Department of Human Services

PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
FOOD SUPPLEMENT EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING (FSET)
PROGRAM CREATIVE SERVICES PROJECT

FIA/BCP-18-001-S
AUGUST 22, 2017
311 West Saratoga Street
Room 508B
Baltimore, Maryland
10:10 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.

PRESENT FROM DHS:
NNEKA WILLIS-GRAY, Procurement Officer
SHOMARE BRAXTON, Acting Director, Workforce and
Development
KARI NYE, Communications Director
TANYA WILLIAMS, Deputy Chief Information Officer
PAMELA PERKINS, Office of Administration
SIMON CORNBERG, Attorney General
ARETHA ECTOR, Attorney General
DOMINIC EDET
NIA GRAVES
ALSO PRESENT:
DIANE DEVANEY, Devaney & Associates, Inc.
ELLIS HARCUM, Sahara Communications, Inc.
CHRIS SMITH, idfive
CASEY RHOADS, TB&C, Inc.
KRISTEN PARKS, Eleven Peppers Studios
CRYSTAL MYERS, CADMUS
JAMES BYLES, Washingtonian Custom Media
COLLEEN DOYLE, Doyle Communications
CHRISTINA SGAMBATO, Highrock Studios
DAVID WHITE, Exit10
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ALSO PRESENT CONTINUED:
DAN RAPP, Exit10
ANTOINE WRIGHT, Mindboard
GARY GOLDBERG, Maryland Procurement Group

REPORTED BY: KATHLEEN A. COYLE, Notary Public
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Good morning everyone.
3Welcome to the Department of Human Services. My name
4is Nneka Willis-Gray, and I’m the procurement officer
5for the food supplement employment training, also known
6as FSET program creative service project. The purpose
7of this solicitation is to establish an innovative
8brand and identity that will aid the Department in
9increasing enrollment I n the FSET program. With this
10new brand and identity DHS will be able to, one,
11connect FSET participants and training that will
12prepare them for careers, which will place them on a
13path for financial independence and family self
14sufficiency; two, promote the efforts, services, and
15impact of those organizations that collaborate with the
16FSET program; and three, promote DHS’s efforts to
17become a national model for FSET program,
18implementation, and positive outcomes.
19 This contract shall be for approximately six
20months, starting on or about September 22, 2017, and
21will go until March 21, 2018. The due date for
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1proposals is September 1, 2017. Proposals are due at
24:00 p.m. Please note, please submit your proposals
3timely or else they cannot be accepted.
4 Just for you reference, if anyone needs to
5use the restroom, you can use the back entrance, you
6will go to the right and immediately to the left are
7the restrooms. Hunt reporting is recording this
8conference. A copy of the transcripts will be posted
9to eMaryland Marketplace and DHS websites once they
10become available.
11 So with that, we’ll start. We’ll introduce
12ourselves by going around the room. We’ll start here
13at the table.
14 MR. BRAXTON: Shomare Braxton, acting
15director of workforce and development.
16 MS. NYE: Hi. I’m Kari Nye. I’m the
17communications manager.
18 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Nneka Willis-Gray,
19procurement officer.
20 MR. HARCUM: Ellis Harcum from Sahara
21Communications.
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1 MS. MYERS: Crystal Myers with CADMUS Group.
2 MR. BYLES: James Byles, president of
3Washingtonian Custom Media.
4 MS. SGAMBATO: Christina Sgambato, marketing
5executive for Highrock Studios.
6 MS. DOYLE: Colleen Doyle, creative director,
7Doyle Communications.
8 MR. SMITH: Chris Smith with idfive.
9 MR. WHITE: David White, managing partner,
10Exit10.
11 MR. RAPP: Dan Rapp from Exit10.
12 MR. WRIGHT: Antoine Wright, Mindboard.
13 MR. RHOADS: Casey Rhoads, TBC.
14 MS. DEVANEY: Diane Devaney, Devaney &
15Associates.
16 MS. PARKS: Kristen Parks, Eleven Peppers
17Studios.
