BlackBerry FAR App Contest: Do It First, Get $500

The Problem: The FAR is a pain to access by BlackBerry.

The Solution: $500 of my own money will be awarded to whomever creates the first BlackBerry app that fulfills a 4 simple, key requirements.

The Requirements: (1) Be downloadable on the most common BlackBerry models, (2) be able to access or download the entire FAR, (3) possess a keyword search function able to access the entire FAR, and (4) automatically receive changes to the FAR when it is updated.

The Benefits: Ability to quickly and easily access the FAR in the field.

The Background: A FAR app exists for the iPhone, but most federal (and a lot of private sector) acquisition workers use BlackBerry. This is a large untapped market, particularly for field operations that could use quick access to the FAR.

If you know app developers, students, whoever that could use some cash and would be willing to do this. Please pass along their information to me.

ACQ SPOTLIGHT ON: Creative Learning Tools of DAU

DAU has wonderful online courses – they’re the best I’ve taken so far. However, DAU has amazing features that are underused. These tools go beyond the classroom and promote memory retention and post-classroom learning. Awareness of and utilizing these DAU resources will improve your acquisition knowledge.

(NOTE: if DAU sites say your or the site’s certificate isn’t recognized, just keep going. DAU is a gov-run site, so it’s safe. No viruses).

Acquipedia

Like Wikipedia, but for acquisition.

This is a great feature. As of this writing, there are 157 articles broken down into five general areas: business, contracting, engineering & tech, life cycle logistics, and program management. These articles include comprehensive information like definite, general narrative and best practices.

All that being said, Acquipedia has some major flaws. First, Acquipedia is essentially a dead community. There is very little activity to update new information. Second, there are only 157 articles. While this is better than 156 articles, there are areas it doesn’t cover – there isn’t even an article for Fixed Price Contracts. An acquisiton wiki that doesn’t cover something that basic has to have its comprehensiveness questioned.

Still, Acquipedia is a good start in the same spirit as the successful gov-run wikis like internal agency wikis like CIA’s Intellipedia and State Department’s Diplopedia. An active editing community would solve its problems by adding more articles.

DAU Lessons on iTunes

Let’s face it: most people will only study what is necessary to do their job (although they won’t admit it). To get the average, jaded, unmotivated acquisition professional studying more than the basics, learning must be (a) convenient, (b) easy-to-use, and (c) relatively painless.

Audio and/or visual lessons such as DAU lessons on iTunes really shine in this area.

Roughly 70% of the digital music market is owned by Apple, so it makes real sense to have these lessons on iTunes. Even better, many (if not all) of the lessons are free. The materials seem to keep being added as of this writing, so there is active effect to add new knowledge. Always encouraging.

Ask a Professor (AAP)

First, see if your question has already been asked. (A running database of Q & As is maintained). If not, just ask a question, and a DAU representative will get back to you with a comprehensive answer.

If you have a question that doesn’t have to be answered right away, this is a useful feature. A number of my supervisors and coworkers recommend this feature.

The only recommendation for this is dropping the acronym. I mean, really? Does Ask a Professor have to be acronym-ized to AAP? I know acronyms are commonplace in the Navy, but come on. This is just overkill.

These 3 areas are pretty creative features, and they’ll get better over time. Use them, and I promise you’ll be a better acquisition professional.

Are there other tools I missed? Tell me!

Battle RATS and Quiet Helicopters

Want to give our boys on the ground the best weapons, but want them to be affordable? Well, here are a few things that will peak your interest.

Battle RATS

This is what the military considers to be a force multiplier. Some military radio units can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and that’s just for talking. Want more?

In steps Raytheon’s RATS (Raytheon Android Tactical System). Here are a few of the uses of this tool from the Raytheon website.

…such as license plate reading, streaming video camera feeds and biometric collection, such as facial recognition. These applications will enhance warfighters’ safety by providing tactical alerts based on the intelligence collected.

Essentially, this means our boys can now take pictures of terrorists on the battlefield, send them to HQ, and get immediate feedback. AWESOME!

Oh, yeah, and rumors say RATS can be used to track your squad’s movements and remotely pilot UAVs. Very cool.

Very Quiet Helicopter Rotors

Holy crap Batman! This is simply awesome. Gizmodo posted it first, and it would be amazing if our guys could a hold of these.

You know all those mountains in Afghanistan that make it such a pain in the butt? Well, helicopters are one of our best tools out there – from blowing up bad guys to transporting troops to evacuating the wounded.

Quieter helicopters would make stealthier and harder to detect our helicopters. Imagine it — the bad guys would have less time to hide when the Apaches pop up over a hill and launch Hellfire missiles down their throats. BOOM! Big win for the good guys.

I imagine these rotors just be fitted onto our choppers, so it’s not like it will be way expensive, but it will allow for more capabilities. Check out the picture below for how these new blades look.

(Disclaimer: These technologies are simply frakkin’ awesome, and I don’t get paid to talk about them).

Duh, Social Media HELPS Acquisition Pros

Occasionally a report pops up claiming social media is costing companies money in time and lost productivity. Well, that’s true…to an extent.

Mashable does a good job of putting things in perspective though:

But with a little common sense it’s easy to remember that employees are never 100% productive; before Facebook and Twitter, there was coffee and chitchat around the water cooler. Converting hours spent on social networks into dollars lost is walking on slippery ground.

- Stan Schroeder

Newsflash people: social media is good for a contracts office. Its benefits are definitely worth it, and here’s why:

1. Your Commander-in-Chief Thinks Social Media is Important. There’s an old saying – “What’s important to your boss is important to you.” Well, this is the big boss; the President of the United States has made the use of social media a major issue for its administration. He’s got the Open Gov Initiative as well as this, this, this, and that. If it’s important to the big guy, it’s important to you too. Period.
2. Use “Wasted” Time to Improve Your Employees. Until robots take over the planet and humans are obsolete, employees will always find ways to be unproductive (i.e. personal smart phones). So why not use that “wasted” time to make them productive? What if your employees talked to other employees about new ways to solve problems? You know how employees love to complain. Encourage them to complain and then solve problems together. GovLoop and the Better Buy Project are great examples of this. Acquisition 2.0 anyone???
3. Social Media Makes Your Employees Happier. “A happy employee is a productive employee”. Remember that? Well, it’s true. Few things make people happier than communicating to family and friends even if it is at work. Let us be happy. Unblock Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Schroeder steps in again: “I’d rather have happy employees who sometimes go to Facebook and Twitter than unhappy ones who never do anything personal or fun online.”

Think these ideas are genius? Absolutely stupid? Well, give me a shout below.

Google Buzz for Contract Professionals

Did you hear the news? Google just released Buzz. So how does it impact you as a contract professional? Well, read on and find out.

Perks of Buzz

• Like Status Updates, but not: Status updates on Facebook tell people what you’re doing, and then let people comment on them. But Facebook isn’t meant for business purposes (at least for most people). Buzz could cross that line. A lot of people (including me) already use Gmail for contracts-related activities when not at work. This could allow for professional-quality conversations to be held on Buzz. Twitter already allows this, but Buzz’s ability to comment on updates makes it easier to follow conversations on Buzz than on Twitter. This is a definite advantage for Buzz.
• Easy Implementation: Since Gmail already has a huge user base and Buzz is integrated with Gmail, Buzz is very easy to implement. (It took me just two or three clicks).
• Bring Twitter-ness to the Masses: People make fun of Twitter for stupid comments and inane conversations, but most of them have never tried it. Because Buzz is integrated with Gmail, many of those people will try Buzz. Many of their tunes will immediately change (granted through that Buzz is a bit different from Twitter).
• Small Business Galore: For the small teams in the contracting field, Buzz could be a real treat. You won’t have to get your team to adopt Twitter because Buzz will fill that void easily while allowing for a small-learning curve. You could quickly reap the advantages of increased collaboration and improved communication.

Will Buzz Succeed?

Well, this all depends on how you define success. If the purpose of Buzz is to pave the way for Wave, then yes, it should be a great success. Here’s a great conversation with bits of knowledge about Buzz relating to Wave. (And yes, this convo was found on Buzz).

John Bordeaux – Is this wave 2.0?9:13 am

Stephen Ressler – at least its integrated with email..i think thats key9:20 am

Ari Herzog – Not Wave 2.0, but pre-Wave. Think Wave as the future and Buzz as the present. This is incorporated into gmail and every user will get a prompt to add it to their inbox.9:30 am

John Bordeaux – Ah! The Wave training wheels everyone has been asking for…9:35 am

Now if the purpose of Buzz is to challenge Twitter and Facebook for social media dominance, well, that’s a tough call, and frankly, I just don’t know. The success of Buzz will depend on what Google wants to do with it.

(Also, here’s a video for learning about Buzz).

Do you think Google Buzz sucks and/or is useless? Or is it the greatest thing ever? Let me know.

Prediction: Teleworking for Fed Gov Employees

The biggest danger to the United States government has not been terrorist attacks, but snow.

- Paraphrase from Anon on Twitter

The Problem: A Closed Federal Government

9/11 didn’t stop the federal government from functioning, but a series of snowstorms have. Weather?! Really, in this day and age, you’d think we’d have conquered it all, but humans haven’t

The Solution: Teleworking

It costs about $100 million per day to shut down the government, so get ready to see some taxpayer outrage. This is wasted money. So here’s a wild prediction:

There is going to be a BIG move to get government workers telecommuting capabilities. (Not so wild after all).

To be fair, some government employees can telework, but many (including me) can’t.

The Catch: It’s Costly

Teleworking capabilities can also be expensive for those dealing with sensitive information. Classified info can’t be handled on a civlian laptop. Nope. A government issue ($$) laptop with top-notch encryption software ($$$) must be handed out.

So get ready for this move acquisition professionals.

Thoughts????

Help Snowed In Souls

For all those dealing with this record snow storm, it stinks. Cabin fever is bad.

Worse yet though is apathy. Help your neighbors. Check in on them to make sure they’re okay.

This is a plea to lend snow shovels, clear side walks, and just make the best of it.

Delicious Advantages for Contract Professionals

This is a continuation in the Social Media for Contracts series.

Yes, Delicious is a great name for a site. Despite its size and history, not many people in contracting have heard of this website. It has the potential to save you time and make your work even better.

What is Delicious?

First off, Delicious is a social bookmarking site. Basically, it’s a cross between your browser’s bookmarks and Facebook. Unlike Facebook, the entire purpose is sharing ideas, not connecting with friends.

1. Find Better Resources. This is the greatest benefit of (and the central concept behind) Delicious. By accessing your friends’ bookmarks, you can find websites and tools that can make your life easier. This is the key behind what you may have heard as knowledge management, knowledge sharing or knowledge transfer.
2. Improve Your Reputation. You can also gain a reputation as the guru for certain topics by having access to a large amount of resources. Just don’t hog information. That’s not how Delicious works. Spreading helpful information is what it’s about.
3. Tags > Files. Most contracting professionals are familiar with the traditional bookmarking system of files. However, tags are far superior for organizational purposes. Once you accumulate 200 bookmarks, it can be difficult to remember what file you put it under. With tags, you identify the website with numerous phrases or words you know you will remember. Then you just find that word in the tag cloud, and you’ve found your resource. Boom! Far superior.
4. Use Any Browser. For those of you (like me) that switch between browsers at work and home, or just depending on your need – good news! Your bookmarks are not restricted to, say, Internet Explorer. This reduces dependence on a specific browser. And if your company recommends you change from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox (or better yet, Google Chrome), this gives you one less excuse not do it.
5. Access Your Bookmarks from Anywhere. Since Delicious is web-based, you can access your bookmarks from any computer or web phone. If you travel a lot, this can be a major benefit since you can access your favorite resources from all locations.
6. It’s Free. My favorite word. Just like virtually everything reviewed or promoted here, Delicious is free. The only catch is Yahoo! owns Delicious, so you have to have a Yahoo! account to access it. But it’s definitely worth it.

These should be helpful. Keep your eyes out for the next in the series where GovLoop will be covered.

