow's Award in 2006.
Costing/Pricing from Oz – Pay Attention to the People Behind the Curtain!
Who Should Attend: Senior Management—Intermediate Levels
Capture/proposal teams are preoccupied with technical and management strategies. Costing/Pricing is an afterthought. After a loss, it is easy to blame the costing/pricing people "behind the curtain." Is costing/pricing included in strategy development? The costing/pricing challenge:
- Increase the involvement of the costing/pricing people earlier in the capture/proposal process
- Create a pricing strategy as an integral part of the overall capture strategy
Consider the cost component when selecting the technical solution
- Establish target cost/price early
Winning capture/proposal efforts require integrated costing/pricing. This presentation describes building a capture/proposal team including costing/pricing.
David Murphy, Senior Associate, Shipley Associates, has 28 years in proposal writing, business development, and system development. David presented Price To WIN! (Shipley’s PTW course author) at the APMP SOCAL Chapter’s 2005 Fall Conference and at the 17th Annual APMP Conference in 2006. He presented Incumbent vs. Challenger at the 18th Annual APMP Conference in 2007. He presented Competitive Intelligence (CI) – Getting to First Place at the APMP Nor’easters Fall Conference in September 2007.
Customer Interface is Everything
Who Should Attend: Anyone who deals with the Government
Interfacing with Government customers is key to finding advance information about upcoming requirements. This presentation will offer best practices that demonstrate how to maintain that interface without violating the Government rules, which is crucial. These best practices will show what you can and cannot do to keep an arms-length relationship.
Morris D. Goodrich was a member of the Senior Executive Service, the Director of the Contracting Directorate, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, UT, which contracted logistics support for various weapons systems and commodities. He served as Director for the National Contract Management Association, held membership in the local chapter of the Air Force Association, and participated in the Certified Acquisition Professional Development Program Level III Contracting. Morris currently is a Defense Aerospace contractor.
You Don’t Have to Bid On Everything That Moves!!
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Capture management is the organized process of planning, organizing, leading, and managing a pursuit to increase win potential. It requires commitment and leadership to WIN. Deploying and managing an effective, efficient capture process is the only practical way to consistently win with an acceptable investment. To win, you must understand the customers’ buying problems, analyze their environment, assess competitive positions with the customer, build strategies that maximize win probability, and turn strategies into actions that drive the win. Increase your win potential while balancing risk and investment by implementing a formal bid/no bid process.
Edward G. Alexander PPM.APMP, Shipley’s Vice President of Training, is certified in all Shipley focus areas: training, capture/proposal consulting, and process consulting. A retired Army Colonel/paratrooper/pilot, he was the first in the United States to be certified by the APMP as a Proposal Professional. He has authored many Shipley courses and is certified to teach every one. Ed has presented at several APMP conferences and provided APMP Foundation-level coaching sessions.
The Drains May Run Counterclockwise in Oz, but Best Practices Work the Same!
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
A case study in application of best practices in the business development lifecycle process at OPTUS, Australia’s second largest telecommunications company, this presentation will describe the goals, approach, and accomplishments of the OPTUS/Shipley team in achieving improvements in win rate, ROI, and efficiency of business development activities. We will highlight things like counterclockwise drains that remind us that Oz is not the US. Performed jointly by Shipley Associates and Shipley Australia, the engagement positioned OPTUS to achieve a sustained win rate in a B2B environment that would be the envy of many US Federal bidders.
Nancy Kessler APF.APMP is Vice President, Regional Sales Director for LSI/Shipley Associates in the Washington, DC area. She led Shipley’s Process Consulting SBU, and she is an APMP Fellow, accredited at the Practitioner level, with Professional level in work. She has presented numerous individual presentations and participated in panels at APMP conferences, as well as NCA Chapter meetings and Professional Days. Nancy holds a BA in Business and an MS in Technology Management.
Everything Old is New Again—A Look Forward
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
As an APMP Fellow, I have some career thoughts to share. Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, might suggest that the proposal and the professional proposal manager are headed for outsourcing. My experience suggests something else—the proposal is not going away. While technological innovation will continue to evolve, nothing in the process replaces the relationship between the proposal leader and the customer. Cultural sensitivity in managing proposals will become more important as the customer’s profile becomes more global. The future proposal will require ever greater emphasis on blending multiple solutions into proposal responses.
David Pugh is an APMP Fellow and was one of the organization’s original founders. He has worked for more than 30 years as a proposal expert. An award-winning author, he has been a primary developer of Lore’s business development services and a popular keynote speaker. David has co-authored three recent books: Winning Behavior, The Behavioral Advantage, and Powerful Proposals.
If the Titanic Had GPS: Avoiding Proposal Disasters Through Planning, Prevention, and Performance
For the 2008 Annual Conference, this talented group - spanning vast proposal disciplines with many years experience - plans to regale and educate APMP members with entertaining stories of proposal woe. Many may hit close to home. By examining the ways in which proposals can and often go straight toward an iceberg, The presenters will highlight the needed course correction to navigate the rough seas and prevent the ship from going down. Topics of discussion include how to map out your destination, who is captain of the ship, building collaborative relationships with all passengers, where are the lifeboats, and when to stop navigation. This session will be an interactive session with prizes for the best passenger on deck. Don't miss it.
Vicki Kempf is a senior proposal manager for CSC’s North American Public Sector, specifically supporting high-value strategic opportunities. She has supported CSC since 2000, and has more than 17 years experience in proposal management. Vicki is Shipley-trained, and has been an APMP member for more than 10 years. She is also an avid triathlete.
Charles Flagg is a senior proposal manager for CSC’s North American Public Sector, specifically supporting high-value strategic opportunities. Prior to joining CSC in 2007, he supported numerous technology firms as a consultant. He is Shipley-trained, and is a former member of APMP. Charles also enjoys fine art in his spare time.
