B -- Defining the Communication Environment

REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONFA4890-05-RFI-0001 DEFINING THE COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT, AND IDENTIFYING COMMUNICATION NEEDS OF ACC AIRMEN AND SHADOW AUDIENCES CONTRACTING OFFICE ADDRESS Department of the Air Force, Air Combat Command (ACC) - HQ ACC CONS, 130 Douglas Street, Suite 401, Langley AFB, A 23665 RESPONSE DATE: 11 April 2006, 5:00 PM EST RESPOND TO: Contracting office stated above Attn: Amber Weichbrodt. See below for format and submission instructions. ADDITIONAL GENERAL INFORMATION This is a Request for Information (RFI) only as defined in FAR 15.201(e) to obtain information about pricing, delivery, and other market information or capabilities for planning purposes. This RFI is not a request for competitive proposals; therefore, responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The NAICS code for this potential effort is 541910. BACKGROUND The Air Combat Command, Public Affairs (ACC/PA) is seeking to use focused research to define the communication environment and identify communication needs of its Airmen and - shadow audiences (e.g. retirees and dependents). Currently, unit-level Public Affairs offices within ACC spend a great deal of time and energy producing a weekly newspaper. For 18 of the 20 units, this is their #1 time-consuming product/event. Despite the great deal of manpower invested in producing the base newspaper, ACC/PA does not know what impact the paper has. There is no statistical data to support the assertion that the newspaper is being read; the local newspaper readership surveys are neither scientific nor precise, and they do not draw from a random sample of a base population. Along the same lines, the impact of other products the PA offices produce and maintain, like the Commander's Access Channel and base guides, is also not known. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT Given the advent of new technology such as podcasting, short messaging service (SMS), rich site summary (RSS) messaging, and the proliferation of older technology, such as the Internet, ACC/PA is interested in obtaining information from industry to determine, through focused research, if there is a better way of communicating key themes and messages with ACC's Airmen and shadow audiences. Generally speaking, ACC/PA needs to answer two broad questions: 1) How do ACC's Airmen and shadow audiences obtain news and information? - Do they get it from TV? The Web? The base newspaper? Their friends? Their 1st Sgts? - In looking at this, it is important to not limit questions to, - How do Airmen get news about the Air Force. They may get their Air Force news from their 1st Sgts, but get other news at home when they go to ESPN.com or download their favorite podcast. o An effective study will dig down and find out how Airmen and shadow audiences learn about the world in which they live 2) How do ACC's Airmen WANT to get information about the Air Force? - Do Airmen and shadow audiences like base newspaper? Would they prefer RSS, podcasts, etc. - And, is there a correlation between how they SAY they want to get their information and how they currently get their information. o For example, if 90% of Airmen and shadow audiences say they want their news via SMS, but only 3% of them have SMS-enabled phones, we need to know that. Responders must clearly describe their technical approach to conducting the research, including the methodology (e.g. focus groups, a scientific survey of a statistically significant representative population, etc.), provide a schedule estimate and a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimate of costs, as well as a brief company description and any other information deemed relevant (e.g. products and services, involvement in projects similar in scope to this RFI). The Government may use the information provided by responders to aid in requirements definition for future acquisitions. All responders are requested to indicate their business status, i.e. large, small, small disadvantaged, etc. FORMAT & PAGE LIMITATION Submittals should be provided on standard letter size 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper, limited to a maximum of 18 single spaced pages. The font for text should not be smaller than Microsoft Word Times New Roman 10 point font, normal proportional spacing. The responder may use oversize pages (including - foldouts) where appropriate to contain graphic presentations. Oversize pages do not count as extra pages within the page limitations. Existing commercial documentation and product literature can also be submitted and is not subject to page limitation. SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTATION Information/documentation packages are due to the contracting office identified below by 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, 11 April 2006. Responders shall provide one hard copy and one electronic copy (on CD-ROM in Microsoft Word or .pdf format) of their documentation. All disks should be virus checked prior to submission, and clearly labeled with the responder's name and contact information. **If any information submitted is considered to be proprietary, then that specific information should be marked accordingly. Documentation shall be delivered to the Contract Manager at the following address: HQ ACC CONS/LGCE ATTN: Amber Weichbrodt 130 Douglas Street, Suite 403 Langley AFB, VA 23665-2791 POINTS OF CONTACT Technical questions regarding this RFI should be directed to Capt Michael Nachshen, ACC/PAE, 757-764-5473, email: Michael.Nachshen@Langley.af.mil All routine communications regarding this announcement should be directed to the contractual point of contact listed above at 757-225-1856, email: Amber.Weichbrodt@Langley.af.mil, or the Contracting Officer, Ms. Helen Vaughn, at Helen.Vaughn@Langley.af.mil NOTE: This information is for market research only. This is NOT a Request for Proposals or an indication that the Government will contract for this requirement. The Government will not pay for information received in response to this RFI and is in no way obligated by the information received. DO NOT SUBMIT PROPOSALS AT THIS TIME. ANY PROPOSALS RECEIVED WILL BE DISCARDED