Amendment_001.pdf

The purpose of this amendment is to address questions posed by potential offerors regarding the solicitation and extend the due date for quotations. The due date for quotations is hereby extended from August 28, 2018 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to August 29, 2018 5:00 Eastern Time. Questions and responses follow below.

Questions and Answers

1) Who is the incumbent?

Answer: Wedin Communications.

2) Which company, consultant, employee (in terms of role), etc. has performed this scope of work, in part or whole, during the last 18-months?

Answer: Wedin Communications.

3) Is this a full-time 40-hour per week position?

Answer: NIST anticipates that the work shall require full-time level of effort.

4) What is the minimum number of hours per year that the Government expects the Offeror’s personnel to work on the contract, e.g. 1880, 1920, etc.?

Answer: The level of effort anticipated for this requirement is one FTE or equivalent. Reference Section VIII of Attachment I – Statement of Work for required hours.

5) How many hours and/or days per week may the Offeror’s personnel telework?

Answer: This depends on the Offeror’s management approach/management plan. As stated within Attachment II, the Government will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror’s quotation demonstrates an effective and feasible approach for managing a team of personnel; tracking and reporting of project deliverables; resolving conflicts and mitigating delays; regularly engaging NIST research staff in a consistent, meaningful and effective manner on a daily basis.

6) How long does it typically take for an employee to obtain their badge and/or public trust clearance, e.g. 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks?

Answer: The Government anticipates no longer than one-month.

7) Can employees start work prior to obtaining a badge, public trust clearance, etc.?

Answer: Yes

8) How soon after contract award can the Offeror’s employee start work?

Answer: Reference Section VII of Statement of Work (SOW).

9) Does the Table of Contents count against the 15-page limit?

Answer: No

10) Regarding Task 5, will the Offeror’s personnel serve in largely a copywriting role? Or will they serve as almost an editor-in-chief who plans, coordinates, and oversees the publication lifecycle, solicits and/or writes content anew, manages other writers, etc.?

Answer: The role of Offeror’s personnel shall be writing most of the content – with editorial guidance from NIST staff. Please see the revised SOW for more details.

11) Regarding Task 6, will the offeror’s personnel write a detailed and comprehensive communication plan? Or will they write more of a short tactical plan?

Answer: The communication plan shall be sufficient to guide the communication strategy for each contract period. Reference Attachment I for page length details.

12) Regarding Task 6, will the communication plan build upon strategies, plans, etc. prepared by previous contractors and/or NIST employees? Or will work be fresh and new?

Answer: Upon award, the Government will provide the Contractor to existing strategies. The Contractor shall provide the Government recommendations to existing strategies within its communication plans and tactics document. Please see the revised SOW for more details.

13) Regarding Task 8, how often do meetings occur? Are they regularly scheduled or largely ad-hoc?

Answer: The Government anticipates that there will be 2-4 regularly scheduled meetings and 2-4 ad-hoc meetings.

14) Regarding Task 8, what type of activities will the Offeror’s personnel perform prior to, during, and after meetings, e.g. logistics, event planning, minutes, etc.?

Answer: Reference revised Statement of Work.

15) Regarding Task 9, what type of activities will the Offeror’s personnel perform prior to, during, and after SEPA, e.g. logistics, event planning, minutes, etc.?

Answer: Reference Task 9 for what is required of the Contractor.

16) Will the Offeror’s personnel need experience in any particular design software, e.g. InDesign?

Answer: No

17) Regarding Deliverable 3, Fact Sheets, will the Offeror’s personnel only produce content? If no, what other roles will the Offeror’s personnel perform, e.g., layout, image selection, etc.?

Answer: The Offeror’s personnel shall produce content, image selection, and layout as appropriate.

18) Generally speaking, who will design, develop, and provide graphics, images, and other relevant creative assets?

Answer: It is not expected that the Offeror’s personnel shall design, develop, and produce graphics.

19) Given SOW Section XI’s statement of “…at least one contractor personnel…,” how should offerors account for the potentiality of additional personnel in both its technical and price proposal? How many additional personnel does the government plan or expect to add to this contract in each year of the contract?

Answer: The proposed labor-mix is the discretion of the Offeror. The Government does not anticipate the Level of Effort to increase in the option years.

20) How will the Government calculate the 10% metric referenced in SOW Section IV Performance

Requirement Summary “a” phrased as, “No more than 10% of the written…”?

Answer: The metric is what percentage of the total text in a product is deemed inaccurate by subject matters experts reviewing the text. If the product consists of ten equal sections, one section would be considered 10%

21) We have a question related to the minimum requirement related to education: Is the Master’s

Degree a hard requirement?

Answer: A Master’s degree is preferred.

22) Do we need to come to NIST for meetings?

Answer: This depends on the Offeror’s management approach/management plan. As stated within Attachment II, the Government will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror’s quotation demonstrates an effective and feasible approach for managing a team of personnel; tracking and reporting of project deliverables; resolving conflicts and mitigating delays; regularly engaging NIST research staff in a consistent, meaningful and effective manner on a daily basis. The Contractor may participate NIST meeting remotely.

23) Can companies from outside USA apply for this (e.g. from India or Canada)?

Answer: The solicitation explicitly says that the acquisition is 100% set-aside for small businesses.

Non-U.S. entities are considered large businesses.

24) Can we perform the tasks (related to the RFQ) outside U.S.A. (e.g. from India or Canada)?

Answer: Reference response to question 23.

25) Can we submit the proposals via e-mail?

Answer: Reference Attachment II, Instruction to Offerors.

26) What is the current contract number and value?

Answer: The current contract number is SB1341-15-SE-0380. Additional information could be located via FPDS at FPDS.gov.

27) How many hours are required weekly?

Answer: Reference responses to questions 3 & 4.

28) Is offsite/remote work acceptable?

Answer: Reference Section VIII of the SOW.

29) I would like to include the names of individuals who can serve as references. Is it allowable to include as a reference the name of the NIST staff member? Is it allowable to include as a reference the name of a NIST staff member who is a member of the office from which the solicitation originates?

Answer: Yes.