If You Can Read This, I Must Have Used a Legible Font!
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
What typefaces do you use when you write a proposal, and why? In 2007, I was forced to examine these questions when the National Science Foundation changed its rules, twice,,regarding allowable fonts in proposals. My search for best practices on fonts revealed that much of the received wisdom about typography on the printed page may be obsolete in a world of on-screen reviews and aging, squinting reviewers. What did I learn, what fonts did we switch to, and was there any impact on win rates? The answers are not all black and white.
Mitch Boretz directs proposal operations for the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside. He coordinates all aspects of more than 200 proposals per year by about 75 engineering professors for contracts and grants with government agencies, companies, and foundations. He worked full time in proposals for 11 years following a 12-year career as a news reporter and editor. He presented at APMP's 18th Annual International Conference in Savannah, GA.
Colleen Jolly, AM.APMP, a Principal at 24 Hour Company – a professional proposal graphic and production company – has won more than $10 billion in business for her clients. Colleen is responsible for Book Composition and Cover Design for the APMP Journal and regularly contributes articles. She is a frequent speaker at APMP conferences in the US and UK. She holds a BA in English and Studio Art from Georgetown University.
Improving the Effectiveness of Your Content
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Putting content improvement techniques into practice can be an overwhelming project. Too often, we revert to talking about features and benefits rather than our customer. This workshop will provide quick-win techniques on improving content—whether it is boilerplate, for a specific proposal, or a presentation. The session will be interactive and provide you with a chance to look at some of your own content, and get some ideas on how you can make it more compelling.
Kelli Stephenson is Vice President, Sales Effectiveness for Experian, a $3.5B information services company. She manages an international team of people who provide business development and sales automation support for every stage of the sales process. Kelli is a former APMP CEO and an APMP Fellow.
Virtual Workshop: Improving Executive Summaries
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Executive summaries are often the only portion of a proposal read by client decision-makers. Proposal managers (PMs) play a key role in developing persuasive executive summaries. Hewlett-Packard’s Strategic Proposal Center, facing budget pressures, deal demands, and a geographically dispersed workforce, established a virtual workshop to enhance the PMs’ skills. This session provides an overview of this workshop. The workshop has been held with representatives from North American and European proposal teams, is based on best practices, encompasses five sessions over two weeks, emphasizes hands-on learning through homework, and is limited to five attendees. Training is reinforced via monthly forums.
Rick Dickson AM.APMP currently manages a team of proposal managers in the North America Strategic Proposal Center of Hewlett-Packard Company. Before joining Hewlett-Packard, he was Corporate Marketing Manager for a US professional services company, where he established a proposal center, conducted proposal workshops, and participated in hundreds of proposals in a spectrum of roles. Rick has been a member of APMP since 1994. Rick has BA and MS degrees and APMP Foundation-level accreditation.
Ineffective Proposals: Overcoming Brand Barriers
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Did you know that companies that employ a congruent brand and message between their proposal and marketing/advertising strategies have a winning proposal 55 percent of the time, while those with incongruence only win 24 percent of the time? Join this interactive session, and learn the results of the GBC®/APMP research project conducted last summer. See the differences between companies that speak with one branding voice and companies that experience disconnects between proposal development and marketing. Discover how to better leverage your brand in proposals, advance your chances of moving proposals forward in the review stages, and ultimately win more business.
Kellie Glueck, Director, Global Brand Marketing for the GBC brand at ACCO Brands, received her MBA in marketing, finance, and international business from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1993. During her professional career, she has addressed hundreds of audiences around the globe, as well as served as a spokesperson for major brands. For more than 10 years, she has helped companies present the right image and message to their customers.
The Inner Secrets of Proposal Evaluation
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
This presentation will provide capture and proposal professionals with unique insights into the minds and workings of evaluation teams?real, up-to-date information from the customer side of our businesses. The insights are based on interviews and a proposal evaluation exercise carried out with proposal evaluators and purchasing managers from across the world, including the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Which are the key proposal sections; how to maximize your evaluation scores in each; and what are the hot buttons that evaluators possess? Discover where and how to increase the effectiveness of the structure, design, and development of your proposals.
Richard Jenkins is a Director of Strategic Proposals Ltd based in the UK and a highly experienced and respected proposal management professional. He has led and worked with sales and proposal teams across the world, helping them significantly improve win rates and develop more efficient proposal and pitch processes. His background includes 10 years’ international purchasing experience with British Airways, Orange, and France Telecom, where he managed numerous RFP processes and evaluated hundreds of proposals.
Don't Lose on Price? Learn to Sell Value
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
Selling on value is a key part of strategy. Knowing how to develop value propositions and learning to demonstrate value in a proposal to a customer are key competencies required of capture and proposal professionals. Understanding the difference between value and price is one of the key competencies required. Following this presentation, attendees will know how to develop value propositions. This presentation will benefit those seeking certification under the APMP Accreditation Program, as well as those seeking continuing professional development as part of the CEU program.
Tony Birch PPF.APMP is the Managing Director of Shipley in the UK. A fully accredited proposal professional under the APMP Accreditation Program, his background is in sales in the Defense & IT Sectors. Since founding Shipley in the UK, he has trained more than 5,000 sales people and proposal managers around the world. Tony works with companies that range across sectors as diverse as construction, telecoms, IT services, defense, and automotive.
Managing a Proposal When You’re in Over Your Head!
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
This session will provide lessons we learned while working on a proposal for a $750M federal contract as an incumbent. At the time, the incumbent (and prime) was a 5,000-person engineering firm teamed with a global IT firm we had never worked with and a dozen new subs. At the beginning it was ugly, but we turned the experience into a win, saving dozens of jobs and winning the firm’s largest contract ever at the time. We will discuss some things we did well, and some not so well. You will learn some tricks that resulted in a big win.
