ATTACHMENT A_36C10X23R0037 A0002.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 25 KB Posted
- Attached to
- R426--Solicitation for communication support and paid media for suicide prevention efforts (VA-23-00035099)
- Solicitation number
- 36C10X23R0037
About this file
This document contains a question and answer template and government responses to frequently asked questions regarding a solicitation for communication support and paid media for suicide prevention efforts. The solicitation seeks proposals for contractor support to assist the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in developing and implementing a variety of communication products, proactive strategies, and effective distribution processes related to suicide prevention. Key details include that the incumbent contractor is The District Communications Group LLC, proposals are due by January 25, 2024, and the estimated value of the contract is $48 million over the period of performance. The solicitation also involves coordinating up to 40 national events and conferences, procuring exhibit space, providing logistical support, updating website content, assuming control of the VeteransCrisisLine.net website, and conducting a paid media campaign of at least $2.4 million per year.
View the file
Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| RFP 36C10X23R0037 A0002 Tracked Changes.docx | DOCX document | |
| RFP 36C10X23R0037 A0002 Conformed.pdf | ||
| 36C10X23R0037 0002.docx | DOCX document | |
| 36C10X23R0037.docx | DOCX document | |
| ATTACHMENT B 36C10X23R0037 (PPQ).docx | DOCX document | |
| ATTACHMENT A_36C10X23R0037 (QA Template).xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Request for Proposal 36C10X23R0037.pdf |
On GovTribe
Work with this file
- Download the original file
- Contacts named in this file
- Similar government files
- Ask GovTribe AI about this file
Text version
Sheet1
| Attachment A: 36C10X23R0037 Question and Answer Template with Government responses to frequently asked questions (FAQ) | |||
| No. | Question | Solicitation Reference | Answer |
| FAQ 1 | Is there an incumbent? | N/A | Yes, the incumbent is a THE DISTRICT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP LLC. |
| FAQ 2 | Will the Government consider extending due dates? | N/A | The Government will not respond to requests to extend due dates unless there is a reasonable request that includes the circumstances surrounding the request. |
| FAQ 3 | When will responses to questions be posted? | N/A | The Government plans to post answers within 3 days of the Q&A close date. |
| FAQ 4 | Are there Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS) applicable to this action? | N/A | It is unlikely that it will be. However, the Contractor will be responsible for notifying the Contracting Officer of their intention to propose SCLS positions within their proposal. Notifications should included the local area in which the employee(s) will provide services. The Contracting Officer will provide the wage determination(s) that will be used in the contract. |
| FAQ 5 | The IGCE is provided to show the magnitude of this requirement. However, it's the offeror's responsibility to provide pricing that aligns with its unique approach to performing the objectives included in the Performance Work Statement. | N/A | IGCE Grand Total (inclusive of ODCs and all options: $48,000,000.00) |
1 The solicitation states "To establish relevancy based on complexity, the offeror shall detail and describe evidence of previous paid media buys of at least $1 Million per buy and evidence of supporting public events on a national level, specifically related to suicide prevention."
The requirement to meet both paid media buys of $1M and support national level public events for each past performance is overly restrictive to SDVOSB firms currently doing suicide prevention work for the VA and may be perceived as favoring the incumbent.
Would the Government consider relaxing the relevancy requirement so that complexity may be achieved across all three past performances vs each individual past performance? Section E.13,
2. VOLUME II: PAST PERFORMANCE
| Page 82 | The Government's request for evidence of at least $1Million per buy is less than 50% of the paid media budget is per year, which is not overly restrictive, nor does it favor the incumbent. | |
| 2 | The solicitation states "For the purposes of this solicitation, a major |
subcontract is defined as 20% of the total contract effort. Data concerning the prime contractor shall be provided first, followed by each proposed major subcontractor, in alphabetical order."