Maximizing LinkedIn for Contract Professionals

Whether you’re just establishing getting into acquisitions or you’re the company’s Chief Procurement Office, this website provides you with incredible resources.

Learn About Contracting

The two core groups I recommend are below. Other can be added from there.

• National Contract Management Association – Headquarters Approved. Lots of industry news. Just beware of spam. It can sometimes be there.
• Contract & Commercial Management. For those with a commercial bend, this is a decent group.  Particularly focus on things that Tim Cummins and IACCM post.

These are the two core groups that everyone should join. However, there are many more you can look at depending on your preferences like Department of Defense or TFCN (The Federal Contractors Network).

Exchange Ideas

Participate (or at least read) the most recent discussion threads of the groups you follow. This keeps you fresh and builds your knowledge. Need recommendations for your company’s new contract management software? It’s out there. Need advice on a troublesome coworker? It’s probably out there too.

And if it’s not out there, then go to the LinkedIn Answers section and ask a question. Just make sure the question is worded properly so it will attract an answer. People like to answer interesting questions, so make sure the question is intriguing.

Meet People Offline

Eventually, you can use LinkedIn to turn online relationships into offline relationships. This strengthens the relationship and makes the person and their ideas all the more real. And make sure you have interesting questions prepared like what is the secret to their success or where do they think the industry is going.

Try to do it over something like coffee or lunch though. After all, these relationships were formed on a website for professional networking. Keep the relationship professional. (AKA meaning LinkedIn isn’t Match.com).

Turn Offline Relationships into Online Relationships

The Internet makes it easier to keep in touch with larger numbers of people than every before. (Whether those relationships are more meaningful is a discussion for another time). Ask people to find you on LinkedIn, so secure your LinkedIn vanity name. For example, my is www.linkedin.com/in/sterlingwhitehead. That makes it easy for people to remember and find me. Even better, have a business card with your LinkedIn address on it. It’s unusual to do, so it’s memorable.

Hire a New Contract Specialist

If you’re a recruiter and you’re not using LinkedIn to at least filter your candidates, I have some harsh words: you aren’t doing your job. It’s a wonderful resource to finding out the positive things about a person.

However, it is just one social network. Compare it with other profiles on Facebook and Twitter. Look for inconsistencies. If there is not anything negative about the person on any of their profiles, you’re either looking at a saint or someone who knows how to cultivate a strong online image. (The later is much more likely0.

Network with Acquisition Recruiters

If you’re a job hunter and you’re not using LinkedIn, I also have some tough words: you’re not doing it right. Join now, but learn the etiquette.

On organizations always hiring, YRCI has good recruiters and is always hiring. My past experiences with their recruiters, particularly Burton Tu, have been very positive.

P.S. The more groups and recommendations you have, the higher in the search rankings you are. This means recruiters are more likely to find you.

Do you disagree with this analysis? Would you include anything else? Let me know.

Twitter’s Untapped Potential for Contract Management

This is the first in a new series, Social Media for Contracts.

Twitter’s potential for contracts is not achieved for the most part. Twitter is, at best, a noble tool used for sharing and learning. At worst, it is a distraction. Reach for those high goals with these ideas below.

Communicate with Your Team

Yes, email, IM, faxes, BBM, texts, etc. There are a million different ways to reach out to your team.

The beauty of Twitter is that it’s always-public nature lets anyone contribute to the conversation. Someone you didn’t know can add new facts and give you the solution you didn’t know existed. Added bonus: the 140-character restriction forces people to get to the point and not ramble like in emails and voicemails.

Monitor Current Issues

Don’t wait for the next Contract Management Magazine to come out. Just use hashtags to search for things like #contracts, #procurement, #acquisition, and #contr.

Announce and Stick to Your Goals

Previously covered in another post, publicly announcing your goals for the day can help keep you on track. Theoretically, it should help keep you on target because you’ve declared your expectations.

Publish Contract Updates

This has been proposed in the Better Buy Project, but it has yet to be implemented (as far as I know). This would be an interesting way for contractors to respond to new information.

Do you have an innovative use of Twitter for contracts? Suggest it here. People will find out. You’ll become famous. (At least with my readers).