2010 is almost over, so cheers to a year in review. It’s interesting to see some stories turn up on this list. I didn’t expect “Acquisitions Affect Average Americans” to show. I wrote it while I was in an airport, but it has a personal touch that streches decades. “Mock Negotiations” also turned out toRead… Read more »
My brother recently inspired me with an idea: GroupOn for Government. GroupOn’s model works like this: GroupOn (or LivingSocial if you prefer), which markets your brand, gets a percentage of your sales if you sell over a set number of items. A Government GroupOn could work like this: GSA negotiates daily or week-long deals withRead… Read more »
There’s a cool story today at Space.com. The US military is in talks to share its data on Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) entering Earth’s atmosphere. Paraphrasing of course, this is cool because it lets scientists NEO airbursts and how to recover meteroites. The full article is here.
I’m sitting in the airport right now waiting for my flight to Miami. (Yes, I’m writing on vacation — workaholics die hard). Anyways, I met an elderly woman who lived with her husband in 1951 Post-War Japan. Apparently, she used to have dinner with Ms. MacArthur and helped run an orphanage for the children ofRead… Read more »
If there is one organization you’re supposed to join in the contracts world, it’s the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). And yet, I didn’t feel compelled to renew my membership for a measly $125. (I thought it was $75 and I still didn’t feel it was worth the cost). To be fair, it’s the nationalRead… Read more »
Update: GovLoop India exists now. GovLoop has extended its influence to the UK, Canada, Israel, Australia and even Russia. However, there’s little on GovLoop about India — the world’s second most populous country. We should change that with a GovLoop India group. What’s going for it — it’s second most populous country and most populousRead… Read more »
I believed I had more time to do this — in fact, I thought nobody had this idea. It was so brilliant, so original — crowd-sourcing weapon design. Well, I was wrong. Not only had someone written about it, but now DARPA is doing something about it (or at least something similar). So I’m notRead… Read more »
Saturday, I had the opportunity to meet General William Boykin (ret.) at my college homecoming. You may not know him, but he’s had one heck of a career. Now he teaches at my alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College. (I couldn’t resist that free plug). He agreed to answer a few questions on leadership. What do youRead… Read more »
For those in acquisition, we have to do a thing called a responsibility determination. It means the federal government considers the contractor able to fulfill a contract. The first step in doing this is checking the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS). Any contractor that is debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment is placed in thisRead… Read more »
*********************************************** Not Yet a Member? JOIN GOVLOOP!(It’s free and takes 30 seconds) ************************************************ If we were analyzing federal holidays in a Six Sigma class, we’d cross off Columbus Day right away. How can the federal government get more bang for its buck? Well, easy…let’s work on Columbus Day. Does this mean eliminating a national holiday?Read… Read more »