18 MR. EDET: Dominic Edet.
19 MR. GOLDBERG: Gary Goldberg, MPG.
20 MS. PERKINS: Pamela Perkins, Office of
21Administration.
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1 MS. ECTOR: Aretha Ector, Office of the
2Attorney General.
3 MR. CORNBERG: Simon Cornberg, Office of the
4Attorney General.
5 MS. WILLIAMS: Tanya Williams,
6(unintelligible).
7 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: And so it is my pleasure to
8introduce Mr. Shomare Braxton with the Family
9Investment Administration, and he will provide the
10opening remarks today.
11 MR. BRAXTON: So I just want to give a
12overview of the food supplement employment and training
13program, also known as FSET. So the food supplement
14employment training program connects those who receive
15food supplement benefits to in demand industry specific
16training programs. Our participants are provided with
17no-cost opportunities to gain skills, training or
18experience that will improve their employment prospects
19and lead to self sufficiency. In addition to training
20our partners also provide job placement, job retention
21and support services that assist participants in
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1obtaining and maintaining employment. These services
2are provided by third-party partners, to include
3community colleges and community based organizations.
4As DHS enhances and expands the FSET program, we want
5to ensure there is a consistent and clear message to
6the public while raising awareness of program
7participation available to staff recipients, third-
8party partners, and other community organizations.
9 Our goal is to establish an innovative brand
10and identity that will aid the Department in increasing
11enrollment into FSET programs. The target audience is
12customers currently receiving and those potentially
13eligible for SNAP benefits. Many of these customers
14are unemployed or under employed, have significant
15barriers to employment, limited job experience, and no
16means of reliable transportation. Their age, education
17level and language may vary. So to summarize, we want
18a website to be used as a vehicle to connect and direct
19customers while also highlighting the program to the
20general public, state, local and federal partners.
21 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Thank you, Shomare. So now
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1we’re going to go throughout the RFP. We’re going to
2highlight some sections that want to bring your focus
3to. We’ll start with the minimum qualifications, which
4is section one, and then move onto section two, which
5is the scope of work requirements. These sections will
6be presented by Mr. Shomare Braxton and Ms. Kari Nye.
7 MS. NYE: Good morning. I’m going to read
8the offeror minimum qualifications. I apologize for
9just reading it to you, but in case you haven’t had the
10opportunity. The offeror shall demonstrate that it has
11five years of in-house experience or has subcontracted
12with other firms providing multidisciplinary design and
13creative services to include the following: logos and
14branding, graphic design, printed and digital marketing
15collateral, copy-wright and messaging, and website
16design and development. As proof of meeting this
17requirement the offeror shall provide a digital
18portfolio that includes at least three examples of
19multidisciplinary design experience within the previous
20five years. The portfolio shall include dates,
21organization/client’s names and contact information for
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1all examples provided. Subcontractor experience may be
2used for one of the three design experiences.
3 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Just to interject, we will
4have a questions and response period at the end of the
5conference today. So if you can write down and hold
6your questions until that time, we would appreciate it.
7 MS. NYE: Moving onto scope of work. We’re
8going to start at section 2.3, since Shomare did the
9other two. Basically, what we’re looking for is a
10marketing tool, as he said. And under this project is
11going to comprise six –- or sorry, five different
12sections to include naming and brand as one, messaging
13and copy-writing as two, graphic identify and design as
14three, website design and development as four, and
15outreach materials as the fifth section.
16 Under naming and brand positioning, this is
17the first section that we’re looking for. We want the
18vendor to conduct a site visit with program
19participants to gather research information for the
20naming and branding of the FSET program. Meaning,
21we’re not looking to call it FSET program. So we want
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1you to come up with a brand by going to visit these
2places to glean from them what their services are.
3Propose a brand name that is representative of the FSET
4program’s goal and DHS’s mission. And then we’ll have
5you submit electronically, via email, within the
6specified time line, 30 calendar days of the notice to
7proceed.
