Amendment__2.pdf

Amendment #2

Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture Museum Wide Mobile Platform RFP F16SOL10025

The following amendments are hereby incorporated into RFP F16SOL10025:

I. The deadline for submission of proposals has been extended to Tuesday, April 26, 2016 at 1:00 pm E.T.

II. Answers to additional significant questions have been provided and are attached to this amendment.

All other terms and conditions of the RFP remain unchanged.

ANSWERS TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS RECEIVED FOR RFP #F16SOL10025

Q. This RFP is for 'Day 1' only. For remaining days we have to submit different proposals.

Right?

A. See amendment #1. You should only be bidding on Day #1 work.

Q. Day 1 consists of 5 tours. Right?

A. Yes, they are listed in the RFP.

Q. Can you give more details on existing TMS (Collections Database), EDAN (Enterprise Digital Assets Network) and existing Smithsonian digital repositories?

A. NMAAHC uses TMS (The Museum System) as its collections database. The museum has collected over 40,000 objects. Only accessioned objects have a record in TMS at NMAAHC.

TMS is a commercial software product from Gallery Systems, Inc. A flag on collection objects within the TMS record indicates whether the record is completed and ready to be shared with

EDAN.

EDAN is an extensible content repository built on a Java framework that integrates a modular set of stores providing a core API and task-specific endpoints. It enables a single view of all Smithsonian collection data; regularly synchronizing over 9.5 million objects from over 35 collection information systems and other datasets. EDAN also supports applications, including a variety of Drupal modules that leverage EDAN services to display and manage content in addition to the content pulled from the museums’ collections systems. The single view of Smithsonian collections is available to the public through the search service at Collections.SI.EDU.

The Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) uses the Open Text (formerly Artesia) enterprise Digital Asset Management solution to address the storage, search, access and retrieval of digitized assets. Features of the system include organization of assets and metadata, asset use, management, and security functionality delivered via a browser based user interface or API services to facilitate the searching, sharing, and preservation of SI’s digital assets to provide multi-channel distribution for re-use and repurposing of the managed assets.

These are the main digital repositories used by NMAAHC, though the museum will be acquiring a media management system to aid in the storage, distribution and derivative creation of digital assets, in particular video. We should not count on that system to be available in time for this mobile development. DAMS will remain the archival record for the museum.

Q. What sort of video or audio to be created on behalf of the Smithsonian? What will be the file format for it?

A. The museum is open to a recommendation on file formats by the vendor, for incorporation in the mobile platform.

Short videos with the Director or curator for a particular exhibition or in relation to an object may be done as an introduction to each gallery.

Q. It is mentioned in the RFP that Interactive Links embedded in mobile experiences for Museum Gallery Tour - Featured links to mobile or responsive web versions of the In-gallery interactive. This responsive web version will provided by you or we have to create it?

A. This seems to be a couple of questions rolled into one.

We have a responsive web site in development, and it is possible that we could move the visitor from the mobile tour to view a video on our website via a web link within the tour.

We also have in-gallery interactive experiences in the museum. In the contract for the vendor creating those experiences, there is an option to re-create those experiences for inclusion in our mobile platform. The interactive vendor re-creates their experiences for mobile, and you, the mobile vendor, incorporates those links or code into the mobile platform. As they are not yet created, we cannot provide the specifics at this time, but it also means that we can jointly discuss among all parties the best way to accomplish this.

Q. We are considering Facebook Page like, Twitter follow for social media integrating. Does Smithsonian require anything else apart from this?

A. Snapchat and Pinterest are two additional platforms that NMAAHC uses, and Snapchat seems to be particularly popular with the under 18 crowd.

Q. We will submit App in App store and Play store. But do you provide us App store and Play Store account? Or We have to create new accounts for you? Or we can use our own account?

A. We think you can use your own account, but if there are compelling reasons to create our own, we can look into it. The Smithsonian may already have accounts. We would like to make the mobile download available from our website as well.

Q. F28 (Page: 32). It is mentioned that some content will unlock when a visitor is on-site. Do we have to build any Registration and login functionality in the app?

A. Not necessarily. Sometimes additional content is pushed or made available through the use of onsite beacons. You may propose the best way to accomplish this.

Q. F29 (Page: 32). What kind of games need to be added in a mobile platform?

Do we require to build those games?

A. Yes, any games, treasure hunts or augmented reality experiences would be designed and built by your team, with ideas and input from our curatorial and education teams.

Q. Can we have a list of pre-bid attendees?

A. N/A

Q. Is there any cap for price?

A. See amendment #1. We anticipate that the range for Phase I may be anywhere from $250,000-450,000. That is not a cap, just an expected range.

