Statement_of_Work_Redacted.pdf

January 26, 2018

Statement of Work for Online Media Contacts Database, News Release Distribution System and Media Clips Archive

1. GENERAL

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to conserve fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The authorities under which the Service operates relate to such issues as: endangered species; refuge land acquisition and management; fish hatchery operation and maintenance; review and recommendations for mitigation of adverse impacts resulting from federal activities, including permits for dredging and filling of wetlands; enforcement of federal wildlife laws; migratory bird hunting and management; anadromous fish conservation;

assistance to the States; as well as research related to fish and wildlife and their habitats.

The Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Public Affairs (PUB) serves as a strategic communications advisor and implementation team for the Service and its programs. It works to inform the public and raise the profile of conservation initiatives, while working to project a positive public image of the Service and its employees and to prevent or counter misconceptions that can impede the progress of those initiatives.

PUB works with the Service leadership and Department of the Interior (DOI) Communications Division (OCO) and programs to develop communications strategies and associated products designed to inform and engage the public and key constituent groups concerning the agency’s work. PUB serves as the principal communications staff for the Director, and is responsible for facilitating the Director’s public appearances, providing appropriate speeches, talking points, briefing papers, and other support. In addition, PUB provides content for the Service’s website home page and newsroom.

2. OBJECTIVE/SCOPE

The overall objective and scope of this effort is to support and enhance the Fish and Wildlife Service’s ability to communicate effectively with the media, the public and key stakeholders. In order to accomplish this goal, agency communicators must be able to distribute information quickly and efficiently to media outlets and reporters, and analyze the effectiveness of those distributions and other outreach efforts by monitoring stories appearing in print (online) and broadcast media.

Accordingly, PUB requires a subscription to an integrated system that provides every public affairs employee in headquarters, regional and field offices with:

1. Access to a comprehensive, up-to-date, searchable database of U.S. and international media outlets and reporters.

2. The means to filter that database and create multiple lists of media outlets/ reporters based on issue/topic, location, publication type, individual roles (e.g., editor, reporter, writer), individual beat area, and past articles published by that outlet or reporter.

3. An integrated email distribution mechanism to send selected outlets and reporters communications materials, including embedded images and attached files.

4. The ability to analyze receipt, bounce and open rates of those emails

5. A media monitoring and analysis service that will:

a. Track national and international traditional and social media coverage of the Service.

b. Provide analytical capabilities to enable the evaluation of the effectiveness of Service communications.

The system should be robust, intuitive, easy to use and include dedicated training and round-the-clock access to customer support and technical assistance. General access to the system should be provided to users in External Affairs nationally, although access at any given time may be limited to a set number of users under the terms of the agreement.

3. WORK TO BE PERFORMED BY CONTRACTOR

Media Contacts Database Contractor shall provide a comprehensive solution that enables users to access contact information for media outlets and their professional staff (including writers, reporters, editors and other media professionals) and news media influencers contained in a large and accurate, regularly updated database.

Contractor shall provide a database of traditional and social media contacts that is easily sortable, searchable and able to be organized into customizable, savable lists to facilitate media targeting and monitoring. At a minimum, the database will include individual contact details, contact preferences, areas of focus and keywords that indicate beat areas and recent past work. Access to this database should be unlimited and available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Users should be able to create, import, export and store multiple (100 minimum) custom media lists in the system. These lists will enable individual and outlet tracking such that lists automatically update themselves to follow reporters if they move to another outlet or to replace a reporter that has left an outlet with a new reporter that takes over the same beat. In addition, the database will allow users to record the date and substance of contacts with specific reporters. By linking to analytical software, managers should be able to track and analyze the results of these communications efforts targeting specific reporters. The database should also permit unlimited archiving and retrieval of communications products and distributions for reuse and comparative purposes.

News Release Distribution System Integrated with the media contacts database should be the ability to distribute press releases, media advisories, media pitches and other informational products to outlets and individuals in saved lists. There should be the ability to send at least 5,000 emails on a given day and at least 500,000 emails in a calendar year.

