6923G523Q1067_QA.pdf

6923G523Q1067

Public Relations and Outreach Support Services

Q&A

Question

No.

Question Answer

1 Is the subject effort a new requirement or a follow-on to an existing contract?

The subject requirement is a new requirement.

2 If the latter, can I please find out the incumbent contractor's name and contract number?

There is not an incumbent for this requirement.

3 What your timeline was as far as materials being disseminated?

Generally, marketing brochures, print and digital ads, and other giveaway items for distribution (particularly at trade shows) will be expected for delivery 3 months after tasking. In cases where circumstances require expedited delivery or late order modifications, GLS will collaborate with the vendor and will seek to accommodate a practical delivery timeline.

4 How long you would want promotions to last?

Marketing Ads (print/digital): Refreshed every 12-18 months

Brochures: Will be completed once throughout the term of the contract.

Branding or branded items: Refreshed as supplies run out (order new items or reorder popular items)

Videos: Will be completed once throughout the term of the contract.

5 It is noted within the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation document under "Factor 1" that "The offeror shall provide a management plan to include qualifications and resumes."

Will the Government confirm if the resumes/qualifications are included within the 15-page limit?

Please confirm that resumes are outside of the 15-page technical Proposal page count as this will greatly reduce

Contractor's ability to submit a compelling proposal response meeting all of the requirements of Factor 1.

The page limit for the technical proposal is 20 pages and resumes are included.

6 Will the Government confirm if only program manager is considered to be key personnel as the PWS lists the program manager, senior graphic designer, and communications strategist as key personnel?

Program Manager, Senior Graphic Designer and

Communications Strategist should be considered key personnel.

7 Will the Government confirm the list of labor categories for which resumes are required?

Resumes are required for key personnel, any additional resumes that the offeror deems supportive of their management plan/approach should be provided.

8 Are resumes required for non-key positions (technical writer/editor; producer/video director; AV specialist; Jr.

Analyst; and Surge CLINE – comm strategist)?

Resumes are required for key personnel, any additional resumes that the offeror deems supportive of their management plan/approach should be provided.

9 When does the government anticipate making the award? The Government anticipates that award will be made in December 2023.

10 Will the government consider extending the proposals to

9.1.23.

Proposals are currently extended to 10/31/2023.

11 How will the cost-technical tradeoff be performed? The Government will select the Offeror whose solution represents the best value to the Government, considering both price and non-price factors.

An award will be made based on a best value trade-off. The Technical Factor is more important than the

Past Performance Factor and when the two are combined, they are more important than Price.

12 What are the evaluation criteria? See RFQ pages 17 – 19.

13 What is the contract value? The contract value is sensitive information and cannot be shared with the public or potential vendors due to confidentiality and competitive reasons.

14 Under FAR Clause 1252.237-73 Key Personnel (Nov 2022) on page 9 of the 6923G523Q1067 Combined

Synopsis/Solicitation, the key personnel identified as part of this contract is listed as only the Program Manager.

However, on page 5 in Attachment A – PWS, Section 5.0

Key Personnel, a Project Manager, Senior Graphic Designer and Communications Strategist are all listed as key personnel.

• Please remove the entirety of both Paragraph b. Sr

Graphic Designer and Paragraph c. Communications

Strategist, as those two labor categories are not key personnel in accordance with 6923G523Q1067

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, page 9, 1252.237-

73. Additionally, the government has estimated participation of both labor categories at part-time hours, and it is not practical to designate part-time technical resources as Key Personnel. Only the

This discrepancy will be corrected in amendment

0003 to this solicitation. To be clear the key personnel are identified as the Program Manager, Senior Graphic

Designer, and the Communications Strategist.

The determination of technical approach, labor categories, and associated hours is at the discretion of each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose their own staffing solutions based on their expertise and their understanding of the requirements. Offerors are encouraged to submit a response in accordance with their technical approach.

Program Manager should be held to the administrative and other burdens associated with key personnel on a contract of this size and nature.

