Training Day III
Proposal Harvest TimeThe APMP SOCAL Chapter held its 3rd Annual Training Day from 8:00am to 5:00pm on Friday, November 10, 2006 at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel in Anaheim, California.
Business Wargaming
Mr. Kurtz will introduce the use of Business Wargaming as a tool to support the preparation of more effective proposals to win business in a highly competitive environment. He will discuss knowing when a wargame is likely to be justified, the ability to use selected business wargaming tools, understanding the value of a structured and disciplined process, the ability to explain the major phases in a proposal wargaming project, and the ability to compare a proposal wargame with other approaches such as Red Team/Blue Team and Black Hat.
Jay Kurtz
Mr. Kurtz is President of Kappa West Inc., a consulting company in Laguna Hills, California. Kappa West is a professional services firm that helps its clients gain significant and sustainable improvements in their strategic effectiveness and operational efficiency. Mr. Kurtz consults and speaks on topics including business strategy, operations, competitive intelligence, and planning to win.Getting Graphics Right the First Time
In harmony with “Lessons Learned from Lagniappe: Proposing Extra Value to Gain and Keep Customers,” Mike Parkinson will present “Getting Graphics Right the First Time.” In a survey of over 75 2005 APMP Annual Conference attendees the topic was highly requested. The presentation will share industry secrets that are proven to decrease cost, time, risk, and stress associated with proposal development. The proposal team is then freed up to focus on the right solution/the right message for the right customer. The team can concentrate on pointing out where their solution offers extra value (vs. competitors).
Mike Parkinson
Mike Parkinson, Partner and Senior Designer for 24 Hour Company, is the industry’s recognized expert and the premier presenter on proposal graphics. He has been doing programs on visual communications for more than three years and is a frequent presenter at APMP’s Annual Conference and APMP Chapter events. Mike joined 24 Hour Company in 1999 with a broad range of experiences in fine arts, design and multi-media work. Since then he’s created and managed the production of visual presentations for dozens of multi-million and multi-billion dollar bids. Mike’s leadership skills, creative talent and commitment to customer service are recognized and highly acclaimed by both clients and government procurement people.Seeing Both Sides at the Same Time: Lessons Learned from NASA Competitions
As program manager for the NASA Robotic Deep Space Mission Competitions, Mr. Matousek presents a view from the inside. What are they? How are they set up? What is NASA thinking? What are the keys to success for an Announcement of Opportunity? How to read between the lines! A few of the lessons learned from many proposals.- How to speak the truth and still win.
- What are the keys to winning?
- How to spot problem areas that lead to proposal defects.
- Successful partnerships.
- The big picture.
- The details that you must pay attention to.
Steve Matousek
Steve Matousek is Mission Manager for the Juno Mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He has over 23 years experience in the conception, design, and operation of deep space missions. Over the past decade, he has been deeply involved in the proposal process from both sides. He participated in and managed over a dozen proposal efforts covering NASA's Small Explorer, MIDEX, Discovery, and New Frontiers competitions. On the NASA side, Steve was the Mars Scout Program Manager. Despite lack of sleep from working proposals and a day job at the same time, he remains enthusiastic about exploring space.The Seven Biggest Mistakes of an Oral Proposal—and How to Avoid Them
An oral proposal has one goal: to win the contract. You do so by showing the customers how your team and technical solution will help them solve the problems and achieve the goals they set out in the Request for Proposal. An oral proposal is a technical presentation. You have to explain precisely how you will respond to the customer’s request. It is also a job interview. The selection committee wants to know if you are the kind of people they would want to work with for the term of the contract. This presentation will examine the most common—and harmful—mistakes that teams make while preparing and delivering an oral proposal. Participants will then learn how to plan, create, and deliver a winning oral proposal.
Chris Witt
Chris Witt, founder and president of Witt Communications, works with defense contractors and high-tech firms that want to make winning oral proposals on large government contracts. In the past seven years he has worked on over 75 oral proposals on projects ranging in size from $5 million to $1 billion. He has coached individual presenters and teams as large as nine presenters, supported by a crew of 23 subject matter experts and support personnel, working with SAIC, Cubic, IBM, AT&T, Northrop Grumman, Serco, Booz-Allen-Hamilton, and Forward Slope. Chris has taught public speaking and communication skills at three universities. He has published three books and numerous articles (in Entrepreneur’s Business Start-Ups, The Toastmaster, Kiwanis, and The Professional Speaker). He is a graduate of Corporate Coach U, and a member of the Institute of Management Consultants and AFCEA.APMP Accreditation Program
The presentation will cover why APMP elected to create an accreditation program for proposal managers, the benefits to both the individual and companies, how the program works, what level of effort it requires from those seeking accreditation, the costs associated with each level, and the resources available to help our members prepare for the accreditation program.
Holly Andrews, PM.APMP
Ms. Andrews has over nineteen years’ experience in project, proposal and human resource management; business process analysis, and technical writing. She owns her own company, T3W Business Solutions, providing Geographic Information System (GIS) development, process analysis and flowcharting, technical writing, and policy and procedure development. She has over 10 years experience managing and writing proposals and was the Director of Proposal Operations for Motorola Corporation and Anteon Corporation (now General Dynamics), handling federal, state, and local government bids for both products and services. She has written a number of proposal libraries for a wide range of commercial clients. She holds a BS in Business Management, a master’s in Business Administration, and a Certificate in Human Resources Management., She is a Certified Professional in Proposal Management and a candidate Certified Appraiser of the Business Development Capability Maturity Model for the Business Development Institute International.Winning Executive Summaries: Hook ’em and Hold ’em
This presentation will provide tips and tricks for developing customer-focused Executive Summaries that clearly communicate your sales message. By using proven tools, techniques, and templates, you will gain a competitive advantage by learning a proven process for creating Executive Summaries that sell. You will learn to quickly and consistently prepare winning, customer-focused Executive Summaries. Create winning strategies that will improve your win rate and communicate a solution that speaks to your customer. Clearly communicate to your customer why you are the answer to their problem.