Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF FEBRUARY 11, 2012 FBO #3731
DOCUMENT

R -- Visioning Summit - Attachment

Notice Date

2/9/2012
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

541611 — Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veteran Affairs;SAO East;PCAE STL Contracting Officer;11152 South Towne Square;Saint Louis MO 63123
 

ZIP Code

63123
 

Solicitation Number

VA77712R0084
 

Response Due

2/24/2012
 

Archive Date

3/25/2012
 

Point of Contact

Anthony Balestreri
 

E-Mail Address

4-6648<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and small business size standard. The NAICS code, 541611, and small business size standard for this acquisition appear in Block 10 of the solicitation cover sheet (SF 1449). However, the small business size standard for a concern which submits an offer in its own name, but which proposes to furnish an item which it did not itself manufacture, is $7,000,000.00. Pre-quote discussions: The Pre-quote period is the period of time between issuance of the solicitation and due date for offers. This time period allows for an exchange of information between the VA and all potential offeror's. You must request a copy of the RFP from the contract specialist in order to submit a proposal. All requests to obtain a copy of the RFP and/or submit questions regarding this solicitation shall be sent in writing directly to the Contract Specialist by E-mail to anthony.balestreri@va.gov. The last day to submit questions shall be 31 January 2012. All questions should reference the specific reference to the particular section/subsection number of the RFQ they are requesting be clarified. Questions must be received before the date specified for receipt of questions. Questions or requests for extension submitted after the cut-off date will not be considered Answers to questions and clarifications will be posted to FEDBIZOPPS. Any changes to this combined solicitation synopsis will be issued by amendment. The following information shall be submitted separately of the Written Technical Proposal, Management Plan and Past Performance: "One original copy of Standard Form 1449 signature page (completing blocks 17a, 17b, 30a, 30b, and 30c.) submitted in hard copy with original signature. "Administrative information document including your official business name, physical street address, mailing address, phone number, email address of a primary and secondary point of contact. Additionally, the administrative information sheet shall include the offeror's DUNS number, cage code, NAICS, SIC, TIN and parent TIN. "Pricing Offer on an Excel Spreadsheet. All proposed pricing must be provided utilizing the CLINs and format provided in the RFP. Subcontracting Plan. Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation shall include a subcontracting plan that separately addresses subcontracting with small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns. If the offeror is submitting an individual contract plan, the plan must separately address subcontracting with small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns, with a separate part for the basic contract and separate parts for each option, if any. The plan shall be included in and made a part of the resultant contract. Failure to submit and negotiate a subcontracting plan shall make the offeror ineligible for award of a contract. The offeror shall submit a Management Plan that details their approach to meet the government requirements as stated in the PWS. The Offeror shall include all supporting details necessary for the Government to determine the Offerors personnel, technical qualifications and ability to perform the required services, as well as the adequacy and advantages of the proposal. Past Performance information shall be submitted electronically to the Contracting Officer in accordance with the requirements set forth in the RFP. Offerors may include up to three references of events of similar size and scope. Proposal submission instructions. The offeror shall provide a 20 page (maximum) proposal that addresses how the Performance Work Statement requirements will be accomplished. All proposals shall be submitted electronically. The Contractor shall submit their quotations as follows: E-Mail to: ANTHONY.BALESTRERI@VA.GOV Your entire quote must be received via email to anthony.balestreri@va.gov prior to February 24, 2012 at 5:00 PM CST in order to be considered for award. Late or partial proposals will not be considered. The Government shall be evaluating quotations on the basis of the written material presented. The vendor's quotation should be written in plain language (VA prohibits the use of elaborate technical quotation) and be formatted in Times New Roman 12 Pt Font. Department of Veterans Affairs reserves the right to conduct an on-site inspection of offered facilities. All responsible sources that are able to demonstrate their ability to meet the requirements and provide items as listed above may respond to this solicitation. General Description of the Requirement The Contractor shall work with VHA staff to develop the summit plans, agenda, activities, and deliverables for a two-day face to face Winter 2012 Visioning Summit to be held in the Washington, District of Columbia metropolitan area. a)Visioning Summit Planning. The Contractor shall coordinate with the VHA Program Office and stakeholders to develop the Visioning Summit plans. This will include regular conferences calls prior to the summit and may include one or more face-to-face planning meetings with the VHA planning committee. The Contractor shall be responsible for completion of all critical and tactical actions (e.g., planning, communications, coordination, administrative, etc.) required for the planning of the summit. The Contractor shall coordinate and track summit planning actions. b)Visioning Summit Design. The Contractor shall work with VHA planning committee to develop the agenda for the Visioning Summit including the identification of internationally known content experts who will present at and/or participate in the summit panels. The Contractor shall support VHA in the development of the summit objectives, content, activities, discussions and deliverables for the two-day Visioning Summit that will formulate and refine the VHA's vision for Patient Centered Care. Specifically, the theme of the Visioning Summit is to identify and leverage critical success elements, develop recommendations for moving forward, and to develop critical and tactical next steps for embedding the lessons learned from the Visioning Summit, the vision and strategic plan for implementation of Patient Centered Care and the resulting cultural change in VHA. Deliverables: A.Visioning Summit planning coordination, including scheduling of all necessary conference calls, planning meetings, planning meeting or call minutes, and completion of all critical and tactical actions required for the planning of the Visioning Summit. B.Visioning Summit objectives, agenda, outcomes, deliverables and timelines. VENDOR QUESTIONS AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSES 1) On page 11 of the RFP under "Development of Post Visioning Summit Action Plan," part D calls for developing content for use with Social Networking tools. Will this be required, or is there a VA employee who can take care of this in house? A: VA has someone in-house who can take care of this. Please do not include any line items for developing content for use with Social Networking tools in your proposal. 2) For the two-day, face to face meeting, should the contractor budget for 25 speakers to travel to Washington, DC with the intent to stay for one or two nights. A: The contractor is not required to supply 25 speakers. The speaker list is a suggestion of the caliber of people the VA expects. The contractor should decide how many speakers are necessary and for how many days. Contractors with experience conducting these programs will easily be able to choose effective speaker or speakers and schedule them accordingly. For the speakers that the contractor chooses, the contractor must budget for those speakers' travel costs since the contract is firm fixed price. 3) How many breakout rooms are required for the two day meeting? A: Up to facilitator 4) If Breakout rooms are required, should contractors budget for audio-visual equipment for each breakout room? A: Up to facilitator 5) How many attendees are expected for the two-day, face to face meeting? A) 50 6) Will the same number of attendees be present for both days? A: Yes 7) Is the contractor responsible for meeting materials (badges, printed materials) for non-supported attendees? A: Yes, the contractor is responsible for materials 8) For breakout rooms, is it required to have a facilitator and a note-taker or writer in each room? A: That is up to the facilitator 9) Are any parts of the two-day meeting being recorded for later use? A: No 10) For budgeting purposes, how many internationally known content experts should contractors budget? A: Is in the PWS - use expertise. 11) For budgeting purposes, will the Post Visioning Summit occur in Washington, DC? A: Yes 12) When securing the hotel venue, should contractors block rooms for non-supported travelers for travelers to book on their own? A: No 13) Considering hotel prices change in the Washington, DC depending on the time of the year, has the VA determined a more precise timeframe for the meetings. A: No 14) Is the Winter/Spring 2012 timeline estimate correct? A meeting of this scope, especially in light of the A-list speakers needed, would appear to need more time to organize. A: No, due to unforeseen hold ups in the process the timing will be late spring / early summer. 15) Will the contractor be required to secure meeting and hotel space for the summit? A: No this will be held at a VA facility in Crystal City or DC 16) How many participants will be attending the summit? A: Around 50. 17) How many hotel rooms will be needed. A: None, VA will provide the hotel rooms for travel. 18) How will participants be selected? A: Head VA officials will be selected to attend. 19) Will participants come from VISNs, VAMCs and other VHA offices? A: Possibly all. 20) Has the VA or any VA affiliated groups (contractors, consultants, etc.) contacted any speakers to determine their availability for Winter/Spring 2012? A: No. 21) Do VA regulations limit the amount of honorarium or fees that can be paid to speakers? A: Hiring speakers is the responsibility of the contractor and should be included in their firm fixed price. 22) The RFP indicates the use of a GSA labor category. Does this reference indicate the VA will award the contract through a GSA schedule contract? If no, what GSA labor categories are anticipated for use? A: This is not a GSA contract but instead is an open market solicitation, so GSA labor categories do not apply. 