• Based on this revision, we believe the following must also be revised:

o PWS, page 5, Section 5.0 Key Personnel –

Please change the labor category title of

“Project Manager” to “Program Manager” consistent with 6923G523Q1067 Combined

Synopsis/Solicitation, page 9, 1252.237-73

Key Personnel.

o PWS, page 7, Section 7.0 Reports – Please correct the labor category title cited for management reviews from “Project

Manager” to “Program Manager.” The corrected sentence should read “The

Contractor shall conduct monthly project management reviews, led by the Program

Manager, with participation from the COR and other relevant stakeholders.”

o PWS, page 7, Section 8.0 Kick-Off Meeting

– Please correct the labor category for

Contractor Representatives from “Project

Manager” to “Program Manager.”

o Attachment B, Pricing Sheet – Please correct the labor category “Project Manager” to

“Program Manager” for each year of the proposed contract.

15 Can the government please confirm whether the Factor 1

Technical Proposal section page limit is 10 pages or 15 pages?

The Technical Proposal shall be no more than 20 pages, resumes are included in this page limit.

16 Under “Proposal Organization” on page 17 of the

6923G523Q1067 Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, “Factor

1: Technical Proposal – Limit 15 pages,” it states that the

Technical Proposal “…volume shall include … resumes.”

• Please clarify the proposal instructions for resume submission to limit the requirement to the proposed

Program Manager, consistent with the RFQ on page

9, 1252.237-73 Key Personnel. The revised sentence should read: “2. The offeror shall provide a management plan to include qualifications and resume for the Program Manager.”

of their management plan/approach should be provided.

17 If the resume requirement is not counted toward the

Technical Proposal page limit, is there a separate maximum page limit for the resume?

The Technical Proposal shall be no more than 20 pages, resumes are included in this page limit.

18 Can the government please confirm whether the Technical

Proposal, Past Performance and Price Proposal should all be submitted in one volume, or should the Technical

Proposal/Past Performance and Price Proposal be submitted as two separate volumes?

Please confirm the Government is expecting two separate volumes, Technical Proposal and Price Proposal, as opposed to one volume as the bottom of page 16 states "The

Technical Proposal shall not contain any price information", while the Proposal organization requests that the proposal be organized as follows, "Proposal materials shall be organized as follows: Section 1 Technical Proposal, Section

2 Past Performance; and Section 3 Price Proposal."

Proposal materials shall be organized as follows:

Section 1 Technical Proposal, Section 2 Past

Performance and Section 3 Price Proposal.

All Sections are to be clearly separated from the other (i.e., page break, blank page divider, separate electronic files, etc.)

It is the offerors discretion as to how the sections will be clearly separated.

19 Under “Evaluation Criteria” on page 18 of the

6923G523Q1067 Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, “Factor

1: Technical,” it states “2. The government will evaluate the offeror’s management plan, to include qualifications and resumes, for suitability and effectiveness.”

• Please clarify the proposal evaluation for resume submission to limit the requirement to the proposed

Program Manager, consistent with the RFQ on page

9, 1252.237-73 Key Personnel. The revised sentence should read: “2. The government will evaluate the offeror’s management plan, to include the Program Manager’s qualifications and resume, for suitability and effectiveness.”

of their management plan/approach should be provided.

20 Under “Contract Type” on page 1 of the 6923G523Q1067

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, it states that “This solicitation is a Request for Proposal (RFP) that will result in the award of a time and materials, contract under FAR Part 12 and FAR Subpart

13.5, subject to the availability of funds.” However, under

“Proposal Organization” on page 17, “Factor 3: Price” states that “Offerors shall provide a fixed price proposal in accordance with the Performance Work Statement.”

• Can the government please confirm whether this is a time and materials contract or a firm-fixed price contract?

This contract is a time and materials contract.

This discrepancy will be corrected in amendment

0003 to this solicitation.

