Contracting Officer Podcast 2.0 Episodes
As former Federal Contracting Officers who have also walked in industry’s shoes, Kevin and Paul share their expertise and perspectives in support of the podcast’s mission: Make government contracting better, one contract at a time.
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266 – ENCORE – Cut the Blah Blah
This is a special holiday encore presentation of a previously released podcast. Kevin and Paul discuss the power of succinct writing set up by a quote from Mark Twain, “If I had more time, I would...
265 – What is a second-tier sub?
Subcontracting in the Government world can be a complicated process. We’ve talked about small business goals and set-asides among many other subcontracting topics. Today we tackle second-tier...
264 – Winning Your First Contract w/Mike LeJeune
Today we welcome Mike LeJeune from RSM Federal and host of the Game Changers for Government Contractors podcast. Mike and Paul discuss sales strategies for winning your first government contract as...
263 – beta.sam.gov
GovCon isn’t static. Many of the common themes of the podcast, like context and communication, never change. But sometimes the specifics of how you get the job done change, and in this case it is...
262 – Stages of Money
We talked about colors of money way back in Episode 19, including the limitations that are attached to each color regarding purpose and availability. Today Kevin and Paul take a different route and...
261 – Select to Negotiate
Can the Government negotiate with an individual offeror after the selection process has begun but before awarding a contract? You may be surprised to learn that the answer is yes! Kevin and Paul...
260 – Why is There Still a Contracting Officer Podcast?
The line above has been part of almost every podcast intro for the last 5 years. We know the name has confused a lot of people. In addition, we sometimes talk about Skyway Acquisition, which further...
259 – It’s Not What You Know, It’s How You Apply It
Past performance is always an important factor in Government award decisions, but just having past performance isn’t enough. Kevin and Paul dive into past performance once again, this time to...
258 – Is Bigger Better?
Kevin and Paul discuss the impact of scale on government contracts. Learn how contract size and scope can impact small and large businesses as well as government acquisition and program offices.
257 – No Ghosting
Kevin and Paul expand on a blog written by Michael Derrios (Head of Contracting/Senior Procurement Executive at U.S. Coast Guard) about ghosting – the practice of withdrawing from communication...
256 – Federal budget at ground level (with Larry Leffler)
Paul welcomes special guest Larry Leffler of Leffler Consulting (https://www.lefflerconsulting.com) to discuss the federal budget process. Listen and learn: When does the budgeting process start?Who...
255 – Can a Contractor Evaluate My Proposal?
Can a contractor evaluate your proposal? Tricky question. Kevin and Paul explain how this common practice can lead to organizational conflict of interest issues, what happens if OCI isn’t addressed,...
254 – What is an ACRN? (Encore)
What is an ACRN? Yes, another confusing Government acquisition term. ACRN is an acronym for Accounting Classification Reference Number. Kevin and Paul explain how ACRNs are used and why both...
253 – Storm Surge
Kevin and Paul torture yet another metaphor, this time using storm surge to discuss the wave upon wave of contracting activities that tend to stack up at the end of the government fiscal year. ...
252 – The Three Rs of Knowledge-Based Services Acquisition with Dan Finkenstadt
Paul welcomes USAF Major Dan Finkenstadt to the podcast to discuss knowledge-based services. (KBS) Dan has had a long career in the acquisition world and is currently at UNC Chapel Hill working on...
251 – How Do I Find the Decision Maker?
The question was “How do I get to the decision maker?”. Before we can answer that one we have to ask (and answer) a few other questions. Kevin and Paul discuss the questions that have to be covered...