23)Does VA include in the planning component of the summit selecting and securing the venue for the summit? If so ¦ a.Should the price proposal include the cost of the venue? A: No - VA facility b.How many people are expected to attend the Visioning Summit? A: 50 c.Should the price proposal include travel, lodging and per diem for any of the speakers? A: Yes vendor is responsible for speakers 24)Does VA have an existing event/conference management website or vendor relationship site that will be leveraged to manage this effort, or should the contractor budget for one? A: Not sure what this means? EES writes the ITT. 25)Should the contractor include speaker honorarium or fees in the price volume as an Other Direct Cost (ODC)? A: No - everything firm, fixed price contract 26)Should the program repository be accessible to external stakeholders (i.e. on the internet) or is it intended to be an internal resource (i.e. VA Sharepoint site)? A: No 27)In order to accurately estimate staff support needs for the conference, can the government provide more details to adequately estimate the number of facilitators needed to staff the conference? A: Facilitator knows how many attendees so should plan accordingly 28)In order to adequately estimate the level of effort required for the Post-Vision Summit, can the government provide more detail about the number of follow-up meetings, number of additional planning exercises, expectations for social media content, and the specific scope of facilitation and coordinating communications? A: No 29)Does VA have relationships with any of the individuals proposed as desired speakers in Appendix A? A: No 30)The government states that all labor categories and rates must be GSA approved. Does VA have a preferred GSA schedule contractors should use to build their price proposal? A: Use guidelines on GSA site 31)When does VA expect to award the task order? A: Sometime in February/March 32)Page 4 says one original copy of SF 1449 signature page is to be submitted in hard copy. However, page 5 says "Your entire quote must be received via email to..." Would you consider clarifying this apparent conflict in the delivery instructions? A: There is no need to submit a hard copy of your proposal. Please email your entire proposal before the due date to Anthony.Balestreri@va.gov 33)How many attendees do you anticipate at the summit? A: 50 34)Is the contractor responsible for marketing the summit? A: No 35)Page 5-6; "The Contractor shall support and facilitate communications between the international thought leaders and the VHA Program Office to develop a set of recommendations and next steps for a substantial cultural change as VHA shifts to a new model of care." Does this mean that conversation will be facilitated strictly at the Visioning Summit or is the expectation that these leaders will also be available for facilitated conversations before and/or after the Summit as well? A: These people will not be accessible after the summit. 36)Page 6; "Services to be provided are: ¦ e) Develop and assist in the execution of a Post Visioning Summit Plan of Action and Milestones." Given that the Post Visioning Summit Plan could include activities ranging from communications planning to multi-phased, intensive change management plans, how will this degree of undefined scope be compensated for? Are there any relevant limitations to scope that should be assumed in the proposal? A: No 37)Page 6; " ¦two-day face to face Winter/Spring 2012 Visioning Summit ¦" Have the dates of the summit been set? If so what are they? A: No 38)Page 6; " ¦two-day face to face Winter/Spring 2012 Visioning Summit ¦" Has a facility to host the Summit been reserved? If yes, which one? A: No but it will be in Crystal City or DC 39)Page 6; "The Contractor shall be responsible for completion of all critical and tactical actions (e.g., planning, communications, coordination, administrative, etc.) required for the planning of the summit." Does include travel and logistics for speakers Does this include travel logistics for speakers and participants? A: Not participants, only speakers. 40)Page 6; "The Contractor shall be responsible for completion of all critical and tactical actions (e.g., planning, communications, coordination, administrative, etc.) required for the planning of the summit." Does this include administration of panelist honorariums? A: Yes 41)Page 6; "The Contractor shall be responsible for completion of all critical and tactical actions (e.g., planning, communications, coordination, administrative, etc.) required for the planning of the summit." Does execution of guest speaker riders/terms fall into the contractor's responsibility? A: Yes 42)Page 6; "The Contractor shall be responsible for completion of all critical and tactical actions (e.g., planning, communications, coordination, administrative, etc.) required for the planning of the summit." Will guidelines to gauge rider/terms acceptability be provided to the contractor or will VHA expect to approve speaker riders/terms as they become available during the negotiation process with speakers? A: VHA will approve as they become available 43)Page 6; "The Contractor shall be responsible for completion of all critical and tactical actions (e.g., planning, communications, coordination, administrative, etc.) required for the planning of the summit." Will VHA (government) reimburse the travel of speakers and panelists? A: No - it's in their price 44)Page 6; "The Contractor shall be responsible for completion of all critical and tactical actions (e.g., planning, communications, coordination, administrative, etc.) required for the planning of the summit." Does this include logistics at the facility hosting the event (e.g. audio / visual contracting, logistics, and design)? A: No 45)Page 6; "This will include regular conferences calls prior to the summit and may include one or more face-to-face planning meetings with the VHA planning committee." What is the role of the VHA Planning Committee? A: Decide goals, purpose statement and objectives 46)Page 7; "If the reserve speakers/panelists are needed, they will be expected to attend