Please confirm if the SDVOSB prime offeror must provide at least one past performance as one of the "up to three" past performances submitted with its offer. Section E.13,
2. VOLUME II: PAST PERFORMANCE
| Page 80 | There is no requirement for SDVOSB prime offeror to provide at least one past performance as one of the three references. | |
| 3 | Sections 8.2.3, 8.2.4, and 8.2.5 of the solicitation refer to coordinating 40 national event/conferences, procuring exhibit booth/space, providing conference logistical support, and other conference and outreach related tasks. However, the past performance instructions require "supporting public events on a national level, specifically related to suicide prevention". |
National event/conference support, logistics management, and supply chain management support tasks are not germane to any specific public health domain and the methods for performing these tasks are not specific to suicide prevention. For past perforamance evaluation, would the Government consider support for other national events/conferences in the public health domain (not limited to suicide prevention) as equal in relevancy for complexity? 8.2 TASK TWO: NATIONAL AND REGIONAL OUTREACH SUPPORT SERVICES; pages 21-22
Section E.13, 2. VOLUME II: PAST PERFORMANCE;
| Page 82 | It's esssential for the Government to detemine the contractor's past performance in targeting specific audiences. As such, experience must be US, Veteran, public health where suicide prevention is a relevant and appropriate topic within sessions, exhibitors, or speakers. | |||
| 4 | Does the Government require only 150 photos taken? Or photos taken of 150 different models for shoots which can result in thousands of photos? | PWS 8.6.3, and 8.7.1 | The requirement is for photos of 150 verified US Veterans. It's up to the contrator to determine the best solution for accomplishing the requirement. | |
| 5 | For the photo shoots in various locations, does the Government intend for the Photographer to travel to different bases and provide a wardrobe for photo shoots? | PWS 8.6.3, and 8.7.1 | Whether contractor travel is required will be determined by the contractor's solution to accomplishing this task. Guidance will be provided on Veterans' personal wardrobe. | |
| 6 | Does the Government intend for the Contractor to provide a wardrobe for photo shoots for the Veterans? | PWS 8.6.3, and 8.7.1 | Guidance will be provided on Veterans' personal wardrobe. | |
| 7 | Please specify if NTE 40 each is for meetings/conferences on a yearly basis? | PWS 8.2.3 | NTE 40 events/conferences based on contractual period of performance | |
| 8 | Is the contractor expected to support monthly (or more) conferences/meetings? | PWS 8.2.4 and 8.2.5 | Events/Conferences throughout the period of performance | |
| 9 | Could the Government provide historical metrics or on the number of meetings/conferences required for support in the past couple of years? | PWS 8.2.3 | NTE 40 | |
| 10 | Could the Government provide contract historicals to help with the pricing of the effort (# of conferences, # of photos needed, # of collateral developed (posters, brochures, other forms of media) other relevant contract information)? This will help provide vendors an anticipated level of effort to develop fair and more accurate pricing. | No, the Government will only be evaluating the information required by the request for proposals, which does not include example communications products. | ||
| 11 | Could the Government confirm which deliverables will require 508 compliance, is this only for graphic design? Or is this for all media including print media, website, and multimedia? | PWS 8.4.2 | All public facing digital media | |
| 12 | WIll the Government consider providing an additional 10 pages to the page count to enable Contractors to provide complete responses to the nine task areas as outlined in the PWS? | No. | ||
| 13 | According to the PWS, "VeteransCrisisLine.net is hosted on commercial servers outside the VA domain with industry standard redundancies. The Contractor will be required to assume control and cost (operation and license) for those properties and all applicable safeguards. The contractor will only be responsible for content/graphic/image updates and NOT server management, maintenance, or cost for Government owned sites, servers, or property." Could the government be more specific on operations and current number of liscences and what platform is being used? What are the current number of FTE, requirements for operation of VeteransCrisisLine.net, metrics associated with the number of calls? | PWS 8.5.1 | No, not possible to provide the requested information because this will be deremined by the contractor's unique approach to accomplishing this task. | |
| 14 | According to Section 1 - Contract Description, the government asks for the following information, "a. Contractor/subcontractor, Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and North American Industry Classification system (NAICS) number." Can the government confirm that we are being asked to fill in only the Prime Contractor's information here? | Volume II: Past Performance |