Q. Is subcontracting allowed?

A. Yes, as long as the primary vendor handles the contract and is responsible for all deliverables. The Smithsonian is not awarding to multiple vendors, nor will it accept bills from multiple vendors.

Q. Can you provide dimensions external areas you wish to have available to the trail experience We ideally need to know how far should the tour extend outdoors… is just immediate area around the museum?

A. The stories told on the outdoor tour will be around the area of the museum and the National Mall. We will start with the area immediately around the museum and branch out as time permits.

Q. Please describe approval process for content development within

NMAAHC.

A. Content will be provided in writing by the vendor. The Smithsonian’s Project Manager will coordinate questions and comments from the curatorial content teams, with a goal of providing feedback or answers to the vendor within 72 hours (business hours) of receipt. This can be done via email or via regularly scheduled meetings.

Q. Can you provide information regarding the number of power outlets in each exhibit area?

This information will help us determine what kind of beacons we will need to install.

A. You should assume limited power outlets, and therefore for wall-mounted beacons, they will need to be long-lasting, battery-powered beacons, with the opportunity to change them periodically.

Q. Can you provide more information regarding this bullet point included under the Creative Approach description in the RFP: A description of the administrator (Smithsonian) experience and an approach to the integration with existing Smithsonian and third-party systems. Does the vendor need to create an administrative portal for the Smithsonian staff? Is there an expectation for the vendor to integrate with other Smithsonian museums’ backend systems for Day 1 development?

A. The Smithsonian staff needs to be able to sign into the CMS used to maintain, update or change content within the mobile platform. If the vendor wishes to take advantage of Smithsonian systems, the Drupal CMS/applications and APIs for delivery of content, that is possible. It is equally possible that the Smithsonian staff and the vendor will upload images and content into the vendor’s content management system for mobile.

Q. The RFP states that the proposal should use Times New Roman with a minimum 11 point size. Is it acceptable to submit a proposal in another font besides Times New Roman? We typically respond to proposals using our organization’s own theme that includes a special font, images, etc.

A. I am fine with other font sizes and styles, and do note that responses for creative products need the flexibility to use other fonts, colors and styles. The one stipulation is that the responses be easily readable, be able to be printed from a standard printer, and no special software is required to read the response (beyond Adobe or Microsoft office products).

Q. Does the museum envision a particular length and number of stops per each of the five designated tours that the Contractor abide by? Or does the museum want the Contractor’s recommendation for length and stop numbers?

A. We don’t have a set number of stops. We are really looking at this as stories we are telling in the different galleries. We have 11 exhibition galleries, with one changing gallery. We will start out with a maximum of 5 stories for each gallery, but not every gallery will have 5 stories. We are still in the process of defining the stories to be told with mobile.

We were thinking that the text for the stories will not be longer than 75-100 words in length, though the visitor may have additional content that they can access (images, content, etc.), but the audio would not be more than a few minutes in length for each story. We would welcome the mobile contractor’s recommendation for length and stop numbers.

The priority for this is a high-quality experience, with mobile as a layer of interpretation that tells compelling or more in-depth stories to our visitors. It does not have to be an exhaustive (or exhausting) set of tours that touch on every element or object in our museum. We can also start small and build on after our opening, when we have had time to obtain reactions and feedback from our visitors.

Q. Page 17, f. It says: As additional or supplementary images, film, video or audio will most likely be required for elements of the Museum-Wide Mobile platform, Contractor shall create the image, video or audio, on behalf of the Smithsonian. Is there an approximate idea of how much additional images, film, or video will be needed? Also, would you want the Contractor to outsource the Photographer and/or Videographer for this additional work? Would they need to shoot onsite? (or primarily onsite?)

A. This will be limited, but we anticipate that the Museum Director may want to provide a video welcome to visitors, or there may be moments in the exhibitions where we provide the visitor with the opportunity to hear from the curators of that particular exhibition on a specific topic.

They would be very short in length, and shooting would be onsite. If necessary, the Contractor may outsource this resource.

Q. Page 18, g. Languages. It specifies Cantonese. Confirming this is the preference over Mandarin? Also, with the number of languages specified, September deadline may prove extremely difficult. Can language delivery staggered? Beginning with English and other languages important to the particular museum demographic, followed by the remainder of languages post the Sept dealine?

A. Thank you, the preference for Chinese should have indicated Mandarin. We absolutely anticipate a phasing in of the languages through the Opening. The complete list of recommended languages is as follows, with Spanish and French being the priority:

• French

• Spanish

• Arabic

• Chinese (Mandarin)

• German

• Japanese

• Portuguese

• Russian

• Korean We are interested in how the contractor would anticipate the visitor selecting the language in mobile – where does that occur in the UI?