For 25 years, Cara Bobchek has advised architectural, engineering, and construction firms on marketing and strategy. She helps firms identify and address their management, operational, and marketing issues, defining near-term goals and long-term vision. She is coauthor of Strategic Planning for Design Firms (Kaplan AEC, 2007). Cara’s report on a proprietary survey of the motivations of young architects and engineers, Future Leaders Focus, was published to wide interest nationwide in late 2007.
Tracy Cain, Business Development Manager, Watershed Concepts, has 10 years’ experience in marketing and proposal management for federal, state, and local agencies for engineering, GIS, IT and related professional services contracts. She has led winning proposal efforts for many multi-million dollar federal contracts. Tracy does not think that everyone else should have to struggle as much as she did in the beginning; therefore, she is a supporter of organizations like APMP.
Managing Interdepartmental Communications for Proposal Development
Who Should Attend: Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
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 among key business development personnel leading proposal projects must be timely, effective, and efficient to minimize costs in time and internal resource use. This presentation offers an approach to create a communications plan designed to manage the dynamic and complex inter-departmental communications before, during, and following proposal development. Recommended methods and techniques are presented to create and streamline communications processes in terms of planning and schedule.
Mitch Reed PPM.APMP is a capture manager for DataPath, Inc., which provides satellite communication solutions for the US Government. 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, GA.
Managing Risk in International Contracting
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
This presentation addresses how today's global, networked economy has added to the complexity of aligning customer needs with business capabilities, and has dramatically raised the stakes in getting it right and the risks of getting it wrong. It answers several key questions: How are top corporations addressing the challenges of operating in the global economy? What is the role of the contract in supporting competitiveness? What actions can proposal professionals take to ensure that "business prevention departments" don't obstruct their opportunities? And, how can an improved understanding of international contracting processes be leveraged to increase chances of contract success? Attendees in this session will learn:
- Organizational approaches to international contracting and commitment management
- Key issues and challenges in international deals and opportunities
- Ways to improve collaboration among groups charged with “risk responsibility”
Howard Nutt is Executive Director of the BD-Institute, an international non-profit organization. He managed development of the BD-CMM and works with companies around the world to implement this best-practices model. He has more than 25 years’ business development experience and is a former owner of Shipley Associates, where he established the Business Development Process Consulting Practice. In addition, Howard is an APMP charter member, Fellow, and past Board member.
Tim Cummins is President and Chief Executive Officer, International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM). He works with leading corporations, public bodies, and academic organizations, educating executives on the role of Commitment Management in today's business performance and public policy. Prior to IACCM, Tim held executive roles at IBM and worked on the Chairman's staff, leading studies on impacts of globalization and reengineering IBM's global contracting processes. His work has been extensively published, and he has advised government bodies around the world.
Managing Teams in the Virtual Continuum
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
Business development best practices feature collocation as a cardinal rule. However, in today’s electronic workplace, tapping into resources to use the best people for your proposal may require some flexibility in the collocation rule. Current multi-disciplinary research that indicates virtual teams can be highly productive and successful. This presentation expands the definition of virtual teaming, discusses the variables necessary to create a successful virtual teaming environment, and illustrates how you can apply tried and true managerial practices into cyberspace.
Ruth Belanger AM.APMP has been a proposal process manager with Northrop Grumman Space Technology for six years. She has 10 years’ experience as a manager of technical publications, document control, and research services with a Federal contract to license the Yucca Mt as a nuclear waste repository. She has presented at APMP Annual Conferences in New Orleans and Savannah. Ruth is accredited at the Foundation Level.
Metrics for Business Development Excellence
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
This presentation discusses the results of the BD-Institute's 2007 Research Forum on “Metrics for Business Development Excellence.” This research study assessed the state-of-the-art in business development metrics and developed appropriate metrics schemas for small, standalone, and complex company settings. The study included data from more than 75 companies across a wide variety of industries representing both local and global perspectives. The research identified metrics that were most valuable to companies in accelerating success. Session participants will learn how to build appropriate metrics approaches that will provide predictive, in-progress and reflective measures.
Charlie Divine PPF.APMP currently serves as the Director of Research and Knowledge Management for the Business Development Institute International and as Director of Education for APMP. He led development of a comprehensive body of knowledge, BD-KnowledgeBase, for APMP and the BD-Institute. He is a certified BD-CMM Appraiser for the BD-Institute, an APMP Fellow, and APMP certified at the Professional level.
Vicki Griesinger is Director of Operations of the Business Development Institute International and a certified BD-CMM Appraiser. She has more than 25 years’ management experience in business development, strategy, proposal development, talent acquisition, and competitive intelligence. She is a long-time APMP member; she served on the Board of Directors and as CEO during 1991-1996. Vicki has also led competitive/market intelligence organizations and is an active member of SCIP and its Women’s Leadership Council.
Mid-size Companies Managing Large Proposals
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
Mid-size companies that have recently graduated from small business status have to develop expertise in responding to larger, more complex proposals if they want to compete with large businesses and win. Successfully accomplishing this transition requires changes in the corporate culture, including a plan of attack for moving the organization to a different level of thinking and acting. With executive support, capture and proposal personnel need to understand the critical role they play in helping lead the organization to change, how to address the needs of the employees who will support the process, and how to effectively deal with resistance.
Catherine Howser has more than 25 years’ experience in government proposal management, business capture process, proposal writing, contract administration, training, and customer service. She uses her winning attitude, high standards, problem-solving techniques, and finely honed people skills in negotiating and administering her responsibilities. She has built and restructured multiple proposal departments with staff to support corporate goals. Catherine leads multi-disciplined teams for strategic proposal efforts, including consultants, subcontractor staff, and graphics and production personnel.
