Attachment_5-Answers_to_Questions.pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1. CONTRACT ID CODE

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6) CODE

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

FACILITY CODE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended, is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a)By completing items 8 and 15, and returning copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE

DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment your desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS.

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER

NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15C. DATE SIGNED

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16C. DATE SIGNED

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

PAGE OF PAGES

6. ISSUED BY CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code) (X)

CODE

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

Previous edition unusable

9531BM18R00210001

Summary of Changes

ATTACHMENT 5

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

SOLICITATION 9531BM18R0021

“MEDIA MANGEMENT AND MONITORING SUPPORT SERVICES”

1. Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this? (like, from India or Canada)

ANSWER: The NTSB will consider responses from contractors in foreign countries that are party to an international trade agreement with the U.S., that obtains a DUNS number, and has an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration prior to award.

2. Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

ANSWER: The NTSB may request a contractor to attend ad-hoc onsite meetings at the NTSB.

3. Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA? (like, from India or Canada) ANSWER: It is the contractor’s responsibility to submit a proposal that meets the requirements of the solicitation. The NTSB may request a contractor to attend ad-hoc onsite meetings at the NTSB.

4. Can we submit the proposals via email?

ANSWER: Yes however, contractors may be selected to provide a demonstration, either by video/slides/in person/webinar etc. to illustrate how the metrics/dashboards/news release platform/media contacts database are used.

5. Confirm whether either NTSBP150014 or NTSBR120004 are incumbents to this contract;

ANSWER: No, neither documents are incumbents to this contract action.

6. Provide a bridge contract number; or ANSWER: There is no bridge contract for this contract action.

7. Confirm whether this is a new effort.

ANSWER: This is a new requirement, however, currently the NTSB has a contract (NTSBF160030) for media analytics support services in the following areas: a news release dissemination system, a media contacts management system, a news clips service, Media Monitoring & Analytics, Social Media Monitoring & Analytics, and User Support.

8. I am hoping to find out if there is an incumbent contractor currently performing these services or if this is a new requirement. If there is an incumbent, could you please provide the contract number?

ANSWER: This is a new requirement however, a contract is currently being performed by the Winvale Group, LLC for media analytics support services.

9. Tool 3; News Clip Service: Understanding that news volume will ebb and flow depending on events, is NTSB able to provide an estimate of the number of news items expected, on average, in each edition of the News Clips?

ANSWER: No. However, the NTSB averages about 206,000 earned media mentions per year.

10. Tool 3; News Clip Service: Media coverage of incidents is often ubiquitous and repetitive. Is it NTSB’s expectation that the media coverage included in the News Clip Service be thoughtfully curated and distilled for a broad audience within NTSB, including the Chairman and senior staff, while comprehensive and overlapping coverage would be accessible through an interactive monitoring platform (Tool 4)?

ANSWER: The clips are expected to be a curated and distilled, for clips subscribers, with access to comprehensive coverage and metrics by the media relations team.

11. Tool 3; News Clip Service: The Scope of Work describes a requirement for the contractor to “be able to translate media in and out of 10 languages and monitor media in more than 50 countries.” English-language media from around the world is often sufficient to provide executive-appropriate visibility into perspectives and news from outside the United States.

Including non-English media in the News Clip Service increases the cost of the News Clip Service. Alternatively, non-English media coverage could be strictly accessible through an interactive monitoring platform (Tool 4). To help offerors understand the need underlying NTSB’s request for non-English language capabilities in the News Clip Service:

• Please describe news stories that might arise to the level of inclusion of non-English media coverage in the News Clip Service.

ANSWER: Any investigation of an aviation accident where the NTSB provided technical assistance to another country (under ICAO Annex 13) may result in significant media coverage in foreign language media. Examples include, but are not limited to, Malaysia, China, Cuba, Germany, France, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE.

• Which languages and countries are priorities for NTSB to be considered for inclusion in the News Clip Service?

ANSWER: UK, Australia, and countries listed above.

• Should potential inclusion of non-English language media coverage be limited to those articles that specifically mention NTSB?

ANSWER: Yes, unless, in the eyes of the curation team/analysts, the article is of specific import/interest to NTSB senior leadership (significant industry development, new/emerging technology).

• To the extent non-English media coverage is included in the News Clip Service deliverable, please confirm that coverage will be written up in English by the hliday ANSWER: That is the preference.

12. Tool 3; News Clip Service: In addition to the News Categories described in 2.i.1., would NTSB like contractors to include an option to include a generalized "national news" section suitable to the needs of NTSB officials who must be kept aware of important developments affecting the federal government broadly so they may interact with peers in the Administration and Congress?

ANSWER: Potentially, yes.

13. Tool 3; News Clip Service: Some vendors’ news clips include only the link and an extract of the first sentence or two of an article, frequently repeating the same information from a large number of media publications. Would NTSB prefer that the analyst producing the service carefully weave together the most salient pieces of information from across sources, no matter where in each article that information is found, and even if the key story elements are not near a keyword?

ANSWER: The preference is for a clips product that provides senior leadership with enough information to provide situational awareness of the condition of the information environment. Analysts need to understand the NTSB’s lines of business and ensure clips include in the daily product are relevant and timely. Links to subsequent stories, stories on the same topic but in smaller circulation or of lesser relevance may be included after the summary for a topic.

14. Tool 3; News Clip Service: Regarding the broadcast requirements, would NTSB prefer that the contractor capture television as broadcast, even if the segments are not posted on broadcasters’ websites (in other words, a mere web search is insufficient)?

ANSWER: Actual broadcast video and audio are required, web mentions only are not sufficient.

15. Tool 3; News Clip Service: Regarding holidays, is NTSB open to a reduced price in exchange for permitting the awardee two days off at each of Thanksgiving and Christmas?

ANSWER: News Clip Services are required Monday-Friday. It is preferred that the News Clip Service are delivered if either of those holidays fall on a weekday.

16. Tool 3; News Clip Service: NTSB envisions a custom news clip service which can be tailored in many ways to fit its needs. Pricing for such services depends on the scope of the service.

Would NTSB consider more than one proposed solution (e.g. with and without non-English language coverage) from a single bidder to allow it to determine a solution of greatest value?

ANSWER: NTSB will consider all submitted proposals and will evaluate how each proposed solution meets the requirements stated in the solicitation.

17. Tool 3; News Clip Service: In support of NTSB’s request for “samples”, does NTSB wish to require all prospective contractors to submit, along with their proposals, two samples of the required news-clip editions assuming the same date and deadline and based upon the previous 24-hour news cycle to allow NTSB to make an “apples to apples” comparison among prospective bidders? If so, which dates would NTSB prefer?

ANSWER: The dates selected should be between deadline for submission and the date the RFP posted.

18. Do you foresee the ability to extend the response deadline for a few days, given the holiday weekend and that Answers may not be posted until shortly prior?

ANSWER: No.

19. General Questions

• In terms of this opportunity, what would success look like to you?

ANSWER: A proposal that offers the best value to the Government.

• Many agencies prefer to provide a budget amount for the procurement so that firms can creatively seek to provide the best value for the funding and it is an “apples-to-apples” comparison of proposals. Are you able to provide the value of this contract or a target NTE amount?

• This solicitation requires a Past Performance Questionnaire. Several of our client have asked us not to send them these questionnaires as they are too busy – instead directing us to submit their CPARS evaluation of the quality and timeliness of our work. Please confirm that CPARS evaluations will be acceptable in lieu of past performance ratings for prime clients where CPARS rating are available.

ANSWER: Yes.

20. News Clips Service Questions

• Please indicate if the daily newsletter should be delivered in the body of the email with html links to the stories – or if it should be a separate PDF attachment.

ANSWER: Both.

• Will the Government consider a “Surge” CLIN that will enable the Customer to request more clips on a given day or for a given period of time in emergency situations?

ANSWER: The contractor should not be limiting the amount of clips the NTSB can access on any day. It is up to the curation team/analyst to determine what should be included in the daily clips. The media monitoring and metrics (dashboards) should be provided unlimited access to articles/stories across print, online, broadcast, sources.

• How many readers are on the distribution group for the Daily Newsclips?

ANSWER: approximately 115, with potential for 435 subscribers.

• How many stories per day do you anticipate needing on average?

ANSWER: N/A

• Will the Customer need any branding/design collateral on the end product output for the Daily Newsclips?

ANSWER: Yes, the NTSB will want to brand the daily product using NTSB created graphics to be provided after award.

21. Media Monitoring & Analysis Questions

• Does the Customer require any ad-hoc media analysis reports on topics not previously tracked theretofore?

• In other words, Is there any need for ad-hoc monitoring/analysis of new or unexpected topics throughout the length of this contract?

• Does the Customer require a mobile app to the solution?

ANSWER: Not required, but preferred.

• Does the Customer require any social media monitoring/engagement support?

• Will there be any need to track social media content?

• Do the Users on the account require simultaneous access to the system?

ANSWER: Yes. No more than 7.

• Is there any need/ requirement for the Customer to link up owned social media properties to post/manage/publish content on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.?

ANSWER: No

• Will there be any need to disseminate tracked news articles from the platform to a larger internal audience outside of the Daily Newsclips?

ANSWER: Yes. (ad hoc).

22. Is this work currently being performed?

ANSWER: Review answer to question #7.

• If so, what is the name of the incumbent company?

ANSWER: Review answer to question #8.

• What is the total value of the contract?

ANSWER: $664,479.55 over a base year and four (4) option years.

• Did the incumbent complete the full lifecycle of the contract?

• If so, how many years was that period?

ANSWER: Two (2) years.

23. In the Statement of Work, Section 3.0, the government indicates: “The contractor must provide international media in an English language format for the clips and must, at a minimum, be able to translate media in and out of 10 languages and monitor media in more than 50 countries.”

• Can NTSB clarify which 10 languages require support?

ANSWER: The NTSB seeks the capability and looks to contractors to provide recommendations.

• Which 50 countries are required?

ANSWER: The NTSB seeks the capability and looks to contractors to provide recommendations

• Is the language translation ad hoc by request, or a regular requirement for the daily news clips?

ANSWER: A regular requirement, but it is anticipated to be a very low volume.

• Can the government estimate the number of translated news required for a period of time, either in a week or a month?

ANSWER: No, we have not tracked this data.

24. Will the video and images needed for media releases be provided by NTSB or does the government expect the Vendor to provide any images or videos?

ANSWER: Only NTSB provided imagery (video/still) are allowed in NTSB news releases.

25. The Statement of Work requires that the Vendor provide media monitoring and analytics “dating back to calendar year 2016.”

• Will the Government provide the historical records dating back to 2016?

ANSWER: No. The intent is for the NTSB to be able to use keyword searches for the purposes of benchmarking.

• Does the Government expect a new Vendor to come with a historical record of news related to NTSB?

ANSWER: No. The intent is for the NTSB to be able to use keyword searches for the purposes of benchmarking.

• If there is a current incumbent, will the historical media data from the previous contractor be provided either directly to NTSB or the new contractor in order fulfill this requirement?

26. For open rates and click rates measurements (Statement of Work, Section 1.0), does NTSB expect to receive dates and times of opens from government recipients?

ANSWER: The date and time is not necessary. The rate is the measure we seek.

27. While there is no requirement to deliver the news clip product on Saturday or Sunday, would the government consider a 7-day per week solution?

ANSWER: Yes.

• If not, does the Vendor expect news from Friday, Saturday and Sunday would be captured in the Monday report?

ANSWER: N/A

28. Section 3 News Clips Service – Does the M-F delivery include Federal Holidays?

ANSWER: That is preferred.

29. Under Section 5. User Support, the government states the contractor will provide support between the hours of 0900-1800 Monday to Friday. Does this support include Federal Holidays?

ANSWER: That is preferred.

30. Section 5 User Support – Can the government provide a rough order of magnitude to the volume of contractor support needed for support in searches?

ANSWER: Setting up the initial search terms will require significant collaboration to achieve the best news clips product. The NTSB media relations staff needs little support for ad hoc searches.

• Does this support require 1 FTE or is it expected to be part time support and available only during those hours?

ANSWER: Part time and available during those hours. In this reference, support includes vendor support across the platform (news release dissemination, media contacts, metrics, dashboards, password resets, etc.)

31. Section 5 User Support – The RFP states “…online demos of all tools in the system, on site and virtual trainings.”

• What is the expected number of demos?

ANSWER: For consideration of the solicitation, one (1).

• Expected number of onsite trainings?

ANSWER: Five (5).

• Expected number of virtual trainings?

ANSWER: Five (5).

490 L'Enfant Plaza East SW Washington, DC, 20594-0003, US

AMD_ISSUING_OFFICE_LOCCODE: 9531BM