Q. Page 28, F5 – It says, “Information may be sent by the visitor to social media channels(Facebook, Twitter, or popular health social media.” If there are any preferred health social media sites for SI, please let us know and will incorporate them in the plan.

A. The Smithsonian does not have any preferred health media sites; in preliminary searches, we saw Fitocracy and My Fitness Pal are popular. We would take a recommendation from the vendor, and would look to see if there are any government (Department of Education or HHS standards) in this regard.

Q. Page 29, F8 – Stories. It says “The platform will provide an opportunity for visitors to contribute their own stories, and provide a museum release allowing NMAAHC and the Smithsonian to use the stories in exhibitions, social media, web or in-gallery interactives.” Do you want the Contractor to create a separate editing tool for this feature, or will the contractor be simply designing a way to incorporate this information from an already existing social medial channel?

A. We would be incorporating this information from an existing digital channel, and most likely move our visitor to contributing their stories through our responsive, Drupal-based web site, now in the final stages of development.

Q. Page 29, F9 Augmented Reality. It says “The platform will provide for special AR moments in specific galleries, allowing the visitor to see the objects and stories in a different way using their mobile devices.” Can any clarification or examples be provided for what kind of special moments the institute has in mind for Augment Reality? Has the museum defined which areas of the museum will benefit from AR moments and who will be responsible for the AR production?

A. Examples of these are called out in the RFP, pages 21-28, under the description of each gallery in (d.) Special Mobile Functionality. These are suggestions and not all will be implemented in time for the Museum Opening, but we would like some to be implemented by the opening, especially integration with existing social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.), the Sports and Military history galleries. The augmented reality may be contracted out by the vendor, but will ultimately be provided by the vendor for integration with mobile.

Q. Page 29. F10. Beacons. It says: “Beacons will be obtained and integrated into the platform to push content to the visitor via the tour.” For the sake of the most accurate budget, does the museum anticipate the number of beacons to be used (if beacons are the chosen option). If so, will the Contractor purchase the beacons? Or is the Contractor’s role to strictly to integrate the beacons (or other possible option) into the platform? When will the client be able to provide the Contracor with a map of the scenography including information on wall dimensions, material and cabling? Has the client identified the content which it would like to be triggered automatically or is that up to the contractor to decide.

A. The contractor will purchase the beacons, and recommend the extent to which they will be used. We have provided general floor areas for each of our exhibitions, but cannot share the floor plans publicly at this time. The selected contractor will be provided with detailed floor plans, and information about dimensions, material and cabling. Beacons will likely be battery-operated and wall-mounted in the galleries, or placed behind objects in cases. We are not looking for a lot of push alerts in the gallery, but are interested in a “near you” feature which may use beacons to detect stories about nearby objects that the visitor may then select.

Q. Page 30, F13, Maps. It says “Contractor will work with NMAAHC to create and embed maps for the museum-wide mobile platform.” What (if any) materials and assistance will be available to the Contractor in the creation of the maps to be embedded into the platform?

A. Please list the materials and assistance desired, and include the costs for that in the proposal. You are invited to include it as an option on the regular pricing. The Smithsonian does not currently have a standard used to create maps of all its museums, so NMAAHC would be open to a recommendation.

Q. Page 30, F18 Font/Typeface. It says “Contractor is responsible for obtaining and installing all font licenses needed for this contract.” Are there any secondary fonts for which we should also secure licensing?

A. No – Freight is the only font we are using in the museum and on our new website, and comes in a wide variety of serif and sans serif selections.

Q. Page 30, F19, Social medial. It says “The mobile platform will integrate easily and transparently with the standard, popular social media channels.” Your website links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. Should the mobile platform incorporate all of these (we are assuming Yes on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram)? Any others not currently listed on our site?

A. We should also have listed Snapchat along with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as we are currently developing a geo-filter for Snapchat. NMAAHC does have a Pinterest profile as well, and could be included but is not required for opening.

Q. Page 30-31, F20, Explore More. It says “The platform will provide the visitor an opportunity to explore more content via short video clips, additional information and related content made available throughout the mobile tours.” Will the video that is provided by the museum already be rights approved?

A. Yes, we will make sure that all images and videos provided by us for use on mobile have the appropriate rights.

Q. Page 31, F21. Transcripts. It says “Text or transcripts will be available with all tours, on demand by the visitor, as part of the tour.” Are there any special screen readers or functionalities expected or desired for the text of all the tours?