From Missed Communication to Miscommunication: Identifying Communication Gaps and How to Decipher What We Are REALLY Saying—From Both Sides
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
This panel of industry and government representatives on the Acquisition Task Force will show where communication could be added to enhance understanding of customer needs, and how contractors can provide input during the acquisition lifecycle. Using humorous real-world examples from RFPs and proposals, the panel will perform skits to examine miscommunications that often occur. The Task Force will give helpful hints on when and how to make comments, so Government and industry can start thinking alike. Industry wants to hear more from our Government counterparts, and this is an excellent opportunity to ask questions!
Kristin Dufrene, a CACI senior proposal development manager, has extensive experience in all acquisition lifecycle stages. She currently chairs the APMP Government-Industry Acquisition Task Force. Kristin presented at the 2007 NCA Chapter Professional Day, and has presented at four Annual APMP Conferences, including last year’s Task Force panel. Joining her are Government and Industry Task Force members who are working on Phase 2 of their charter—create an improved process for more effective procurement efforts.
Oh, the People You’ll Meet
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
To be successful as a proposal professional, you need to be able to deal with all sorts of personalities, and bring out the best in the people that make up your proposal team. During his more than 25 years in the proposal game, BJ Lownie, Director of Strategic Proposals, has developed many high-performing and successful proposal teams and worked with a great variety of people and personalities. In this interactive and lively session, BJ will introduce you to some of the characters he has met along the way and offer tips on how to deal with them.
BJ Lownie PPF.APMP, Director of Strategic Proposals LLC, brings an incredible amount of experience within the proposal arena. He has more than 25 years’ experience, is a founding member of APMP, has achieved Professional-level accreditation, and is an elected Fellow. He has presented at many APMP conferences, and his presentations are always insightful, informative, engaging, and entertaining. You are sure to leave with a new perspective on proposals and well prepared to develop high-impact responses.
Your Other Proposal Team: Strategic External Resources to Position Your Company for Success
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Many organizations must decide whether or not to use external resources to augment their in-house assets due to funding restraints or surge requirements. This panel of APMP Fellows will discuss the external resources available to capture and proposal teams, such as training, personnel, creative, and production. Discussion topics include what types of resources are available, when to use outside help, how to achieve management buy-in, where to find available resources, and how to determine cost points and measure success. The panel members will use case studies and their expertise to demonstrate the advantages, and potential disadvantages, of using outside resources.
John Elder AF.APMP joined CACI International Inc in 1998, and is currently the Presentations and Proposal Production Manager. Prior to joining CACI, he worked as a proposal consultant for five years. He holds a BA in English and an MA in Journalism from the University of South Carolina. John, an APMP Fellow, is the Managing Editor of the Journal of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals and has previously presented at national and regional conferences.
Overcoming Business Culture Obstacles in Proposal Development Process and Infrastructure
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
Many proposal professionals face serious business culture obstacles in bringing process discipline to their companies, even if they are hired to do so. This presentation shows a path to success for a proposal professional in this position. The presentation addresses case studies that illustrate the issue of gaining credibility, the importance of being mentored (even at age 50+), and the ability to hang in there when you feel that you may not be aligned with your business culture.
Since joining Raytheon in November of 2001, Mary O’Sullivan has initiated many innovations to the capture proposal process. Among these are introducing the concept of formal processes for Win Strategy Workshops, Blue Teams, Black Hat Reviews, and Pink and Red Teams. In addition, Mary led the design and development of a new proposal development infrastructure and matrix organization, including a new 8,300 sq. ft. facility.
Positioning Nokia Siemens Networks for Global Success
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), a merger of three global businesses completed April 2007, is the world’s second largest telecommunications company. This case study shows how NSN applied a bid process template to create a scaleable global model suitable for large strategic bids and economic for task order bids to existing customers. The NSN Customer Sales Support Centre in Delhi, NSN also addressed when being close to the customer is key to success and how much can be centralised in a global business. The presenters will show how NSN tackled this dilemma.
Bio(s):
Wolfram Seyring is head of Global Bid Management for Nokia Siemens Networks and director of the new Customer Sales Support Centre in Delhi. Based in Dusseldorf, he has more than 18 years’ experience in sales roles, and joined Nokia Networks in 2000 as Head of System Marketing and sponsor of the Bid Box project. Wolfram has been a member of the APMP since March 2007 and is Chairman of the APMP German Chapter.
David Warley PPM.APMP is a telecommunications professional and owner of Bid to Win Ltd. Educated at Newcastle University, he joined British Telecommunications in 1970. He has had a long and successful career in business development first at ICL Network Systems, where he authored The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to Bid Management, and other international companies. He has been an independent consultant since 1995. Based in London, David is an accredited Professional of the APMP.
Pricing to Win—The Art of Pricing
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
The panel will present and discuss the Art of Pricing and discuss the keys to achieving success using real-life examples encompassing all aspects of pricing, including Price-To-Win, Independent Cost Estimate/“Should-Cost,” Pricing Strategy, selection and/or creation of appropriate cost centers, enforcing consistent level of assumed risk across estimating elements, and several other key considerations. The approach will address new competitions, as well as recompetes. The panel participants are experienced experts in pricing who have been selected to represent the perspectives of large-, medium-, and small-size businesses.
Bill Brigadier is President, Brigadier Consulting, Inc., a full-service firm providing capture, proposal, price-to-win and BOE support. Prior positions include VP, Southeast Region for a capture/proposal consulting firm; VP of Business Development at Titan; Director, Missile Defense Line of Business at TRW; and Lieutenant Colonel (Retired), US Army Missile Logistics and US Army Acquisition Corps. Bill is a graduate of the DoD Defense Procurement School.
Rhonda Holt is Director of Operations for the Air, Missile, and National Defense Organization at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), where she leads the strategic pricing activities of this $400M organization and crafts innovative pricing practices within CSC’s Defense Division. Prior positions include Contracts Manager at SAIC, and pricing and business management at several small businesses.