| Section 1 - Contract Description | If the work was performed as a subcontractor, the names of both the prime contractor and subcontractor is required, along with the other requested information. | |||
| 15 | Page 79 of the solicitation says "The use of hyperlinks in proposals is prohibited." Given the nature of the work being proposed, would the government consider allowing Offerors to include links to example communications products? | Page 79 | No, the Government will only be evaluating the information required by the request for proposals, which does not include example communications products. | |
| 16 | What collaterals (e.g., banner stands, table cloths) exist in support of events? | Page 23 | Differs based on event and audience (banners, tablecloths, promotional materials, etc) | |
| 17 | Page 23 references needing logistics support for a total of 40 events, does the Government have an existing list of events or is 40 the anticipated ceiling of events that could need support? | Page 23 | 40 is the ceiling. The PWS states "up to 40 events". | |
| 18 | The Government references a need for Offerer to demonstrate a prior paid media campaign that cost $2.4 million, but indicates a prior budget for paid media did not exceed $1 million. Does the government have a set budget for the paid media ODC? | Page 24, 82 | It's not stated anywhere within the solicitation that the prior paid media budget did not exceed $1Million. Per the solicitation, page 82: To establish relevancy based on size, the offeror shall detail if the reference meets or exceeds the ODC budget of approximately $5,504,400.00 per year, inclusive of $2,400,000.00 for paid media. | |
| 19 | The IGCE is provided to show the magnitude of this requirement. However, it's the offeror's responsibility to provide pricing that aligns with its unique approach to performing the objectives included in the Performance Work Statement. | Not a question. | ||
| 20 | The Government indicates the Contractor shall provide server management and maintenance and content migration as needed, however, no new development work is listed in deliverables | Page 26 | 8.5.1 lists development. See revision to the deliverables section. | |
| 21 | The Government indicates the Contractor is not responsible for server maintenance of Government websites. Can the Government clarify that the Contractor would assume responsibility for server maintenance for VeteransCrisisLine.net? | Page 26 | The contractor would assume responsibility as the servers are not government owned. | |
| 22 | Can the Government clarify the total number of websites requiring content updates, management, hosting, development, and technical support? | Page 26 | It's just one website: Mentalhealth.va.gov | |
| 23 | Does the government have an existing contract with Nielsen for media monitoring? | Page 28 | No | |
| 24 | Can the government confirm the due date as 02-16-2024 as the SF 1449 and sam.gov provide different due dates? Sam.gov lists January 18, 2024 and the SF 1449 indicates February 16, 2024. | SF1449 | Extended to 1/25/2024 | |
| 25 | Can the government elaborate how Item Numbers 4031 and 4032 are treated with respect to the consideration of all items "...including the option under FAR 52.217-8, as part of its price analysis. The option under FAR 52.217-8 will be evaluated by dividing the Option Period 4 pricing in half to determine the 6-month price."? | E.14 Evaluation | This pricing will have no bearing on the price analysis. | |
| 26 | The requirements permit the use of a CPARS in lieu of a Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ). Does this government want Offerors to provide a copy of the CPAR as an appendix to this Volume, or will the government source these assessments themselves? | E.13: Volume II: Past Perforrmance | The Government will source the CPARS. | |
| 27 | Are there any performance work tasks outlined in this RFQ that are substantially different from the previously awarded contract tasks to District Communciations Group? | N/A | Each requirement stands on it's own. | |
| 28 | Will contractors be building on an existing crisis communciations plan or building one from scratch? | 8.1.4 (pg 20) | Building from scratch based on the contractor's planned approach. | |
| 29 | Can the government confirm that cooridnation of 40 nationla events and conferences does not involve on site engagement by contract staff? | 8.2.3 (pg 21) | Contractors will not be staffing events | |
| 30 | Can the government confirm specific quanitities for annuals reports, state data sheets,accompanying communciations etc. as listed within 8.2.7 given quantity is listed at one (1)? | 8.2.7 (pg 22) | No, the Government cannot elaborate beyond the information presently provided in the solicitation. | |