A. No, just text that is able to be toggled open or closed within the mobile app, providing the opportunity for the visitor to read more about the story, if desired.

Q. Page 31, F22, Audio. It says “Audio descriptions may be toggled off or on and made available for all tours on demand by the visitor.” Regarding this, is the museum describing a functionality that is different from the traditional audio controls of play pause and stop, or the stop level within a tour? Please clarify if so.

A. The audio controls would be standard play, pause and stop. The ability to listen to audio is controlled by the visitor; they are able to toggle it off or on, it doesn’t automatically play and we do not anticipate audio being launched by a beacon, unless it is rare and is for a specific purpose. All tours should have audio, which also extends museum accessibility to more of our visitors.

Q. Page 32, F29 Games. Will the contractor be creating the games and quizzes are is the Contractor’s role simply to integrate existing games into the platform? Also, how many museum personnel would need licenses to the CMS to add games and quizzes?

A. Quiz questions and answers would be suggested by the museum’s curatorial and education team, working in conjunction with the contractor. We would want to limit access to the CMS to a few museum people, possibly four; enough to have the capacity to maintain the tours and content, but few enough to control changes and not have inadvertent changes or deletions. We do not have another contractor on retainer to create games; any games should be developed by the mobile contractor. At this point, no games beyond a scavenger hunt have been identified by curatorial or education staff.

Q. Page 32, A2. Access. Can you clarify the meaning of “Machine readable form for exchange of information.”

A. XML and JSON are two types of machine-readable forms. If the contractor proposes and we elect to feed object or story information to the mobile CMS from our Smithsonian data repositories, it would be done via an API in JSON. The proposal from the contractor, our timeline and our script will dictate whether or not we use APIs to feed mobile.

Q. Page 33, A5. “All video provided in the mobile platform will be captioned.” Open or closed caption?

A. Open-captioned may be preferred, but we will rely on the recommendation from the contractor.

Q. Page 33, A8 Should the contractor cost out the audio production of the translations of already translated scripts you are providing and can you estimate the numbers of words for the total production time of the transcripts?

A. The translations will be phased into the mobile platform. As a general rule, the transcript for a particular story should be no more than 75-100 words. We would like to feature up to 5 stories in each of our 11 galleries for the opening. Not all tours will be translated into all languages by opening day.

Q. Page 34, A13. It says “The script for the enhanced description will be provided by the NMAAHC contractor providing this training to NMAAHC visitor services staff and docents.” Can the museum clarify the extent of the training role for staff and docents to be provided by the Contractor?

A.NMAAHC has already engaged a contractor who specializes in enhanced description tours.

She will be training our docents and volunteers on how to make a guided tour accessible to our blind or sight-impaired visitors. She will also be asked to take our gallery tour script and write the enhanced description version of that script for the mobile tour. This language was not intended to indicate the mobile contractor will have to train staff or docents.

Q. Page 34, A16. It says “The mobile platform, all five initial tours and all functionality will be subject to an accessibility scan.” Is info and criteria that will be used for the accessibility scan available for the Contractor to review?

A. We use SiteSource for web and mobile vulnerability and accessibility scanning. Sites or apps should have all serious issues remediated before they are able to launch.

Q. Page 36 references User-types. Can you define who are the User-types in this context?

A. That is to be defined, but we will want to target testing to different groups of visitors: youth, teens, family groups, minority, teachers, scholarly and disability communities.

Q. Page 38 R4- It says “Updates Delivery of new content will be quick (120 seconds or less) and seamless; the visitor will not have to re-download the entire app to receive new or updated content.” It is likely not possible to confirm delivery of content speeds as this will depends on variable outside of the Contractors control. Any additional thoughts to add to this?

A. We would like an approach that minimizes the time required to download the mobile app, the space it takes up on a visitor’s phone and would like the visitor to be able to receive updates easily. Content speeds and download time will be part of what we will test.

Q. R6- To achieve an executable file of under 50Mb would require the bulk of the content to be hosted in the cloud then streamed to the device when in use requiring Wi-Fi infrastructure both inside and outside the site. Is there further clarification on the app size request?

A. We wanted to indicate that the executable file needed to meet the limits set out in the app and play stores, which we believed was 50Mb. There should be ample internal and external WiFi in and around our building, so streaming from the cloud should not be an issue. We are asking the contractor to strike the appropriate balance between app size and performance.

Q. The RFP makes it very clear what is expected in the 'technical proposal'. Are you able to provide insight into what is expected within the business proposal?

A. Business proposal should include total cost for the project with a detailed breakdown of individual costs. Please see the RFP for more info.