Bruce Morton is Senior Manager, Capture Excellence at Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services. Concurrently, he is an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University. Prior positions include Principal Consultant, Lohfeld Consulting; VP, Capture Management, CACI; Director, Corporate Capture Management, Titan; various business development positions at Lockheed Martin; and System Design Engineer, GE Aerospace. He presented “Keys to Successful Capture Management” in 2007 and chaired a Capture Management Panel in 2004.
Decision 2008: Proposal Consultants—Yeah or Nay?
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Whether a small company with a limited staff or a large company bidding a billion dollar project, many companies engage outside assistance to help develop proposals. There are pitfalls and advantages for both parties. Can a company get capable help at a reasonable cost that results in a proposal that best represents their company? Can a consultant make a contribution, earn a fair wage, and avoid being abused? Paul Jacobs will moderate this debate of the good, the bad, and the ugly from both sides of the consulting equation, with Michelle Norman representing the consultants and Terry Clayton the employers.
Terry Clayton AM.APMP, Director Proposal Development, Wackenhut Services, Inc., has, over the past decade, managed more than 100 proposals for contracts valued from $5M to $1B for US Government agencies. Previously, she contributed to proposals as an SME/writer/coordinator for 15 years. Partnering with companies, such as Lockheed, CH2MHill, IAP, Northrop, KBR, and numerous small businesses, have provided valuable insights into using consultants. An APMP member since 1997, Terry is accredited at the APMP Foundation Level.
Paul Jacobs AM.APMP is Director Business Development at Wackenhut Services Inc. (WSI). Since 2001, he has served as proposal or capture manager on numerous WSI proposals ranging in value from $5M to $1.3B. Before WSI, he was a proposal consultant following retirement after 29 years as a US Air Force instructor pilot, where he also served in staff positions authoring various proposals and concepts for operational improvements. Paul is accredited at APMP Foundation Level.
Michelle Norman, a proposal manager consultant, began consulting after 23 years with BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., where she was a contracting and vendor relationship manager. Understanding that proposal management is the other side of the coin of contract management, she ventured into the proposal world, gaining experience in the various industries. Michelle has worked with BellSouth, Kaiser, CA, Scientific Atlanta, Genesys Labs, and Wackenhut Services, Inc. as an employee, contractor, and consultant.
The Proposal Exorcist: Purging Proposal Demons
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Exorcise troublesome demons that can possess your proposal team and its effort to develop a winning proposal. Serving as the unofficial APMP conference exorcist, Chuck will describe 10 demons—big, little, and in-between—that can terrorize the planning, development, and review of your proposal. More importantly, he will minister to the APMP “congregation,” recommending practical tips for keeping these demons away, or attacking and purging them if they do show up. Ironically, one of his recommendations will reflect the wisdom in the saying: "The devil is in the details." Come early to get a seat in the front pew!
Chuck Keller, a proposal professional for 25 years, is the owner of Keller Proposal Development & Training. He is also the president of ProposalCafe.com, a Website for those who develop commercial, government, and grant proposals. Chuck is the co-author of the proposal textbook, Proposal Writing: The Art of Friendly and Winning Persuasion (www.prenhall.com/proposalwriting). He is an APMP charter member and Fellow, and one of the founders of the Georgia and Florida APMP chapters.
You Know You Need a Proposal Resource Center When...
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
This session examines all aspects of the proposal process, including management, process drivers, measurement, reviews, change control, documentation and guidance, people and teams, and deliverables. Starting with a brief quiz to help you determine if your proposal process is broken or simply needs a little help, the session will assist you in determining your specific needs through the examination of best practices, such as the use of a proposal resource center to support the proposal process.
Lynda Jewell is VP of Marketing and Product at Octant. She brings more than 25 years’ software development and project management experience to the product development and management of Octant’s Enterprise Management Suite™. She delivers industry-focused software that promotes information sharing, productivity, and enduring relationships between application users and businesses. Lynda recently spoke at the LAVACon Conference on Advanced Tech Comm and Project Management and presented at the 2007 APMP Annual Conference.
Proposals on a Shoestring: Paring Down the Process
Marketing and proposal processes are designed to ensure compliance and success. For many businesses, the full-up approach is unreachable due to financial and personnel resource limitations. The Kims, who bring more than 50 years’ combined quality capture management and compliant, winning proposal management experience, will explore why “prior preparedness prevents proposal pandemonium” with their approaches for capture planning and proposal development. They will present a “pared down proposal process” showing the direct relationship between capture phase and proposal preparation by identifying critical path milestones while sharing experiences and knowledge that attendees can apply immediately—even before they return home.
Kim Monti AM.APMP (Kim1) is President, of AchieveIt! Inc. She has more than 25 years’ experience in technical, capture, and proposal management for companies bidding to the US Government and internationally in various industries. An effective translator between engineer-eese and English, her experience in establishing proposal support groups and functions comes from working with EG&G, BDM, Nortel, iRobot, and Lockheed Martin. A certified Shipley trainer since the early 1990s, Kim1 holds the APMP Foundation-level accreditation.
Kim Brody Salazar (Kim 2), Proposal Leader, iRobot Corporation, has prepared engineering and research grants and proposals since 1980 with the scars to prove it. She has worked across the corporate-size spectrum with RMP, Battelle, Dynamac, BDM, Ironbridge, Bay Networks, Nortel, AS&E, and others. Specializing in establishing the proposal function at resource-challenged and smaller firms, she is now at iRobot providing robots worldwide to safeguard infantry, explosives disposal teams, and first responders.
Great Proposal Teams Work Together
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Fun and interactive activities will show several team-building activities that help build new teams, deal with change, increase and improve communication, and keep internal competition. You will not just sit there; you will participate and take back some great activities for your own team.
