JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION SAQMMA-13-F-0536 1. The Department of State (DoS) Office of Acquisition Management issued a purchase order to support a live broadcast production and origination, convergent digital media integration and international, multi-satellite format transmission services for the Secretary Clinton Global Town hall on Tuesday, January 29th. 2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved: Digital media integration and international, multi-satellite format transmission services of the Secretary Clinton Global Town hall on Tuesday, January 29th. 3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the Department's needs: The Bureau of Public Affairs sought a media outlet that could stage, manage and produce a global "Town Hall" event connecting the Secretary of State in an interactive venue with multiple international outlets and live studio audiences. The purpose of the event was to engage the Secretary directly with international and domestic publics on foreign policy issues and allow the audiences to have their questions answered directly by the Secretary on current foreign policy "hot button" issues. 4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition: FAR 6.303-2 Unusual and Compelling urgency Due to the unexpected and unforeseen cancellation of several foreign policy trips scheduled to further diplomacy abroad with key global partners as well as international audiences in key regions of the world, and due to the fact that significant time was lost, it was imperative to carry forward the foreign policy messages by connecting SecState with as many audiences as possible working within a very narrow window of opportunity. While the previously planned travel was known well in advance, the unexpected circumstances around their cancellation could not be anticipated; therefore the goal of this production was to connect SecState with publics around the world in a way that both foreign and domestic audiences could participate. As such, the only way to do that was coordinating with other countries and connecting them with Sec State in person via the global digital video conference or "town Interview. Timing was of the essence as this was a matter of days before SecState's departure. 5. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable: When the decision was made to get the messages out through a global digital video conference "Town Interview", the Department chose this particular vendor because of previous work they had performed at other high level events and their understanding of both the level of effort required to pull off a high level/high quality production as well as how to coordinate the process with the chosen venue. While there were other vendors that could have provided this service with significant time of a few months to coordinate, the Department did not have the time required for those vendors to adequately prepare, and since the Department did not advance knowledge of the requirement, the Department chose this vendor with a proven track record making events of this nature happen in a matter of days. For the reason stated above, no other vendor was contacted, given the nature of the event and the timeframe in which we had to pull this off 6. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable: The pricing was reviewed and for those labor categories that were contained on the vendor's schedule the vendor offered the listed GSA prices. Based on the urgent nature of the requirement, and inherent risk associated with such a high visibility tight time frame effort they did not feel as though extending a discount was appropriate. Because the GSA prices were previously determined to be fair and reasonable and the relatively low cost of the requirement the contracting officer did not seek additional discounts. The items contained in the proposal that were not listed on the vendor's schedule were compared to the prices for similar items on other GSA AIMS Schedule. Based upon this review, it was determined the prices submitted by Face Time Strategy represented competitive market pricing and were therefore determined to be fair and reasonable. 8. A description of the market survey conducted and the results or a statement of the reasons a market survey was not conducted: As stated in our response to 5 above, when the decision was made to get the messages out through a global digital video conference "Town Interview", we chose this particular vendor because of previous work they had performed at other high level events and their understanding of both the level of effort required to pull off a high level/high quality production as well as how to coordinate the process with the chosen venue. While there are other vendors that could have provided this service with significant time of a few months to coordinate, we did not have the time required for them to adequately prepare, and since we did not realize a need months in advance, we chose this vendor who was capable of making this happen in a matter of days. For the reason stated above, no other vendor was contacted, given the nature of the event and the timeframe in which we had to pull this off 9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: None 10. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required: The DoS Absent the exigency of this requirement the Department would solicit small business sources that will both support the Department's Small Business Goals as well as provide the required services in a timely manner at fair and reasonable prices.