News releases should be able to be formatted for distribution in a user-friendly, robust, online interface that requires download of no additional software and is universally accessible from any computer with an internet connection and a Web browser. Releases should be distributed to media contacts as emails in both HTML and plain text format, and for HTML emails, should have the ability to insert and display graphics as well as text. The system should also enable attachments to be sent with emails.

The system should record and provide for analysis of the emails sent, including receipt and open rates.

News Media Monitoring and Analysis Contractor shall provide a comprehensive Web-based system that precludes the loading of software on individual computers.

Contractor shall maintain an archive of published media that enables search and analysis (together, monitoring) of print (online) and broadcast news stories published on the Web by relevant search terms. Archive will be searchable by keyword, date, media outlet, reporter and multiple other criteria, and search capability will not diminish no matter how long items have been stored in the archive. Searches should provide links to access the complete published/broadcast story. This archive should not diminish or become less searchable over time, meaning searches can be made on historic published stories in the same manner and with the same accuracy and effectiveness as recent published stories.

The monitoring system will allow users to create custom search terms and filter reports by news media source, size and other criteria. These search criteria can be used to generate reports over any desired time period from a day to a year of media coverage that provide full access to media stories. These reports can be emailed automatically to an unlimited number of employees.

Contractor shall provide as many reports and updates as requested by PUB – at least once a day via e-mail.

Contractor shall also provide analytical tools that will allow users to conduct keyword searches of media coverage and assess volume and tone of coverage by geographic area (including country, state and DMA), media type, outlet/reporter influence, language.

This analytical data should be easily accessible and savable for future reference with the ability to tag searches to cross reference with other searches. The system should include the ability to quickly generate graphs and reports summarizing news coverage of Service issues, activities, special media campaigns and general trends as appropriate and required. The system should be capable of producing daily, weekly, monthly or annual media reports summarizing media coverage that can be customized to filter out less relevant and significant stories.

Analytics will be able to compare and analyze media coverage based on custom search parameters selected by the Agency.

Contractor shall provide analytical tools that will enable users to create unlimited graphical representations of media coverage for comparative and analysis purposes using search results. Search results will also be linked to readership data and other information.

For the purposes of coverage analysis and evaluation, the reports will be in a format capable of being saved and downloaded pdf format. Raw data should be able to be saved and downloaded in an Excel spreadsheet or similar universally accepted format for additional offline examination and review of communication efforts. The contractor shall provide more detailed analysis and evaluation of efforts relating to a particular issue or U.S. region on an individual basis as requested.

Training and Support Training should be provided by the contractor at no additional cost. This will include initial training for all users, periodic refresher courses, and training for new employees as needed.

Technical support should be available at all times to resolve problems and ensure that the system is operating properly. The system will provide immediate access to account managers Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 7 pm, and provide online customer support and technical assistance through an established web site at any other time.

4. GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED MATERIALS/SERVICES

The Service will provide its employees with computers to access and utilize the online system, along with the software to download and manipulate the data as part of the evaluation and analysis activity.

5. SUMMARY OF MILESTONE DUE DATES

Within five days after award, PUB will subscribe to services of the contractor.

6. DELIVERABLES

Training, access to the contractor’s online database, distribution system and monitoring system will be provided upon awarding of the contract/subscription.

7. PROJECT COMPLETION/DELIVERY SCHEDULE

Training will be provided based on a schedule agreed upon by the contractor and the Service’s Division of Communications Chief.

8. ADDRESS FOR DELIVERABLES

All deliverables shall be submitted to the following addresses within the specified timeframes.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Attention:

Office of Public Affairs 5275 Leesburg Pike Falls Church, VA 22041-3803

9. TRAVEL EXPENSES

Travel expenses will not be covered.

10. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

This period of performance of this order shall begin upon the date of award and continue for one year, at which time, it can be renewed on a yearly basis for four additional years if performance is satisfactory.

11. LOCATION OF WORK

The contractor shall provide initial on-site training at the Service’s Headquarters Office in Falls Church, VA, as well as ongoing online training and technical assistance. On-site training at other locations may be provided at additional cost.

12. TECHNICAL LIAISON

The Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) for this order is: