3040 Williams Drive, Suite 500, Fairfax, VA 22031 www.actgov.org ● (p) 703.208.4800 ● (f) 703.208.4805

ACT-IAC: Advancing Government Through Collaboration, Education and Action

February 24, 2014

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Innovating the Executive Leadership Conference

1) Introduction

The American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) is a 501(c) 3 public-private partnership dedicated to improving government through the application of information technology. ACT-IAC provides an objective, ethical and trusted forum where government and industry communicate, collaborate, and learn. For more than twenty years ACT-IAC has sponsored The Executive Leadership Conference (ELC). ELC has become the premiere collaborative event for senior executives in the Federal information technology community. ELC brings together 850 senior executives for a 2-½ day program each October. ELC provides the ACT/IAC community with professional development, executive briefings, and networking opportunities. Attendees are informed about important government priorities and challenges, public policy, and information technology priorities and trends. Government and industry executives leave more knowledgeable and connected and as a result have more thorough insight into how their agencies and companies can make impactful contributions. ACT-IAC is now seeking assistance in enhancing the value, relevance, and uniqueness of this event. ACT-IAC is seeking proposals for modernizing the 2014 ELC by incorporating innovative techniques for collaboration, communication, and experiential learning in order to create an exciting, relevant, and innovative ELC. This RFP is not about event management nor event production.

2) Acquisition information

a) Schedule Feb 28- Notify ACT-IAC point of contact (below) of your company’s intent to bid. Send an email to

membersupport@actiac.org, SUBJECT: ELC Innovation. Responses due by 5:00 PM EST.

March 3rd and 4th – WebEx or in person discussions will be held

March 14 – Electronic responses of no more than ten pages are due to ACT-IAC. They should be sent to membersupport@actiac.org, ATTN: ELC Innovation. Responses due by 5:00 PM EST.

b) Oversight

This is a contract with ACT-IAC and the ACT-IAC staff will be responsible for contract management. However, the firm selected to provide these services will work closely with the ELC Executive leadership and senior committee members. The ELC leadership will provide guidance and direction to the contractor. These individuals will assist ACT-IAC staff in evaluating the contractor’s performance under this contract.

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c) Selection Process It is the ACT-IAC intention to review all proposals expeditiously and make a decision within one week of the closing date of March 14. The selection committee will include members of the ELC leadership and members of the ACT-IAC professional staff and Board of Directors. Evaluation criteria is outlined in 4) below.

d) For Further Information For further information on the requirements set forth in this RFP, contact Robert Smith, ACT-IAC Director of Meetings (rsmith@actiac.org).

3) Proposal Requirements (Information to be submitted in response to this RFP) Interested bidders should submit no more than a ten-page electronic response covering:

Mission Suitability: a. Corporate overview, strategy, approach, and deliverables for creating an integrated experiential learning

environment for the 2014 ELC Program. b. A description of the organization – its history, competencies, and clientele c. Description of the services that will be provided d. Resumes of the individual(s) who will do the work

Past Performance a. Summary of experience in working with government agencies and collaborative activities with special

attention to activities similar to ACT-IAC and the ELC.

Price a. Fees and projected expenses associated with executing designed strategy and approach for the 2014 ELC

at the Williamsburg Conference Center, Williamsburg, VA.

4) Evaluation Criteria

The criteria by which respondents will be evaluated are: Mission Suitability

Ability to create an integrated multi-day environment of collaboration and contribution for 850 ELC attendees that follows the theme of ‘Leadership and Innovation in Radically Changing Times’.

Develop outcomes that turn the collaboration and contribution of the attendees into credible actions.

Create purposeful networking opportunities that extend the information exchanges of attendees

Provide social media or other innovative techniques for engagement before, during, and after the ELC itself.

Past Performance

Past performance in working on a multi day, executive level government and industry event supporting more than 800 executives.

Past performances in a government or industry collaboration and engagement experience (i.e. Not a one to many but a many to many multi day experience).

Overall company past performance in collaboration or experiential learning.

Price

Affordability to proposed strategy

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5) ACT-IAC Background The American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) is the premiere public-private partnership in the government information technology community. It is incorporated as a 501(c) 3 non-profit educational organization in the State of Delaware and headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

The American Council for Technology (ACT) was created in 1979 by government employees (primarily Federal) engaged in a number of technology councils (then called “ADP councils”) around the country. The leaders of these local councils (including the one located in Denver at that time) created ACT as a national forum for communication, collaboration and education. ACT was originally established as a federation of technology councils. The membership of ACT was limited to government executives responsible for the acquisition and management of information technology assets. Today there are over 3,000 government executives from every Federal agency and many state and local governments participating in ACT. In 1989 ACT created the Industry Advisory Council (IAC) to provide an objective and vendor-neutral forum where government executives could communicate and collaborate with their industry peers on issues pertaining to the government’s acquisition and use of information technology. IAC is a subset of ACT and has not separate legal identity. There are approximately 500 companies that belong to IAC with almost 70% of those being small businesses with annual government revenues under $30 million annually. Additional information about ACT-IAC is available at www.actiac.org. Vision: To be the most trusted public-private partnership for cultivating a cost-conscious culture of innovation to improve government. Mission: Facilitate the strategic use of technology to improve the mission of government. Objectives:

Facilitate communication among the managers and users of IT, the government agencies (Federal, state, local and international) regulating those technologies, industry and the academic community.

Improve government through the efficient and innovative application of information technology assets.

Provide training and education to enhance the competence of the workforce at the federal, state and local levels of government.

Promote the public sector information technology profession. Principles:

Government issues drive the agenda

All activities will be ethical, transparent and open

Activities will be objective, fair and vendor/technology neutral

No lobbying or business development

No government funding ACT-IAC CURRENT STATUS ACT-IAC is recognized and respected as the premiere public-private partnership in the government information technology community. ACT-IAC provides an objective, trusted and ethical forum where government and industry executives can communicate, collaborate and acquire education. ACT-IAC is unique in that:

It’s mission is to improve government – it is not an advocate for industry or any particular point of view;

Every activity has government and industry leaders and participants;

Business development and promotion – as well as lobbying – are prohibited;

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The organization is not a government contractor and does not accept government funding (except for event registrations)

All activities are designed to emphasize outcomes – and to make a difference in the way government operates

ACT-IAC facilitates communication, collaboration and education by providing a wide range of services. These range from numerous events (from two hour sessions to four major conferences) to committees working on key issues to professional development programs and educational programming provided through the ACT-IAC Academy. Most of ACT-IAC’s activities are in the Washington, DC region. ACT-IAC has recently been designated as an Authorized Provider of CEUs from the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). IACET is the only standard-setting organization approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for continuing education and training. This accreditation demonstrates ACT-IAC’s commitment to high-quality life-long learning. In 2013 ACT-IAC moved into new office space in Fairfax, Virginia that includes a collaboration and education center. In addition, a major investment was made in the acquisition of video conferencing capabilities to support virtual meetings, webcasts and other types of engagement. ACT-IAC MEMBERSHIP Full-time government employees (Federal, state, local and tribal) belong to the American Council for Technology. This is an individual membership and there is no fee to join ACT. All that is required is to acquire an account on the ACT-IAC web site. There are currently approximately 3,000 government employees who are considered members of ACT. Membership in the Industry Advisory Council (IAC) is a corporate membership. Companies who support the ACT-IAC mission may join IAC by paying dues based on their annual government revenues. Corporate dues range from $750 to $15,200 annually. There are currently around 500 companies that belong to IAC. There is also a special Regional IAC membership available to individuals who live and work more than 150 miles from Washington, DC. Full-time academics may join ACT under the same terms and conditions as full-time government employees. Note: the ACT-IAC membership is not confined to technologists and computer specialists. Since the mission is to improve government, ACT-IAC seeks to provide value to program managers, acquisition officials, financial management officials, human capital officers and any other functions interested in better government and the use of technology.

6) Executive Leadership Conference Background

First held in 1991, the Executive Leadership Conference (ELC) brings together senior executives from government and industry for collaboration on strategic issues. ELC is considered the premier event in the government IT community. Attendance is limited to ACT-IAC members with a cap of no more than 850 attendees. Industry attendance is limited to ensure that the government to industry ratio at ELC does not exceed approximately 1:3. ELC is held in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia in October. ELC has traditionally begun with a dinner on Sunday evening and concludes by noon on Tuesday. The Monday program has traditionally encompassed a combination of keynote presentations and up to four tracks whose speakers and content are selected based on high priority information technology and related and relevant priority topics. Tuesday has been a blend of speakers and break-out tables addressing a variety of issues that tie

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back to the general themes. All planning for the ELC content is the responsibility of a government and industry Conference Planning Committee. The leadership of the committee is selected prior to the close of the previous year and planning begins immediately. The ELC goals are to provide a valuable forum where senior executives from government and industry can communicate and collaborate with each other. ELC provides the ACT/IAC community with professional development, executive briefings, and networking opportunities. Attendees are informed about important government priorities and challenges, public policy, and information technology priorities and trends. Government and industry executives leave more knowledgeable and connected and as a result have more thorough insight into how their agencies and companies can make impactful contributions. The 2014 ELC will be held October 26-28, 2014. The attachment to this document outlines the theme, objectives, and initial thinking for ELC 2014 as set forth by the Conference Planning Committee.

7) ELC 2014 Planning

THEME The 2014 theme is LEADERSHIP AND INNOVATION IN RADICALLY CHANGING TIMES. There is an emerging and new collaborative ecosystem that is radically changing how people work and who they work with, resulting in new approaches to how government will carry out its mission in service to constituents.

Federal agencies are spending less on IT than in years past

Results-based accountability techniques are measuring whether government programs are making an impact

A new era of computing that includes mobile, social, cloud, shared services, and big data is disrupting the traditional models of government and the delivery of mission and constituent services.

How will agencies use their limited resources and produce an impact, while managing new and evolving needs.

ELC 2014 will explore these issues with an integrated approach that will focus on leadership, mission innovation, and collaboration. 2014 CONFERENCE GOALS

Build on success of past ELCs while introducing new experiential learning approaches.

Create an integrated 2 ½ day program tied to leadership, collaboration and Innovation.

Create relevant content and strong program linkage to the ACT/IAC Strategic Goals.

Develop an engagement experience where collaboration is applied as a science – furthering understanding and application of collaboration and innovation best practices.

Break away from a traditional ‘one to many’ approach and create a ‘many to many’ approach.

Provide an interactive learning environment.

Create space opportunities for networking and business dialogue.

Balance technical feasibility, business viability, with the human factors of ELC having been a ‘traditional’ conference program.

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CHALLENGES The reputation of ACT-IAC remains strong and many senior executives in the government IT community – both government and industry – consider ELC the one “can’t afford to miss event.” At the same time there are challenges. There is increasing competition in the event marketplace for the government IT community. Senior executives now have many other options for their attention, time, and investment. There are a number of private sector organizations that are seeking to duplicate the collaborative forum for which ELC is known. In addition, over the past two years increasing attention has been paid to government attendance at conferences. Almost every agency has imposed new processes that place greater reviews on attendance by employees at conferences and other events. The value of the event has to be clearly demonstrated as does its relevance to the mission of government.

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ATTACHMENT

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2014 The following are some preliminary ideas regarding the program content on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

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Collabora on/EngagementEnvironmentAllDay

A Dialogue that is Provocative and Interactive

TedTalksTypeOpening

Monday

T

rack 3

T

rain

ing

Tra

ck 2

Is

sue

s

Tra

ck 1

M

issio

n

Integrated Program Approach (IPT) includes Industry

Breakfast–7:30Lunch–12:15–1:30Awards,Ins tuteforInnova onEvening5:30Recep on,Dinner,Awards,‘A er’

Con nuesthe‘GoldenThread’

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Collabora on/EngagementEnvironmentAllDay

A Dialogue that is Provocative and Interactive

TedTalksTypeOpening7:30-8:30

2:00 - 3:30

10:30 -12:00

8:45-10:00

Monday Details

Tra

ck 3

T

rain

ing

Tra

ck 2

Is

sue

s

Tra

ck 1

M

issio

n

Sessions

Lunch

12:15 - 1:30

3:30-4:30

Break

10:00 -10:30

Integrated Program Approach (IPT) includes Industry

SIGS

Breakfast–TedTalk45Lunch–AwardsTedTalks-Ins tuteforInnova on40minEvening–AwardsTedTalks-Leadership

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