21 29 CFR, Part 541, specifies exemptions from the Fair Labor

Standards Act (FLSA) and therefore from the Service

Contract Act (SCA) and Service Contract Labor Standards

(SCLS) for personnel working in an executive, With the addition of the translation services, the non-exempt threshold will not be met and the services under this solicitation no longer meet the SCA administrative or professional capacity. Specifically, Subpart 541.201, notes exemptions for personnel performing “finance; accounting; budgeting; auditing;

insurance; quality control; purchasing; procurement;

advertising; marketing; research; safety and health;

personnel management; human resources; employee benefits; labor relations; public relations, government relations; computer network, internet and database administration; legal and regulatory compliance; and similar activities.”

Therefore:

• Please remove all references and requirements to the

SCA and SCLS, including Attachment C, Wage

Determination, as those requirements are not applicable to a Public Relations and Outreach

Support contract of this nature; and,

• Indicate applicability by adding a check mark next to item (6), RFQ Page 6, 52.222-53, Exemption from Application of the Service Contract Labor

Standards to Contracts for Certain Services-

Requirements (May 2014).

conditions. Attachment C has been deleted in its entirety and references to SCA have been removed.

22 The RFQ, PWS, Pricing Sheet and Wage Determination contain a hodgepodge of ambiguity, inconsistency and inapplicability with respect to labor category titles (please see summary matrix below for current state of affairs) and minimum labor qualifications. Clear and consistent labor category titles and minimum labor qualifications are essential, especially for a time and materials contract where the primary pricing evaluation will be based on the computation of labor category hours/rates proposed and the awardee’s primary billing mechanism will be based on labor category hours worked at the rates awarded.

Attachment B has been revised to include labor descriptions and minimum qualifications.

• Please clarify the government’s requirements across all documents within the RFQ package so consistent terminology is used throughout;

• Add a section to the RFQ that includes Labor

Category Minimum Qualifications for ALL labor categories so prospective offerors are proposing to and being evaluated against, identical requirements;

and,

• Remove RFQ Attachment C, Wage Determination.

23 How often would social posts ("2-3 at the same time") happen?; What is the expectation on your end for same day turn around?

Typical Social Media posts: 2-3 per week (on average)

Atypical (Same Day) Turn Around: 4 hours (this is an exception and not business protocol)

24 Port videos - understood 20 of them are needed - but how spread out can they be a part from each other? or what window of time do these need to be completed? Can various videographers work on this portion? Does the videographer have to have Govt. experience?

Offerors shall submit their best technical approach to meet the specifications within the Performance Work

Statement (PWS).

The determination of technical approach is at the discretion of each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose their own solutions based on their expertise and their understanding of the requirements. Offerors

Government experience is not required, but knowledge of compliance is required.

25 Events - How many events in a year? what's the scale/size of the events - from largest to smallest? where are they held? how many people are needed to work/per event from the contractor's end?

Anticipate 2 events per year, which may include high-level political appointees, including the GLS

Administrator, and others. Events will likely be held in Washington, D.C. or Massena, N.Y. but may take place anywhere in the Great Lakes region. Generally, GLS events are organized with a planning window of

6-12 months, usually include several government and industry speakers, includes local media attendance, and 40-100 attending members of the public.

26 What makes a qualified speech? how quick of a turn around time is this needed and what does the approval process look like on GLS's end? what sort of metrics are needed here?

Most GLS speeches are planned in advance, usually 2-

4 weeks prior to a speaking engagement by the GLS

Administrator or another Seaway ranking official. The

GLS would expect the vendor to develop familiarity with GLS branding, messaging, tone, length, and other speech requirements over time. Metrics will be provided at the time of award.

27 Key personnel - Can you provide how many hours per week these 3 positions would require?

The determination of technical approach, labor categories, and associated hours is at the discretion of each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose their own staffing solutions based on their expertise and their understanding of the requirements. Offerors are encouraged to submit a response in accordance with their technical approach.

28 Regarding reporting, can you provide any more detail for what’s required?

This question requires more clarification. It is unclear what is being asked.

29 Do you provide a list of media you’d like the alerts to go to? Yes, the Government will provide a list of media.

30 Are you able to share the pre-proposal materials, including a list of attendees, so we can learn more and assess whether or not we’d be a good fit?

The list of Industry Day attendees is published with amendment 00003.

31 What are the requirements for the proposal submission file name?

A suggested naming convention is 6923G523Q1067

Public Relations Outreach Support Services.

32 Can the Government please provide the CLIN structures, including units, amounts, unit prices, etc.?

Offerors shall submit their pricing proposal on

Attachment B.

each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose their own staffing solutions based on their expertise and their understanding of the requirements. Offerors

33 The pricing spreadsheet asks for an hourly wage in column

B. Should offerors provide fully burdened labor prices instead of the hourly wage?

Yes, offerors shall provide fully burdened labor rates.

34 Where would the Government like offerors to include indirect labor costs?

Offerors shall provide fully burdened labor rates.

35 The hours included in the spreadsheet appear to be the hours employees get paid for. That is, the hours include holidays, PTO and sick leave. Would the Government prefer offerors to propose productive hours (the number of hours worked by an employee)?

Offerors shall provide fully burdened labor rates.

36 Can the Government please clarify what the billing unit will be in the CLIN structures?

The billing unit of measure is hours.

37 Does the Government have any minimum qualification requirements (education, experience, certifications, etc.) for the other, non-key, labor categories described?

Attachment B will be updated with the minimum qualifications in amendment 00003.

38 Does the Government expect all offerors to propose only the hours and labor categories shown in the attachment? Are the hours placeholders? Can those be changed?

The determination of technical approach, labor categories, and associated hours is at the discretion of each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose their own staffing solutions based on their expertise and their understanding of the requirements. Offerors are encouraged to submit a response in accordance with their technical approach.

39 Please confirm that 6. Completed FAR 52-212-3 Offeror

Reps and Certs - is an attachment to the proposal and is not included in the page count as this would exceed the total page count of the proposal.

52.212-3 Offerors Reps and Certs is not included in the page count.

40 Please confirm that Tables and Graphics maybe in 8pt font

Times New Roman or Arial as this is industry standard in proposal responses.

Arial size 11 font or Times New Roman 12 font shall be used per the RFQ instructions.

41 Please confirm, the Government does not expect Offerors to fill out completed provisions that are incorporated by

Offerors are required to complete provisions reference from Section IV Provisions as part of the proposal response.

52.209-2 and 52.209-7 that are incorporated by reference.

42 If the Government is requiring Offerors to fill out and submit the Provisions in Section IV, please confirm that this will be as part of a separate volume and is not subject to page count restrictions.

Offerors shall complete and submit provisions in

Section IV; these are not subject to page restrictions.

43 In 4.6, how many ad hoc events, described as industry days and stakeholder events, is typical per year? Are there enough events to support a full-time event planner?

Anticipate no more than one (1) ad hoc event (e.g.

industry days or stakeholder events) per quarter.

Format language regarding event planner; in PWS but not required depending on offerors approach.

44 In 4.2, do you expect the assigned in-house graphic designer to work exclusively on this account or is the expectation that GLS will work with only one assigned in-house graphic artist, and the artist will have other accounts, too?

The determination of technical approach, labor categories, and associated hours is at the discretion of each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose their own staffing solutions based on their expertise and their understanding of the requirements. Offerors are encouraged to submit a response in accordance with their technical approach.

45 In 4.8, can you further define "surge," such as how many is typical per year or what type of event or activity creates the need for a surge.

The surge references a gap in professional services coverage.

46 Do you anticipate quick turnarounds of video content for use as social network content?

The government expectation of time regarding video content is as follows:

Quick turnaround: 48 hours

Standard turnaround: 1 week (business days)

47 Re: 4.3 “The Contractor may purchase stock B-roll (video footage) to augment existing or recorded video footage, if requested and approved by GLS.” Is that being reimbursed?

Offeror shall include all costs in the pricing proposal.

If additional allowable costs are incurred under the contract, that have not been previously identified, the contractor will be required to get approval prior to incurring cost.

48 Are there any protocols or allowances for weather? This question requires more clarification. It is unclear what is being asked.