8 Under the next section, messaging and copy-
9writing. We’ll provide you information about the FSET
10program from our prospective. And you’ll use that
11information in accordance with what you’ve also
12gathered to write, edit, and develop content for the
13FSET website and marketing materials. We’re looking
14for you to develop strong messaging for the FSET
15program that speaks to the diverse audience that
16Shomare summarized for us. We also look to you to
17develop a social media campaign to promote the FSET
18program using our social media channels, which I must
19say since this was published have actually just changed
20this week in accordance with our new brand. So just to
21update this, the Facebook and the Twitter can now both
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1be found at /mdhumanservices. And we’ll be sure to
2issue a update. But you would be using our existing
3channels to propose the campaign. And then this
4initial draft copy of messaging and copy-writing will
5be presented no later than 45 calendar days of the
6notice to proceed.
7 Next we have graphic identity and design.
8We’re seeking a modern logo tag line –- the tag line is
9important –- and graphic identity that will promote
10awareness of the FSET program and its services. We’d
11like a draft of the graphic identity and design no
12later than 45 calendar days from the notice to proceed.
13And then the final no later than 90 days from the
14notice to proceed.
15 Under website design and development, we’re
16seeking for you to design, develop, and implement a
17website that serves as an easy-to-use resource for
18potential program participants. So this would be
19anyone who is currently or could be eligible for one of
20these training programs. At minimum the website shall
21have an interactive web tool allowing customers to
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1quickly evaluate their options and eligibility for
2training programs, the ability to compile a list of
3compatible training locations and addresses, and
4multiple web pages that will serve program
5participants, partners, and stakeholders. One thing
6that may not be clear from this so far is that each
7training program has its own distinct opportunities.
8Certain qualifications for each program, certain areas
9of focus. So the web tool will need to help
10participants quickly evaluate what they’re qualified
11for, what fits their interests, and go from there.
12 The initial proposed website design template
13should be presented no later than 120 calendar days
14from the date of the approved contract for review,
15prior to implementation. Following review of the
16initial draft, the Department will evaluate the website
17to ensure satisfaction with the website function and
18conformance within the RFP. We will notify the
19contractor in writing of acceptance of the site or any
20amendments and/or additions that are required.
21Notwithstanding above, the go-live date is March 8,
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12018. We also need a part of this is to ensure that
2the content can be printed from the website and is
3compatible across mobile devices and operating systems,
4including Apple, Android, Windows.
5 The final component of this would be outreach
6materials. We’re seeking for the offeror to design a
7combination of printed and digital outreach materials
8that could include posters, tri-fold brochures,
9postcards and other items that can be printed by our
10Department in black and white and color as needed in
11perpetuity. We’ll also seek for you to provide 200
12color printed posters with a minimum size of 18 by 24
13inches, and 1250 printed fliers. Present drafts of all
14outreach material no later than 60 days from the notice
15to proceed to the State project manager. Provide all
16approved printed outreach materials no later than March
178, the go-live date.
18 MR. BRAXTON: Okay. So I want to talk about
19invoicing. And it’s in section 3.4. All invoices for
20service shall be signed by the contractor and submitted
21to the State project manager. All invoices shall
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1include the following information: contractor name and
2address, remittance address, federal taxpayer
3identification number, invoice period, invoice date,
4invoice number, State assigned contract number, State
5assigned purchase order number, goods or services
6provided, and amount due.
7 The Department reserves the right to reduce
8or withhold contract payment in the event the
9contractor does not provide the Department with all
10required deliverables within the time frame specified
11in the contract or otherwise materially breaches the
12terms and conditions of the contract until such time as
13the contractor brings itself into full compliance with
14the contract.
15 The invoice submission schedule. Invoices
16are due by the 15th of the month, following the month
17in which the deliverable has been received.
18 MS. NYE: I guess just to call your attention
19real quick to, it should be page 20 on yours, but 3.1,
20the deliverables chart. Just a handy chart to
21summarize what I said the deliverables of the project
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1are, including site visit, naming and branding, which
2the details are outlined on the previous section,
3message and copywrite material, graphic identity and
4design, interactive website, outreach materials, and to
5include all materials, drafts, proofs, negatives,
6limited English proficiency implementation plan,
7technical support and training, and problem escalation
8procedures. So these are all the --
9 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: And so now I’m just going
10to jump back just a little bit more to section 3.1,
11which is the insurance requirements. This solicitation
12does require commercial general liability insurance
13with limits of 375,000 per occurrence, and 750,000 for
14aggregate. It also requires malpractice or
15professional liability insurance with a minimum of one
16million per claim and annual aggregate. And also for
17the automobile and/or commercial insurance to maintain
18liability, collision, and PIP limits no less than those
19required by the state where the vehicle is registered.
20But in no case less than those required by the State of
21Maryland.
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1 And then we’ll move onto section four, which
2are some procurement instructions for you. We’ll start
3at section 4.2, which is eMaryland Marketplace.
4Essentially, eMaryland Marketplace is the State’s
5electronic commerce site. It’s where all information
6about the solicitation, including award, is posted. So
7it is a requirement that if you are submitting a
8proposal that you are registered for eMaryland
9Marketplace. Registration is free. And to register
10you go onto emaryland.buyspeed.com Once you are
11registered you just want to take note of your eMaryland
12Marketplace vendor number. This number is needed on
13the transmittal letter, or the cover letter, which is
14submitted with your proposal.
15 Moving onto section 4.5, proposal due date
16and time. Again, proposals are due September 1, 2017.
17Proposals are due at 4:00 p.m. If it is received after
184:00 p.m., on September 1, we cannot accept your
19proposal.
20 I also just want to point out, if for some
21reason that you’re not able to submit a proposal, the
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1State would really like your feedback. So if you can
2use the vendor notice form provided in the solicitation
3and let us know why you are not submitting a proposal.
4We would greatly appreciate it.
5 Section 4.8 is the Public Information Act
6notice. Just keep in mind that any information that
7you consider confidential and/or proprietary to your
8company should be identified by page and section
9number, and placed after the title page, and before the
10table of contents in the technical proposal. And if
11it’s applicable to the financial proposal, include it
12in the financial proposal as well.
13 Section 4.17, mandatory contractual terms.
14Just keep in mind that any exceptions to the RFP and
15contract shall be clearly identified in the executive
16summary of the technical proposal. A proposal that
17takes exception to any terms and conditions may be
18rejected.
19 Section 4.21, verification of registration
20and tax payment. For any entity to do business with
21the State you must be registered with FSET or the State
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1Department of Assessment and Taxation. If you are not
2registered for FSET, then if you were otherwise a
3qualified offeror, your proposal may be rejected. Will
4be rejected, excuse me. To register, it’s also free,
you want to go to www.egov.maryland.gov/businessexpress 5
6 For this solicitation there is no minority
7business goal or veteran small business enterprise
8goal. However, we do encourage minority businesses and
9veteran small businesses to submit a proposal. And
10also, the Maryland living wage law is not applicable to
11this solicitation.
12 Next we’re going to highlight section five,
13which is the proposal format. So when you’re
14submitting your proposal you will be submitting your
15proposal in two parts. Volume one is the technical
16proposal, volume two is the financial proposal. Each
17volume shall be sealed separately from one another.
18It’s preferred that the name, email address, telephone
19number, the contact person for the offeror be included
20on the outside of each volume. Each volume should
21contain four copies and one original. And then if it’s
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1not too big, both sealed copies should be submitted
2together in a single package with a label that has the
3RFP title and number, name and address of the offeror,
4closing date and time for receipt of proposals. We
5also expect to see an electronic submission which can
6be submitted on USB or DVD. That electronic submission
7should be in two parts as well. So you’ll have one for
8the technical proposal and the other for the financial
9proposal. The electronic technical proposal submission
10should include a Microsoft Word version of your
11proposal as well as an Adobe pdf searchable that is
12redacted for PIA requests. For the volume two,
13financial proposal electronic submission you want to
14include the financial proposal in Microsoft Excel, and
15also a searchable Adobe pdf version of it that is also
16redacted for PIA requests.
17 For the delivery of your proposals, you can
18choose to either mail or hand-deliver your proposal.
19If you’re choosing to mail your proposal, we do
20recommend that it is sent either Express Mail, Priority
21Mail, or Certified Mail, as these are the only forms
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1that the Department can verify received. Anytime that
2you have a hand-delivery, please make sure that you
3receive a secure date, signed, and time stamped receipt
4of your delivery.
5 All right. So I’m moving onto how your
6proposal will be put together. Again, your technical
7will have four copies with one original and electronic
8submission. I’ll start with tab “A,” which will be
9your title page and table of contents. Then you’ll
10have A-1 if there is a claim of confidentiality.
11 Tab “B” will be the transmittal letter or the
12cover letter. And just keep in mind with the cover
13letter or transmittal letter that the following is
14expected to be included: includes the name and address
15of the offeror, name, title, email address and
16telephone number of the primary contact of the offeror,
17the solicitation title and solicitation number that the
18proposal is in response to, the signature, typed name
19and title of the individual authorized to commit the
20offeror to its proposal, the federal employer
21identification number or a Social Security number for
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1an individual, the eMaryland Marketplace number, if you
2are a MBE, your minority business enterprise
3certification number, and acceptance of all State RFP
4contract terms and conditions. If any exceptions are
5taken, those should be included in executive summary.
6And also acknowledgment of any addenda to this RFP. Do
7keep in mind there has been an amendment that has been
8issued to the RFP. It was issued on August 18. It is
9to revise attachment “P.” So at the bottom of your
10solicitation you’re looking at the correct version if
11in the footer you see “revised solicitation 8/17/2017,
12revision to attachment P.”
13 Tab “C” will include the executive summary.
14 Tab “D” will include minimum qualifications,
15any documentation related to it.
16 And tab “E” is going to be the bulk of your
17proposal. It is the offeror’s response to the RFP
18requirements and proposed work plan. In this section
19each offeror shall provide a definitive section by
20section description of the proposal, of the proposed
21plan to meet the requirements of the RFP, beginning
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1with section 2.3.1.1 of the solicitation. The work
2plan shall include specific methodology, techniques,
3and number of staff, if applicable, to be used by the
4offeror in providing the required services as outlined,
5descriptions to include an outline of the overall
6management concepts employed by the offeror, any
7project minutes or plan, including project controls,
8mechanisms, and overall time lines. Project deadlines,
9consider contract deliverables must be recognized in
10the work plan. So essentially, your work plan is your
11proposal.
12 Tab “F” will include experience and
13qualifications of proposed staff.
14 And tab “G” will be offeror qualifications
15and capabilities.
16 Tab “H” includes references. At least three
17references are being requested. Each reference will be
18from within the last five years. Portfolio examples
19used to meet the minimum requirements in section one of
20the RFP can be used to meet this requirement. Also,
21the references should include the name of the client
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1organization, name, title, telephone number, and email
2address, if available of the point of contact for the
3client organization, and value type, duration and
4description of services provided.
5 Tab “I” will list the current and prior State
6contracts from within the last five years. And this
7section should include the State contracting entity, a
8brief description of the services and goods provided,
9the dollar amount of the contract, the time of the
10contract, the State employee contact person’s
11information, and whether the contract was terminated
12before the end of the specified term, or if any
13available renewal options were not exercised.
14 Tab “J” will include the financial
15capability. We’re looking for at least two years,
16perferrably independently audited of a profit and loss
17statement and balance sheet. In addition to these
18items you can submit an Dun and Bradstreet rating,
19Standard and Poor’s rating, lines of credit, evidence
20of successful financial track record, and evidence of
21adequate working capital.
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1 Tab “K” is the certificate of insurance.
2Under tab “K” we’re just looking for your current
3insurance certificate. At this point it does not need
4to meet the requirements that were set forth in section
53.1.
6 Tab “L” we’ll go over subcontractors, if it’s
7applicable.
8 Tab “M” is the summary of any legal action.
9 And tab “N” includes economic benefit
10factors.
11 Tab “O” will include additional technical
12submission. At this time what would be included under
13that section would be a completed proposal affidavit,
14which is attachment “C,” and a completed federal funds
15attachment, which is attachment “G.” So that’s all
16that’s required for the technical proposal volume one.
17 So now moving onto the financial proposal,
18volume two. We need one original and four copies of
19the financial proposal form, which is provided as
20attachment “B.” Also keep in mind that the financial
21proposals shall not exceed $100,000.
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1 So now we’re going to move onto section six.
2I just want to point out some things about the
3evaluation and selection process. So evaluations of
4proposals will be performed in accordance with COMAR
521.05.03. The technical proposal evaluation criteria
6include offerors technical response to the RFP
7requirements and work plan, experience and
8qualifications of proposed facts, offeror
9qualifications and capabilities, including
10subcontractors and economic benefit to the State of
11Maryland. Technical proposals will be evaluated and
12ranked prior to the evaluation of financial proposal.
13Once the technical has been evaluated and ranked the
14financial proposal will be ranked from the list, which
15is the most advantageous to highest, which is the least
16advantageous.
17 So that concludes the sections that we wanted
18to highlight for you today. So now we were going to
19open up the floor to any questions. I did want to
20point out that we have received some questions and have
21provided some responses. You do have an attachment.
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1If you were not able to grab one, there are copies over
2on the table in regards to questions already asked
3previously. We also received a sheet of questions.
4We’ll be responding to those questions after the pre-
5proposal conference today. And again, Hunt Reporting
6is recording the conference. So the transcripts will
7be posted on the website. Whenever you do ask your
8question, if you can identify yourself and your company
9for the record, we would appreciate it. So are there
10any questions?
11 MS. PARKS: Kristen Parks, Eleven Peppers
12Studios. I have a few questions. Should I ask them
13all or should I just do one at a time?
14 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: You can ask one at a time.
15 MS. PARKS: Okay. The first question I have
16is on the four copies for technical and financial
17volumes, should they be bound or unbound?
18 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Unbound.
19 MS. PARKS: So everything should be unbound?
20 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Unbound.
21 MS. PARKS: My second question is regarding
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1the LEP plan. Do you have requirements for translation
2language or should that be part of what we propose in
3our LEP plan?
4 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: It should be part of what
5you propose in your LEP plan.
6 MS. PARKS: My third question is, where
7would you like the digital portfolio saved, which CD,
8or a separate CD?
9 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: We’ll actually take that
10question down and get back to you.
11 MS. PARKS: Related question is for the
12minimum qualifications. Since the minimum
13qualifications is a digital file, would you like us to
14reference the file in the minimum qualifications tab?
15 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: We’ll take it down and get
16back to you.
17 MS. PARKS: Okay. Thank you. And then my
18last question is, I just wanted to confirm that you
19said there is no separate CD for the redacted pdf. In
20the proposal it says to keep them separate, but I think
21you said to put them on the same CD.
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1 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Right. You can put them on
2the same CD.
3 MS. PARKS: Okay. Thank you.
4 MR. HARCUM: Ellis Harcum, Sahara
5Communication. Is there an incumbent for this bid?
6 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: There is no incumbent.
7These are new services for this Department.
8 MR. HARCUM: Is the Department open to
9having like a Skype meeting in addition to in-person
10meetings?
11 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: We can take down that and
12get back to you.
13 MR. HARCUM: Okay. And how much interaction
14will the contractor have with the Department,
15communications involving?
16 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: A lot of communication.
17 MR. HARCUM: Okay. No problem. And you
18didn’t really talk about the website. I do have some
19questions with that. Do you want me to just submit
20those?
21 MS. NYE: No. Go ahead.
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1 MR. HARCUM: Okay. So will the new FSET
2program website replace the contents on, I guess the
3food supplement website or will it reside on the My DHR
4Benefits page?
5 MS. NYE: It will not replace. It will work
6in tandem what’s on DHS’s website regarding food
7supplement program is there by law. So we’re looking
8for an independent marketing tool. It will not reside
9on My DHR either. It will have it’s own URL.
10 MR. HARCUM: Okay. I guess also, I guess in
11section 2.3.3, technical requirements, item “D,” it
12talks about creating the pages in HTML. However, on I
13think appendix “P,” and I don’t know if I have the
14latest one or not. I’m not certain. It talks about
15using Agular JS. So for the creative tool, is that
16something that you have to use, that Agular JS to
17develop that or --
18 MS. WILLIAMS: No. So those are the
19specifications from My DHR. So we just gave you the
20specs of what My DHR is developed in to give you and
21idea of what you need to be compatible with.
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1 MR. HARCUM: Okay. I see. All right. And
2then the criteria, the eligibility criteria that will
3be used, will that be changed over time, so we should
4program it in there, or should it be kind of like, I
5guess a database driven parameter so that you can
6change the eligibility parameters without changing the
7programs?
8 MS. NYE: Do you mean for the third party
9training partners eligibility parameters?
10 MR. HARCUM: Well, I guess when they come
11onto the website they can determine eligibility I guess
12for whatever program or tool that they’re eligible for.
13Is that something that’s going to change or can change?
14 MS. NYE: It can change. Correct.
15 MR. HARCUM: I think that’s it. I reserve
16the right to ask another question.
17 MS. NYE: Yes.
18 MS. PARKS: Kristen Parks, Eleven Peppers
19Studios. Your questions brought me some questions.
20Related to technology as a .net continues currently on
21My DHR, is that also required on the new site or can a
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1different technology be used?
2 MS. WILLIAMS: It needs to be compatible.
3 MS. PARKS: You also stated it would be it’s
4own URL. Does that mean that we will participate in
5helping the domain in hosting requirements, or is that
6the Department?
7 MS. WILLIAMS: So we need to go back and
8revisit that question and we’ll get back to you.
9 MS. DEVANEY: Diane Devaney, Devaney &
10Associates. You said that you want our target market
11to connect and direct, but is there a call to action as
12in do want them to make a phone call, do we need to
13have forms on the website that they need to fill out?
14 MS. NYE: As far as a unified call to
15action, it does vary from training program to training
16program. So our hope is that in the future we’ll be
17able to identify unified call to action. For now, I
18think it’s going to depend on each program and what
19your proposal is. We’re not looking for a specific
20answer that we don’t have to the problem yet. But
21people do need to be able to identify their options and
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1then take the required action.
2 MS. DEVANEY: So do we need a program forms
3or required action --
4 MS. NYE: I don’t believe that currently any
5of the third party training models are accepting online
6enrollment. Does that answer your question?
7 MS. DEVANEY: Yes. And how many training
8locations are there?
9 MR. BRAXTON: So right now we have eight and
10we are on-boarding five.
11 MS. DEVANEY: Then moving onto social media.
12Is there a dedicated person at DHS that oversees social
13media?
14 MS. NYE: There is. It is I, me.
15 MS. DEVANEY: Do you have a written social
16media guideline?
17 MS. NYE: We do have some stylistic
18guidelines that I can share with everyone.
19 MS. DEVANEY: And do you produce a monthly
20social media calendar?
21 MS. NYE: No, we do not.
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1 MS. DEVANEY: Just for a little background,
2how many participants have you had in the training
3program to date?
4 MR. BRAXTON: We can get back to you on that.
5The numbers vary. So we can get back to you on that.
6 MS. DEVANEY: And year of establishment, when
7was it established?
8 MR. BRAXTON: The FSET program?
9 MS. DEVANEY: Yes.
10 MR. BRAXTON: Two thousand fifteen.
11 MS. WILLIAMS: For the question about the
12portfolio, whether or not you can put it on a separate
13disk, if you can include it on the same disk as your
14proposal you can include it. If there’s not enough
15room, do a separate disk.
16 MR. BYLES: Are there general branding
17guidelines that need to be followed within this, as
18we’re developing the proposal?
19 MS. NYE: We do not have branding
20guidelines. So no.
21 MR. BYLES: Okay. Under the languages, I
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1know that you said we’re to propose the language; do
2you have a number of languages that the State of
3Maryland requires things be able to be interpreted
4into?
5 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: We’ll take your question
6down.
7 MS. WILLIAMS: It’s just one.
8 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: I think it’s just Spanish.
9 MR. BYLES: So we’re looking at a bilingual
10program, not more than that?
11 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Not to my knowledge.
12 MR. WHITE: David White, Exit10. Can you
13talk a little bit about the project management side
14from DHR’s side, like how will the project be managed;
15will we have one point of contact, or multiple points
16of contact, I mean how would the approval process of
17creative be done?
18 MS. NYE: We have one project manager who is
19in charge of the FSET program who is going to be the
20primary point of contact. But she will be working
21closely with the communications department to approve
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1things going forward. So it’s going to be a lot of two
2person committee. And she and I are still working out
3the approval process. But the idea is to work closely
4with the vendors and among ourselves, and then we have
5identified executive directors who would be in charge
6of final approval process. Does that answer your
7question?
8 MR. WHITE: (Nods head affirmatively.)
9 MS. PARKS: Regarding translations. I know
10the website will require translation. You also require
11translation on the marketing material. So does that
12mean that the quantities for the posters, for example,
13would double to have English and Spanish versions?
14 MS. NYE: We will not require translation of
15the marketing materials.
16 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Any other questions?
17 MR. HARCUM: I guess the –- does the
18interactive web tool, is that going to store
19information about the customer for alter retrieval?
20 MS. NYE: No. This is not an enrollment
21tool. But the hope is that it will leap frog people to
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1enrolling. So they need to get the information they
2need to move forward. But the website itself will not
3enroll people.
4 MR. BYLES: The economic impact to Maryland,
5is there preference being given to Maryland based
6companies?
7 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Right now it’s reciprocal
8preference. We do not give preference to Maryland
9based. We go based off of if you are outside of
10Maryland whatever your reciprocal preference law is,
11Maryland will adopt that. So I guess depending on the
12state.
13 MS. RHOADS: What are the KPIs you will be
14using to judge the success of this plan?
15 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Can we get back to you on
16that?
17 MS. WILLIAMS: I’m sorry, can you repeat your
18question again?
19 MS. RHOADS: Sure. The KPIs that are
20implemented here used to judge success. So
21(unintelligible)
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1 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: And is it possible that you
2could submit that question to us in writing?
3 MS. RHOADS: Sure.
4 MR. BYLES: Just a follow onto that
5question. Do you have established benchmark that
6you’re trying to reach in 2018, after the launch date,
7or current measurables that we can benchmark against?
8 MS. NYE: We can provide the analytics for
9the current FSET site that we have, that is not a
10marketing tool, but is an information tool, as like a
11basis. But we’ll get back to you. We do have some.
12 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: Any other questions?
13 (No response.)
14 MS. WILLIS-GRAY: All right. Well, I guess
15that concludes the review of this RFP. And just to let
16you k now, if there is a discrepancy between any
17response provided here today and any written response
18provided after the conference today, the written
19response will prevail.
20 Thank you everyone for coming out. We
21definitely appreciate you being here today. And also
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1remember, proposals are due September 1, by 4:00 p.m.
2And if you haven’t already done so, please either
3provide us your business card or sign in. And I hope
4you all have a great day. And travel safely.
5 (Whereupon, at 10:50 a.m., the meeting
6was adjourned.)
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1 CERTIFICATE OF NOTARY
2 I, KATHLEEN A. COYLE, Notary Public, before
3whom the foregoing testimony was taken, do hereby
4certify that the witness was duly sworn by me; that
5said testimony is a true record of the testimony given
6by said witness; that I am neither counsel for, related
7to, nor employed by any of the parties to this action,
8nor financially or otherwise interested in the outcome
9of the action; and that the testimony was reduced to
10typewriting by me or under my direction.
11 This certification is expressly withdrawn
12upon the disassembly or photocopying of the foregoing
13transcript, including exhibits, unless disassembly or
14photocopying is done under the auspices of Hunt
15Reporting Company, and the signature and original seal
16is attached thereto.
17
18 ___________________________________
19__________ KATHLEEN A. COYLE
20 Notary Public in and for
21 the State of Maryland
22My Commission Expires:
23April 30, 2018
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