Q. What accessibility program or criteria would be used to assess compliance for mobile?

A. We will be using PowerMapper’s SortSite Accessibility Checker and Validator.

Page/section Question

13/C.1.3(a) Can you provide dimensions external areas you wish to have available to the trail experience We ideally need to know how far should the tour extend outdoors… is just immediate area around the museum?

It is the area around the museum and the National Mall. The tour should allow people standing in line to see or hear stories about the history, as well as those wanting to walk around the museum and nearby attractions.

Please describe approval process for content development within NMAAHC.

36/C.2.5(U3) Please describe the user testing approach approved by NMAAHC evaluation team?

We would want to do functionality, accessibility and load testing of the tours. We would bring in different teams across the Smithsonian and outside groups to do the testing.

17/II.a. Can you estimate (time) how much video will require captioning?

Mostly, it would be captioning of any short, introductory videos made for mobile. These may be brief statements by the Museum Director welcoming visitors to the Museum, and brief introductions by the curatorial teams regarding their exhibitions.

18/ii.(g) Can you provide a priority ranking for the languages other than English, that need to be available for Day 1

We have several languages that we would like to ultimately have available, however, we believe that a few will be prioritized and the rest phased in over time (after Opening).

• French

• Spanish

• Arabic

• Chinese

• German

• Japanese

• Portuguese

• Russian

• Korean

In what format will content be provided?, it be removed from Smithsonian premises

We should be providing content in digital form to the vendor via email or dropbox, or in person; no physical objects will be removed from the Smithsonian.

What is the projected/expected visitorship for the following time frames First 15 days ______ First 30 days ______ First 90 days ________

We expect the same number of visitors at 15, 30 or 90 days, knowing that Saturday – Sunday tend to be the busiest days of the week. Basing our numbers on visitation at the other Smithsonian museums, we anticipate we will average between 20,000-30,000 visits per week.

18/ii.(g) Does NMAAHC require full multiple language support for all audio, video and text in the project? In particular we wish to know:

Are multiple language versions of the entire App required? If a user changes languages, do ALL interface elements and components of the App change to that language, including menus, maps, location descriptions, help etc.

The transcripts and audio will change languages. The menus and maps do not need to change.

When language is switched from English, must all audio / video elements be provided in selected language? e.g. is it sufficient to provide video captioning in selected language whilst retaining original soundtrack? i.e. will it be necessary to provide videos produced natively in each language?

Yes, please note that we anticipate that languages will be phased in over time – we will want to start with Spanish and French.

The same question applies for accessibility guides… i.e. are the audio guides to be recorded in each language?

Ultimately, yes, we would like audio to be in multiple languages.

Is it a requirement to have all language versions ready by September go live for Day 1, or can additional language support be added post day 1 go live date.

We will continue adding languages after our opening.

Are there specific languages that are a higher priority than others? e.g. Spanish, and French? For opening day over other languages?

Spanish and French would be our target for opening.

17/f How much media development are vendor responsible for?

> - Video elements page 17, section “F” how to determine level of effort for this requirement?

We anticipate a short video welcome from the Director, as well as commentary from curators who worked on an exhibition.

> - Which platform devices do you want supported?

Apple (iOS – iPhone and iPad) and Android.

Will we be able to use your GSA schedule for purchasing hardware?

It depends on the hardware and the amounts. We could purchase it, but we anticipate that you purchasing it might result in faster procurement.

How will you weight the top 3 award criteria All criteria are weighted equally. We have stated that the functionality outweighs the cost.

“what is anticipated award date?”

The anticipated award date is the first week of May.

Whereas the contract is to provide 6 months follow-on support after “opening day”, with respect to the proposed Project Schedule, is training on the use of the system for Smithsonian personnel expected before “opening day” or can it occur during the 6 month follow on period?

Training will likely occur after opening.

What are you anticipating the average tour length will be, i.e.:

Family tour duration: _____ Adult only tour duration: ____ Teenager tour duration: _____ Visually impaired tour duration: _____

We have not set maximum lengths, though we would anticipate that the Family Tour will be the shortest in duration. We do not know the average time spent in the museum; statistics from other museums suggest that tours should probably be no longer than one to one and a half hours, allowing the visitor to skip sections or linger in others as required.

We want the tour to be flexible, and provide a layer of interpretation for each gallery, with specific stories.

With respect to installation of any hardware necessary in support of “Trail” experience, how many days in advance of availability of spaces for install will contractor be notified. What is the most contiguous time that would be allotted for onsite physical installation of hardware?

This is probably variable, and depends on where the hardware is installed. If it is servers in our off-site data center, installation should be during regular business hours. If in the museum itself, the hours may vary but the contractor would be able to install for several hours at a time.

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