| 31 | Given the requirements specified around ODCs, media buys and events is so specific and thus limiting who may actually be eligble to bid on this contract beyond the current incumbent, will the government consider allowing teams who have done equivalent media buys and activities that are not only related to suicide prevention to be applicable? | Section 2 Narrative Description (pg 81-82) | It's esssential for the Government to detemine the contractor's past performance in targeting specific audiences. As such, experience must be US, Veteran, public health where suicide prevention is a relevant and appropriate topic within sessions, exhibitors, or speakers. | |
| 32 | What is the current operations and license cost for the VeteransCrisisLine.net? | 8.5.1 (page 25) | It's the offeror's responsibility to establish it's own pricing in response to this requirement | |
| 33 | Could the Government kindly delineate the historical workloads associated with each specific task outlined in the contract? | Section 8.0 | No further details are available outside of what's already included within the solicitation. | |
| 34 | Would the Government be able to detail the expected Level of Effort required for the successful execution of this acquisition? | NA | No | |
| 35 | Is it mandatory to submit resumes for Key Personnel as part of the proposal process, as per the Government's requirements? | NA | Key Personnel resumes are not requested. | |
| 36 | There appears to be an inconsistency in the specific tasks section, with numbers 8.6 being repeated. Could the Government please verify and correct the section numbers accordingly? | Section 8.6 | Revised. | |
| 37 | Could the Government confirm whether resumes are necessitated for all personnel involved in this project? | NA | No requested. | |
| 38 | In reference to PWS Section 5.0 regarding the Place of Performance, would the Government be able to provide additional locations of performance nationwide? This information is crucial for the effective recruitment and placement of appropriate staff. | Section 5.0 | Additional locations are unknown at this time. As stated, work will primarily be performed virtually. | |
| 39 | At the stage of proposal submission, is it required to include resumes and letters of intent/commitment for any positions? If affirmative, could the Government specify for which positions these documents are needed? | NA | Resumes are not requested. | |
| 40 | May the Government provide a comprehensive list of key personnel required for this acquisition | NA | Resumes are not requested. | |
| 41 | Regarding INSTRUCTIONS CRITERIA Factor 2: VOLUME II: PAST PERFORMANCE (page 80 of 99), can the Government confirm its acceptance of a Subcontractor’s past performance as part of the Prime Contractor’s three Past Performance evaluations? | Section L Volume II Past Performance | There is no Section L. Page 82: Offerors may also submit past performance information regarding predecessor companies or subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement when such information is relevant to the acquisition. | |
| 42 | Is it necessary for offerors to provide signed letters of commitment for contingent hires concerning any proposed personnel? | NA | The Government will only evaluate information required by the solicitation. | |
| 43 | Could the Government elucidate whether all positions identified in the RFP, including the Project Manager and other managerial roles proposed by the offeror, are subject to the Service Contract Act (SCA)? | NA | See FAQ 4. There's no SCA clauses included in the solicitation. There's no reference of project manager in the solicitation. | |
| 44 | In relation to the pricing range of $930,420.00 to $960,332.60, could the Government clarify if these amounts are to be priced separately or included in the overall price proposal? Additionally, guidance on the pricing methodology would be appreciated. | NA | These figures are not included in the solicitation. No further guidance is available. | |
| 45 | Can the Government advise if the incumbent is eligible to submit a response to this proposal? | NA | Yes, the incumbent is eligible for award. | |
| 46 | Does the VA have exhibit materials used at conferences on hand that can be used for this new effort and if so, can the Government provide a description and list of the materials. | NA | Differs based on event and audience (banners, tablecloths, promotional materials, etc) | |
| 47 | If the Government does not provide answers to the submitted questions by EOB Jan 10, 2024, would the Government grant an extension of the deadline one additional day for each day after Jan 10, 2024, as answers to questions will most certainly necessitate changes to the proposals being prepared for response? | NA | Due date changed to 1/24/2024 | |
| 48 | Is the Government seeking to replace the current campaign developed by the Ad Council- “The Question…Don’t Wait-Reach Out”, or are we being directed to use the current creative and just develop additional elements based on this strategy/campaign? | NA | This is not referenced within the solicitation |
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .