B08_Fish_of_the_Week_Podcast_Statement_of_Work-final.docx

Statement of Work Fish of the Week podcast series and production for Legacy Region 7, AK

In 2020-21, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Alaska Region piloted a podcast to celebrate 150 years of fish conservation in Alaska and beyond. The podcast, which airs weekly on Mondays, features a range of guests from employees to Tribal leaders, to biologists from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and fish enthusiasts across Alaska and the nation. The podcast was an experiment to forward the Fish 150 campaign and meet audience interests in a safe (virtual) manner during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has turned out to be a tremendous success; through just twenty-seven episodes, the audience has steadily grown and the show has been downloaded approximately 15,000 times. The Alaska Region would like to build upon this success and continue the podcast into the future – preferably a new one year contract with option years to extend.

Background:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alaska Region worked to identify storytelling mediums and methods that allowed us to move priority outreach and communication work forward during a time when social distancing and public health considerations were critical (and continue to be). Podcasts, an episodic series of spoken word digital audio files, can be managed and produced, much like radio, from a variety of remote/virtual settings making them an important tool in our communication portfolio. Additionally, podcasting is already one of the most popular forms of storytelling and audience engagement with estimates that approximately 50% of all US homes are podcast fans, and that listeners spend more time with and engage deeply in the content. In Alaska, audio stories and communication methods have always been important, particularly across rural Alaska where local public radio stations are critical for sharing and receiving news and more.

Over the past year, we developed the concept for, produced and distributed, two podcast series, each of 50 episodes, with the assistance of a contractor:

· Fish of the Week! -- communicating about and celebrating the diverse, and culturally significant, fish/fisheries in Alaska and the Service’s role in shared stewardship of these important wild resources.

· My Life, Wildlife – a series that introduces audiences to the passionate, talented people of the USFWS-Alaska Region who have dedicated their lives to the wildlife and wild places of Alaska. My Life, Wildlife is part of a larger continuum of employee stories and will be done after its 50 episode run.

Both podcasts are distributed over Apple Podcasts, which is who the government has official terms of service, and through our website. The contractor is not required to seek further distribution

Scope of work:

Professional podcasts are not easy; they require more than a microphone and an internet connection. It is not cookie cutter work and involves uniqueness and skill in interview design and preparation; sound editing; audio engineering; producing; and promotion.

The successful contractor will provide, and account for in detail -- including provide names of personnel involved with each task -- in the proposal and budget, the following services:

· Coordinate overall project and production, which includes:

· Working with a Service project team and Service employees across a broad geographic region (in virtual setting); Additionally, each episode of Fish of the Week requires the following tasks and steps:

· Executive producer planning: working with USFWS staff to vision and plan several months of podcast episode themes/topics. Provides final quality control on each episode.

· Production management, which includes booking guests and meeting logistics; for example, for some episodes this has required coordinating six people in four different locations recording over different platforms (usually desk top recording rigs and zoom recordings being run simultaneously).

· Production or producer role, which includes interviews and recording, and initial story edits for content.

· Audio engineering and editing, which includes: the second edit of the episode; polishing, mixing, and mastering; adding in original music and sound effects.

· In sum, the contractor serves as the primary producer, editor, interviewer, transcriber of the individual podcast episodes. Specifically: produce 50 additional episodes of Fish of the Week! – with option years into the future. Episodes run once a week/approximately four times a month. Each episode is 15-20min long.

· The contractor is not expected to provide training to USFWS staff involved in this project.

Period of Performance: October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2023. The period of performance shall be for one (1) Base Year of 12 months and one (1) 12-month option years. The Period of Performance reads as follows:

Contracting Officer Representative (COR)

Sara Boario Assistant Regional Director-External Affairs Email: sara_boario@fws.gov Phone: 907-786-3431