Gillian Dionne AM.APMP directs HQ task order proposal support and company-wide collaborative tools at General Dynamics Information Technology. Her experience includes corporate communications, technical writing, corporate training, and business development. She holds an MS in Information Systems and a BA in Journalism, and is APMP certified at the Foundation level. Gillian presented at the 2006, 2005, 2003, and 2002 Annual APMP Conferences; 2007 APMP National Capital Area (NCA) Professional Day; and 2007 SPAC Conference.
Christine Galante AM.APMP manages proposals for the Simulation & Training Division of General Dynamics Information Technology, in Orlando, FL. She has more than 16 years’ proposal experience, including office management, capture management processes, and business development. She holds a BA in Business Management, is an MBA candidate in Organizational Development (Sept 08), and APMP certified at the Foundation level. Christine presented at the 2006 Annual APMP Conference and the 2007 SPAC Conference in Chapel Hill, NC.
Quality Can Be Measured—Even on Proposals
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Find out how to achieve a seamless transition from capture to proposal by learning to measure your progress toward being ready for RFP release. We will discuss how to define readiness, quantify progress, and integrate your capture and proposal processes. Learn to define and measure proposal quality, bring improved focus and purpose to your reviews, and link quality with winning. If you are struggling with your process, starting unprepared at RFP release, and your Red Teams are not effective, do not despair. Learn to improve your results by completely re-engineering your process around what really matters.
Carl Dickson is the founder of CapturePlanning.com, the popular Website for learning about proposal writing and business development with more than 55,000 subscribers. For 18 years, he has helped companies win proposals. He has served as a president of the National Capital Area Chapter of APMP, VP of a major proposal consulting firm, and developer of Web-based proposal management software. He is a frequent speaker with a pragmatic task-oriented presentation style.
Selling Your Team: The Art of Proposal Resumes
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Have you struggled to make your resumes fit with the rest of your proposal? Want to learn how to edit resumes to best demonstrate your team’s capabilities. This hands-on presentation will teach you tips and tricks on how to manage resumes overall. Real-world examples will be shown throughout this presentation, so be sure to bring pen and paper. This session will benefit any professionals who write resumes, whether as part of a large proposal center or as a Proposal Lone Ranger.
Jeannette Waldie AM.APMP is the Senior Marketing Coordinator for TCB in Houston, TX. An APMP member since 2001, she has managed commercial and government proposals for more than 15 years, managing all aspects of proposal development from template design and formatting to coordinating a team of 30 for a $1B pursuit. She has served on both the Greater Houston Chapter Board and the International Board. Jeanette writes “The Proposal Lone Ranger” column in the Perspective.
Survival: A How-To Guide for the Independent
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
The presentation will focus on the struggles facing the independent proposal consultant and some of the strategies necessary for survival.
Ken Blair is a technology/business consultant with more than 25 years’ experience in the IT field with recent emphasis on proposal development. Over the last five years, he has been a significant contributor to more than 150 proposals worth more than $2B. Additionally, he has extensive experience in management support consulting, as well as vision and strategy development and execution. Ken founded Blair Associates, a consulting company based in Brooksville, FL, three years ago.
Motivating, Recognizing, and Rewarding on Steroids
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
As a capture team leader, business developer, or proposal manager, you will learn the 3-ring model of techniques for motivating, recognizing, and rewarding the proposal team. Proposal team morale, energy, and enthusiasm are a critical success factors for winning. Learn about creative ways to be recognized and rewarded for your efforts. Discover compensation/salary survey results on innovative ways that proposal teams are being rewarded. This dynamic and entertaining presentation will teach your teams how to work hard but have fun. You will take away unique techniques that you can quickly use to lead your team into the Winner’s Circle.
Jay Herther has more than 20 years’ experience leading capture teams to achieve a 78 percent win rate totaling more than $10B. He is author of four Journal and two Perspective articles. This topic will be published in the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of the Journal. He is a member of the APMP Nor’easters Chapter and has presented at many APMP Annual Conferences and other forums. Jay was awarded the APMP Insight Award in 2007.
What Happens to Us if the Government Adopts Risk-Based Source Selection?
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
The Defense Performance Acquisition Assessment provided recommendations to improve the DoD acquisition system for major programs. A DAPA recommendation, briefed to DAPA by Colbaugh & Heinsheimer Consulting, Inc., was that source selection be based solely on an integrated risk assessment. Mission performance, cost, and schedule would be specified, and these evaluations would be pass-fail with no credit for “better.” Source selection would be an integrated risk assessment of the likelihood that an offerers’ approach would achieve the desired mission result within specified cost and schedule. This presentation examines changes in the capture/proposal process resulting from this paradigm shift.
Edmund H. Conrow PhD, a consultant at Colbaugh & Heinsheimer Consulting, Inc., has 30 years’ experience on projects with lifecycle dollar ranges from several million dollars to $100B. He helped develop a risk management policy widely used across industry, government, and professional organizations. He managed risk on a wide variety of programs and proposals. Edmund is the leading author in the risk management field, including Effective Risk Management: Some Keys to Success (AIAA 2003).
Eric Heinsheimer is a consultant at Colbaugh & Heinsheimer Consulting, Inc. and is knowledgeable of the trends and projections of international armed forces systems and requirements. Eric participated in international aviation competitions worldwide with armed forces of allied and potentially rival nations to gain first-hand experience in military aviation methods and technologies used by participating nations.
Tom Heinsheimer is Managing Director of Colbaugh & Heinsheimer Consulting, Inc. where he leads the capture and proposal efforts for procurements, such as the NASA CEV, USAF GPS and TSAT, proprietary programs, Iridium NEXT, and NASA COTS. Prior to this position, he was the Executive VP and Chief Scientist at SM&A. Tom has published papers on IR astronomy, international planetary programs, and experimental manned ballooning and served on the NASA Space Sciences Advisory Committee.