49 Please give examples of industry events you attend? Industry events that include the Great Lakes Seaway maritime industry (e.g. ports, carriers, agents, government agencies, non-profit organizations) that focus on increasing freight and cruise ship activity at

U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes events. These primarily take place within the Great Lakes region, including in Quebec and Ontario, and infrequently abroad.

50 Please discuss the existing library of previous assets that we will have access to?

A copy of the GLS logo in a high-resolution graphics file. Printed samples and some electronic copies of finished ads and other marketing materials.

51 Will the St. Lawrence Seaway/DOT provide incentives to be offered to potential Seaway transit patrons?

The U.S. Seaway does not charge tolls for vessels to transit its locks. However, the Canadian Seaway charges tolls and offers a toll incentive via the binational marketing organization "HwyH2O".

There are no additional identified incentives.

52 Can you discuss the historic length of speeches and presentations to be written/provided?

The historic length of speeches and presentations have been 15 - 45 minutes.

53 Will there be industry experts who can represent the St

Lawrence Seaway/DOT’s interests, for the PR agency to confer with?

Yes, industry experts will be made available after contract award.

54 Can you please advise if the work can be conducted virtually?

Yes, offerors are encouraged to submit a response in accordance with their technical approach.

55 Can the govt please provide an estimate of the number of events the GLS participates in each year?

As a federal government agency with both an operational mandate and a trade development mission, the GLS partakes in multiple events and stakeholder engagements per month. The selectee will not be required to engage in all GLS outreach activities but will be specifically tasked where needed and appropriate.

56 Will the contractor be required to attend these events or just support them from the contractor’s location?

In most cases, only pre-event support will be required.

The GLS reserves that some onsite support may be requested for high-visibility events.

57 What costs associated with exhibits and events will be put on this contract or managed by the contractor? Costs could include booth space, A/V equipment, booth properties

(carpet, furniture, outside labor, freight), etc. If not on this contract, are these items budgeted for and paid with a different contract vehicle? Will the contractor be required to manage these budgets?

Trade show support and coordination is not a part of this contract. Developing brochures and other give away items, which may be used by GLS personnel at trade shows, is a component of this contract.

58 What equipment and booth properties does the government currently have?

The GLS owns a large display, particularly developed to support increased cruise activity on the Great Lakes

Seaway. A smaller "pop-up" display is used for medium-sized meetings and smaller marketing events.

59 Will there be an ODC line for buying booth collateral (give aways, printing of documents, etc.)?

Offeror shall include all costs in the pricing proposal, in accordance with its technical approach.

60 PWS 4.3 states that the contractor may purchase stock videography. Is this reimbursable as an ODC? Should the contractor provide a price for a stock videography service?

in accordance with its technical approach. If additional allowable costs are incurred under the contract, that have not been previously identified, the contractor will be required to get approval prior to incurring cost.

61 Is there a budget for media buys and ad placements? If so, should this be priced as an ODC?

in accordance with its technical approach. If additional allowable costs are incurred under the contract, that have not been previously identified, the contractor will be required to get approval prior to incurring cost.

62 For the attachment B- pricing sheet. It was brought up in the call, but to clarify are we allowed to add other LCATs to the

The determination of technical approach, labor each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose sheet, and also modify columns (e.g. quantity, labor hours)?

are encouraged to submit a response in accordance with their technical approach.

63 Is crisis management included in the PR and communications support package, or should it be proposed as a separate service?

each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose their own staffing solutions based on their expertise and their understanding of the requirements. Offerors are encouraged to submit a response in accordance with their technical approach.

64 Will the contractor be responsible for the digital development of the current site or future digital experiences? (e.g maintenance, updates, content publishing)

No, the contractor is not responsible for the digital development of the current site or future digital experiences.

65 Regarding 3.0 - When you state an objective is to “increase awareness” can you provide more detail around which audiences, and geographies we need to target.

a. Beyond increasing awareness, are we working to change any perceptions? If so, what are they?

b. Additionally beyond increasing awareness with the prioritized audiences, what action(s) are we looking for them to take?

In the cargo sector, the target audience is carriers, shippers, freight forwarders, and others who may be new (unfamiliar) or existing (familiar) users of the

Great Lakes Seaway System.