day one of the Visioning Summit." Are speakers not expected to be at day 2 of the Summit? A: Contractor choice 47)Page 7; The Contractor shall deliver a recommended list of 25 available renowned experts who can lead the VHA ¦ How many guest speakers do you anticipate using? All 25? A: No - contractor's choice 48)Page 7: The contractor shall create, copyedit, control distribute and maintain various necessary Visioning Summit Panel program documents. Is the contractor responsible for producing all printed materials required for the summit? A: Yes 49)Page 8; " ¦and capture and compile inputs from a variety of VHA participants." How many VHA participants is input expected of? A: 50 50)Page 8; " ¦and capture and compile inputs from a variety of VHA participants." Do the schedules of these participants likely exclude the completion of this activity through use of a group working session? A: Contractor choice 51)Page 8-9; "The schedule shall identify and include all applicable Universal Project Milestones (UPM) for identifying and documenting discrete events necessary to complete the program/project ¦" Is there a formal definition for a UPM? A: No 52)Page 8-9; "The schedule shall identify and include all applicable Universal Project Milestones (UPM) for identifying and documenting discrete events necessary to complete the program/project ¦" In this sentence, what is the intended scope of "program / project"? Does it include post-Summit action planning? Does it include action plan implementation work? A: Yes to both 53)Page 9; the Contractor shall provide a sufficient number of facilitators to handle all breakout sessions. How many breakout sessions do you anticipate? A: Contractor choice 54)Page 10; "The report must be sent in draft form to the VHA Program Office and edits and corrections requested by VHA staff shall be incorporated." How many staff members will be providing edits and corrections? A: Contractor choice 55)Page 11; "Follow on work related to the implementation of the action plan is required." To what extent does follow-on work related to the implementation of the action plan fall under the same contract? A: Till implementation is complete 56)Page 11; "Follow on work related to the implementation of the action plan is required." Should follow-on activities with high likelihoods of inclusion in the action plan be assumed and priced as part of the initial contract (e.g. change management planning, communications planning, adjustments to the employee performance evaluation process)? A: Yes 57)Page 11; "C.Provide facilitation for the VHA Program Office in additional planning exercises" What "additional planning exercises" are being referenced? Is there an anticipated number? A: Additional planning exercises are the responsibility of the contractor. Number is up to contractor. 58)Page 11; "D.Develop content for use with Social Networking tools" Is the contractor expected to be the sole social networking content creator? A: VA will handle in house. Please do not price this in your proposal. 59)Page 11 "E.Facilitating and Coordinating Communications" Does this mean facilitating and coordinating the communications process and/or specific communication activities? A: Yes 60)Page 12; "The Government anticipates award of a Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) contract." Are speaker honorariums, speaker travel, conference facility cost, Summit supplies or anything besides contractor labor cost to be included in the proposal pricing? A: Yes - firm, fixed price contract. 61)Page 12; "The Government anticipates award of a Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) contract." Does the contractor need to include the cost of venue in our price? A: No-VA venue 62)Page 12; "The Government anticipates award of a Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) contract." Is the contractor responsible for providing food and beverage to the summit attendees? A: No 63)Page 12; "The Contractor shall have three business days to incorporate feedback/comments and make appropriate revisions. The Contractor shall provide the revised version of each deliverable within two business days to the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)." Are there two or three days for incorporation of feedback/comments? A: Statement says 3 business days 64)Page 13; "These bi-weekly reports due on the 1st and 3rd Mondays. The reports will cover progress made for the prior two weeks." What is to occur on the 5th Monday (April 30th, July 30th, October 29th, and December 31st)? A: Reports cover all progress up to that point 65)Page 4 One Original copy of Standard Form 1449 signature page... submitted in hard copy with original signature. Does the Government want one page submitted in hard copy with signature via US Mail, overnight service or courier? If so please provide delivery instructions (address, etc.). A: Please do not submit a hard copy of your proposal. Instead, email proposals by the due date to Anthony.Balestreri@va.gov 66)Can the government provide an estimated level of effort please? A: 110%
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/VA/VAAAC/VAAAC/VA77712R0084/listing.html)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA777-12-R-0084 VA777-12-R-0084_2.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=295434&FileName=VA777-12-R-0084-001.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=295434&FileName=VA777-12-R-0084-001.docx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN02671835-W 20120211/120210114407-b986433f7425946d003ab688153f3450 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

---

| FSG Index  |  This Issue's Index  |  Today's FBO Daily Index Page |