Road Past Perdition: Improving Use of Competitor Analysis
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
As they implement best practices and move through BD-CMM phases, firms face the challenge of optimizing the use of competitive analysis (CA). In other words, they hope to move from bidding nearly blind in Lost City, OK to skyrocketing win rates in Happy, KY. This session will map the progression from a proposal manager asking “who are our competitors?” at a kick-off meeting to leveraging a large firm’s dedicated CA unit. Attendees can learn how to encourage adoption of these best practices. Christy Roach will illustrate the CA progression with real-life examples drawn from personal experience.
Christy Roach has 13 years’ proposal and business development experience, establishing and leading proposal and BD process improvement at KPMG/BearingPoint, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, and now RTI International. She also served as a BD consultant to government contractors at Design To Delivery.
What a Steak and a Proposal Have in Common or What Proposal Managers Can Learn From Haute Cuisine
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Developing a winning bid is like preparing an excellent dish. You need ingredients (your underlying products/solutions); a recipe that meets your guest's desires (your offering); and to present your work nicely on the table (your key messages and storyline); and finally, the little something that makes the difference—the spice, the steak’s sizzle. Attendees will learn the translation into developing a winning proposal, applying CSK’s BidMaster™ methodology. The presentation will focus on the message tree concept—a systematic approach to developing proposal strategies by formulating the right key messages and deriving a convincing, differentiating storyline.
Christopher S. Kaelin is founder of CSK Management, a consultancy for strategy development and proposal management. He successfully managed more than 20 telecom license bids with a total value of $35B. CSK developed the BidMaster™ approach for winning proposals and provides trainings, helps companies establish best practice processes, and supports them onsite in strategic proposals. He also worked with IBM, Arthur D. Little, and SONY. Chris holds a masters degree in business administration and IT.
I Submitted My Proposal and You Stomped That Sucker Flat: What Nashville and Songwriters Can Teach Us About Winning Proposals
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Songwriters can teach us a lot about immediately hooking evaluators and communicating persuasively. Common elements are simplicity, focus, poetic devices, structure, and word choice. Successful song and proposal writers train, practice, and outsource key elements.
Intended to be entertaining and informative, we will use songs, lyrics, and stories to learn what songwriters can teach us about crafting winning proposals. Learn what hit songs have in common with strategy development, executive summaries, theme statements, oral proposals, section writing, captions, and customer focus. If you hate country music and cannot stand to laugh, select another presentation.
Larry Newman PPF.APMP is an APMP-certified PPM, APMP Fellow, a Shipley founding partner, and author of the Shipley Proposal Guide. He has more than 20 years’ experience as an author, presenter, facilitator, proposal consultant, and instructional designer. He has presented at 20 national and regional APMP conferences and national sales meetings, as well as to other professional societies. Larry hosts the Country Folk radio show on KGLT community radio.
Teaming and Subcontracting
Presenters: Kirste Webb and Maria Witkowski APM.APMP
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
A critical component of the capture strategy is ensuring that we have formed teams with the required capabilities to meet the customers’ needs. In this panel session, we will look at teaming approaches and team composition to respond to several opportunities, their successes or failures, and how they have affected future positioning. We will discuss approaches for performing gap analyses, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and ranking the team against potential competition. Participants will obtain an understanding of methods and processes that can be applied to teaming discussions, as teaming becomes more critical as companies expand their target territories.
Kirste Webb has more than 21 years’ experience providing all facets of business development, proposal development, and marketing. She manages the entire proposal process from strategy development through contract award, including preparing competitive analysis, assisting in developing win strategies and themes, and identifying client requirements. Kirste has been an APMP member for nearly 10 years, currently serving as Secretary on the Board of Directors, co-chairing the 2005 Annual Conference, and serving as conference presenter.
Maria Witkowski APM.APMP manages strategy and development of winning proposals to support TetraTech EC’s annual operating plan and business growth objectives, accomplished through skilled proposal experts in proposal centers and offices nationwide. She provides oversight and direction for developing marketing collaterals, business development databases, and public relations. She holds a BS in construction engineering technology, an MBA, and is an APMP-certified Proposal Practitioner. Maria has been an APMP member and conference presenter since 1992.
Ten Tender Tricks When Time is Tight
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Do you ever lack the time and resources to submit a bid despite your best efforts? This situation is faced daily in Australia thanks to the country’s longest economic expansion in 100 years and unemployment at its lowest rate in decades. Many company executives, including bid managers and proposal writers, are overstretched. Bid preparation times are being squeezed as companies want to fast-track projects to capitalise on the expansion. This presentation outlines 10 tricks used by a proposal professional to help businesses win bids in an environment where neither time nor resources are available to prepare bids the textbook way.
Nigel Dennis, B.Eng, MBA is one of the few truly specialist and full-time bid consultants in Australia. With a Defence Forces background, he gained a professional reputation for his bid work over the last 12 years. Completing assignments overseas and throughout Australia, Nigel has worked on more than 1,000 bid documents and helped companies in a variety of industries win billions of dollars worth of commercial and government contracts. This is his first APMP presentation.
Top Ten Tactics for Winning Proposals
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Tired of the same challenges on every proposal effort? Frustrated by an inefficient process, low energy teams and “we’ve always done it this way”? Simply keen to embrace new ideas to win more bids, more easily? The session promises to be both entertaining and challenging as Jon draws on his work with proposal centres worldwide, sharing his Top 10 tactics for sharpening an organisation's proposal performance. Whether you are looking to transform your proposal operations from good enough to extraordinary—or to fine tune already high-performing capabilities—this practical session will help you to identify improvement opportunities and priorities.