In the cruise sector, the target audience is owners, operators, and itinerary planners who may be new

(unfamiliar) or existing (familiar) users of the Great

Lakes Seaway System.

66 Is the GLS intending to promote Great Lakes cruises to cruise customers or to cruise operators or both?

The GLS primary promotes cruise activity to operators, owners, and itinerary planners. Passenger-related outreach is not addressed by the GLS.

67 What is the GLS economic interest gained from each ship passing through, both cargo and cruise?

A recently released Economic Impact Study which analyzes the significance of shipping via the Seaway is publicly available at https://www.seaway.dot.gov/publications/economic-impact-study.

68 Will this deck be available after this call? No, this slide deck will not be available.

69 Is there an incumbent and if so can you discuss past budgets?

No, there is not an incumbent, therefore we are unable to discuss any past budgets.

70 Do you currently have tradeshow branding, messaging, and signage in use for events/tradeshows?

Yes. The GLS brands in partnership with the

Canadian SLSMC as the "Great Lakes St. Lawrence

Seaway system." Together, both organizations also market the system internationally as "HwyH2O" from a cargo perspective, and as "Explore the Great Lakes" from a cruise perspective.

71 Will Travel be reimbursed? Yes, in accordance with the Federal Travel

Regulations (FTR).

72 Will Commercial experience be accepted under the Past

Performance requirements?

Yes, commercial experience will be accepted under the Past Performance requirements.

73 Can you share the number of cargo and cruise transits today, and the goals for increasing each?

In 2023, 10 cruise ships are active in the Great Lake

Seaway System. In 2022, 8 cruise ships were active in the System.

An analysis of cargo activity in the System from 2022 is publicly available at https://greatlakes-seaway.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/traffic_report_2022_en.pdf.

The GLS generally seeks to increase cargo and cruise ship activity in the System through marketing programs that raise awareness of direct shipping routes, Great Lakes port capacity, and more.

74 Which LCAT will support the photography task? The determination of technical approach, labor each offeror. Offerors have the flexibility to propose with their technical approach.

75 Do the three key personnel need to work at GLS or at contractor site?

Key personnel based at the contractor site with occasional meetings at GLS offices.

76 Is this contract all or nothing? meaning, could an organization win some of the business outlined in the RFP?

This is a full requirement; all elements will be awarded to one vendor. A vendor could subcontract or partner with another entity to fulfill the requirements.

77 Is GLS open to an incentive program to promote and incentivize targets?

This is not an incentive contract. However, if an offeror has a technical approach that includes an incentive program it can be evaluated if it is in accordance with the evaluation criteria.

78 How many years prior do we need to adhere for Past

Performance 3 or 5 years?

Three years. Past performance ratings for contracts that were completed more than three years before the date of the issuance of this solicitation are not considered relevant and will not be evaluated.

79 On Page 16 of the RFQ under PROPOSAL

ORGANIZATION, bullet one says "Do not include marketing materials". Can you clarify what that means?

The instruction to exclude marketing materials from proposals is intended to ensure that submissions are substantive and focused on addressing the solicitation’s specific requirements. The government aims to avoid receiving proposals that primarily serve as promotional materials for a vendor’s services or products.

80 Are translation services and outputs part of the collective services?

Yes. The Performance Work Statement has been revised to include translation services.

81 Will you provide port contacts for production/shooting and information or are we required to establish them?

The GLS will facilitate port meetings and contacts.

82 Are there any budget thresholds/parameters we should be aware of?

Vendors shall submit a fair and reasonable price in accordance with their technical approach. Vendors are encouraged to ensure pricing reflects the best value based on the proposed technical approach.

83 Can you discuss the overall budget? The government cannot provide insight into its internal pricing estimates. Vendors shall submit a fair and reasonable price in accordance with their technical approach. Vendors are encouraged to ensure pricing reflects the best value on the proposed technical approach.

84 Is there a branding guideline/guidebook we need to adhere to for branding material design?

All guidelines and protocols will be shared with the successful offeror after contract award.