Since 2002, Jon Williams, Managing Director, Strategic Proposals, has presented at every APMP conference. He started in procurement and served on the board of PMMS, the influential purchasing consultancy. After managing one of Europe’s leading proposal centres, he founded Strategic Proposals’ UK operation in 2001 and has worked with proposal teams in more than 20 countries. Co-author of the popular blog, “The Proposal Guys,” Jon, an APMP Fellow, served as UK APMP’s first CEO.
I'm Not There...Making Proposals Remotely Possible (Managing Proposals in a Virtual Global World)
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
IBM proposal managers who manage large, complex proposals developed and fine tuned processes for covering more proposals and RFP responses in parallel and managing global teams without travel. Emerging realities—concurrent proposals, multiple geographies, reduced budgets and response turnaround, and more complex requirements—are driving proposals to be developed and delivered with new logistics. We will discuss tools and processes employed to manage multiple, virtual teams using standard platforms similar to those of other companies. Our team will share what we tested and what works, thereby enhancing the APMP Body of Knowledge by presenting best practices in a new context.
We'll present an overview of our key points and launch into a panel discussion where we invite lively audience interaction with IBM proposal managers, Steve Beeler, Laura Higgins, Cindy Palmer and Nate Van Wooten, all who possess varied backgrounds—writing, proposal management, and sales. They are members of IBM's Global Deal Hub sales support unit and have tenure with IBM ranging from 5 to 25 years. We currently manage complex proposal responses that are global in scope with teams to match. We use technology-enabled collaboration tools similar to those available in the marketplace to manage proposal responses developed by virtual teams.
We Knew it All: Ways to Improve Basic Processes
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
An invitation to a proposal represents a gateway to potentially lucrative work. But the process involves more than writing a strong proposal. You and your team members must launch a coordinated effort to research the prospective client's goals, competitors, and industry needs; evaluate necessary resources, including staff time, equipment, and technical support; and develop an accurate budget and realistic schedule. Using practical examples and case studies, this presentation will discuss ways to improve some process elements and how to effectively manage a proposal team.
Chris Rademeyer has a Masters degree in Communications and started his career in the South African Defence Force and later became the spokesperson for the Defence Secretariat. For some years he worked in the adverting and food industry where after he managed the proposal centre in Telkom (SA Telephone Company). Chris worked in the IT and outsourcing industry and is currently the Head of the Public Sector Proposal Office for Deloitte in South Africa.
When Price is the Object
Who Should Attend: Intermediate-Level and Advanced-Level Proposal Professionals
This is a discussion about the importance of having a price to win (PTW) for planning and strategizing the pricing decision for the organization. Depending on the acquisition, different models for handling the price decision, and we will talk about the different modeling techniques to address PTW. We will discuss the value of information in the public domain and the methods of researching competitive assessment and landscape. Additionally, we discuss the importance of the client opening up and sharing their pricing strategy to help narrow in on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) to the organization.
Michael A. Tresko has more than 20 years’ experience in management and new business within the defense, aerospace, IT, telecom and services industries. Currently, he is a consultant for SM&A providing both price-to-win and volume leadership. At HP/Compaq, he was the Operations Manager for a $450M global services territory, providing profitability, due diligence, and negotiations activities.
Win or No Win? How to Make Winning Executive Summaries
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
We are bombarded by a whopping 3,000 brand impressions per day. On average, marketing and business materials have our attention for 3-10 seconds. Do you want to get your reviewer’s attention immediately? And hold it for even a minute? You do? Then spend some time with your executive summary—both your graphics and your text layout. Learn how to increase retention and win rates with eye-catching visuals. Learn to improve existing graphics and layouts with methods proven to give your reviewer pause. Play “Win or No Win,” and create better and more client-focused graphics then your competitors.
Mike Parkinson and Colleen Jolly, owners of 24 Hour Company—the premier proposal graphics company in Falls Church, VA—are frequent speakers at APMP conferences around the world and contributors to the APMP Journal on proposal graphic and general management topics. Combined they have more than 16 years’ proposal experience and have helped their clients win more than $20B in business. Both have extensive knowledge in art/graphic design and their translation into proposals. Mike has published two books on the topic of conceptualizing graphics (www.billiondollargraphics.com). Colleen is a docent at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Wordman’s Microsoft Word Q&A
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
From the pages of the APMP Perspective, Wordman returns for the fifth time to answer your questions and solve your problems using Microsoft Word for proposal production. This session has been immensely popular at the last five Annual Conferences and is suitable for all levels of expertise with Word and Microsoft Office in general. There is no formal agenda—bring your questions! From one attendee at the 2005 Annual Conference in Phoenix: "...an excellent session. I was reminded of some powerful features of Word that I've had difficulty with before, and now I feel comfortable being able to use."
Dick Eassom, AF.APMP is Vice President of Information Technology and Knowledge Management at SM&A. An APMP Fellow and current APMP Chief Executive Officer, he has presented at the last six Annual Conferences on the trials and tribulations of using Microsoft Word for proposal production. Dick authors the "Wordman's Production Corner" in the APMP Perspective under his pseudonym "Wordman," and has led or contributed to numerous proposals in the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia.
Writing Winning Proposals—A Team Effort
Who Should Attend: All Proposal Professionals
Proposals are almost always a part of a larger sales cycle, and many different people and departments are usually involved. For example, managers, technical and product experts, account executives, and writers all may be working on the same project and contributing to a written proposal. Since proposal writing is often a team effort, the people involved must share common concepts and vocabulary to ensure content completeness and consistency. In this session, Cathy Nairne will teach writers how they can apply a researched-based, field-proven method to efficiently produce results-getting proposals.
Cathy Nairne joined Information Mapping, Inc. in 1992 as a lead instructor delivering both traditional and Web-based workshops. In 1995, she became Manager of Learning Programs, where she oversees a staff of 25 professionals and the design and development of new workshops and products. An experienced and dynamic speaker, Cathy empowers business professionals throughout the country to effectively plan and design content for a variety media.