SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Music Research - Attachment A - Attachment B
- Notice Date
- 7/16/2014
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 541910
— Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling
- Contracting Office
- Broadcasting Board of Governors, Director, Office of Contracts, Office of Contracts (CON), 330 C Street, SW, Room 4300, Washington, District of Columbia, 20237, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20237
- Solicitation Number
- BBG50-R-14-0047
- Archive Date
- 9/4/2014
- Point of Contact
- Myria Carpenter, Fax: 202-382-7870, Herman Shaw, Fax: 202-382-7870
- E-Mail Address
-
mecarpen@bbg.gov, hshaw@bbg.gov
(mecarpen@bbg.gov, hshaw@bbg.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Attachment B - Statement of Work Attachment A: Price Schedule (i) THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR A COMMERCIAL ITEM PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN SUBPART 12.6 AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. (ii) Solicitation No. BBG50-R-14-0047 is issued as a Request For Proposal (RFP) for a Firm-Fixed price contract that will be awarded using the contracting by negotiation procedures in FAR Part 15. (iii) This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect from the Federal Acquisition Regulations 2005-74, dated July 1, 2014. (iv) This is a full and open competition. The North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541910. (v) The contractor shall provide the following Contract Line Item (CLIN): The Contractor shall furnish all necessary services to conduct music research as described in the Attachment B: Statement of Work. (vi) The Broadcasting Board of Governors requires a Contractor (s) to provide music research support in the development of music programming for several key BBG broadcast services: (1) BBG’s Arabic language radio service, Radio Sawa, (2) the African services of the Voice of America, and (3) BBG’s Persian language radio broadcaster, Radio Farda. The project will consist of research on the musical tastes and preferences of the target audiences for each of these services, as defined in Attachment B entitled “Statement of Work”. Research shall be conducted by playing musical excerpts provided by BBG to samples drawn from the target audience and recording reactions to a brief questionnaire designed to elicit listeners’ likes and dislikes, as well as the intensity of the preferences of the target audiences. Specifications, including separate deliverables, for each component of this program are provided in Attachment B. See Attachment B for more details. (vii) The Start of Service (SOS) date will be September 15, 2014. The Base Period of the contract will be from the SOS Date and continue for 365 days (366 days in the event of a leap year). The subsequent Options, if exercised, will follow sequentially for a total contract duration not to exceed 63months. <h4 style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; page-break-after: auto;"> ( viii) The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-1 Instruction to Offerors-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation. Full text of all FAR clauses and provisions are available electronically at the following Internet address: (http://www.arnet.gov/far). Interested contractors who are capable of providing these services should submit a proposal demonstrating their ability and experience in providing the required services. MANDATORY CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS SHALL INCLUDE: A) The Offeror shall be regularly engaged in conducting research that includes project design, drafting, translation, formatting and printing of research instruments; developing the sampling plan and screening procedures; training interviewers; supervising fieldwork and cleaning and encoding survey responses; B) The Offeror shall possess sufficient financial background and organization to insure satisfactory and timely performance. The Offeror shall have established an acceptable performance record in the past for completing contracts of similar character and content on time; C) The Offeror shall demonstrate by proving actual examples of projects on how it is currently able to conduct music research in the targeted areas; D) The Offeror shall be recognized in the research industry as a bona fide research organization with specialized experience in music research and E) The Offeror shall be capable of demonstrating that it has the capability to provide the kind of music research described in this solicitation and the Statement of Work. OFFERORS RESPONDING TO THIS SOLICITATION SHALL SUBMIT AT MINIMUM, THE FOLLOWING ITEMS TO THE CONTRACTING OFFICER : 1. Offeror’s Proposal (1 original, 3 copies of Technical Proposal and 1 original, 1 copy of Price Proposal showing how price was developed). Price data shall not be referenced in Technical proposals. The Offeror shall structure its technical proposal to convey how the Company’s experience satisfies the mandatory qualifications in a straightforward and concise manner. The technical and price proposals must addresses the factors described below in (ix). The Price Proposal must contain a copy of Attachment A entitled “Price Schedule” filled out by the Offeror. The Government may make multiple awards and select more than one Offeror. It is BBG’s preference that all of the work specified under the contract be performed by a single contractor, using suitable local sub-contractors as necessary. However, given the number of locations involved and the complexity of the work, the Government will entertain proposals from firms that are able to perform only one aspect of the work required. The Government plans to award without discussions, but may conduct discussions if it deems it is in the Government’s best interest. In the event that the Government conducts discussions from Offerors who are determined to be in the Competitive Range in accordance with FAR 15.307, it is the intention of the Government to conduct discussion/negotiations either via email or at the BBG Headquarters in Washington, DC. (ix) The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation. The Government will award a Commercial Item, Firm-Fixed-Price, contract resulting from this RFP to the responsible Offeror (s) whose offer conforming to the RFP will result in a best value to the Government, based on technical approach, experience, past performance and price. The Government intends to make a best value selection. All evaluation factors other than price, when combined, are significantly more important than price. THE FOLLOWING FACTORS SHALL BE ADDRESSED IN THE TECHNICAL PROPOSALS AND SHALL BE USED TO EVALUATE PROPOSALS: 1) Technical Approach : The contractor must provide a narrative detailing the approach that they will take to meet the requirement. The contractor must illustrate its understanding of the requirement and its ability to provide the required services stated herein. The technical approach factor has two 2) sub factors (a-b) that are listed as follows: a. Planned method for recruiting respondents : Will the planned recruitment method allow the offeror to recruit a sample corresponding to all representativeness and screening criteria in each of the target markets? b. Suitability of proposed method for conducting interviews : Will the proposed interviewing allow the respondents to listen to each song excerpt in acceptable audio quality? Will the proposed interviewing method yield answers to all/most questions on the questionnaire? Will the Offeror take measures to minimize broken off interviews? Will the proposed method allow respondents to focus on the task? Will the offeror take measures to ensure a high level of interviewer performance in each of the target markets? 2) Experience : The Offeror shall provide recent examples (within the past three (3) years) demonstrating its experience in providing the services required under this Solicitation to Governmental and/or commercial customers. Examples provided should be of the same and/or similar services specified herein. The experience factor has two (2) sub factors (a-b) that are listed as follows: a. Experience in conducting music research of the nature described in the Solicitation and Attachment B : The Offeror must explain its experience in conducting music research of the nature described in the Solicitation and Attachment B. Does the offeror have demonstrated experience conducting music research of the nature required for this study, i.e. playing song excerpts and documenting respondents’ reactions via a brief questionnaire designed to elicit listeners’ likes and dislikes, as well as the intensity of their preferences? b. Experience in conducting music research in international settings, included those specified in this Solicitation. The Offeror must explain its experience in conducting music research in international settings, included those specified in this Solicitation. Does the offeror have experience in conducting music research in international setting, in particular in Amman, Alexandria, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Casablanca, Baghdad, Dakar, Abidjan, Kinshasa, Bamako and Nairobi, as well as among Iranians (domestic and abroad)? 3) Past Performance : The Offeror shall have demonstrated past performance in conducting music research to the targeted areas. Technical proposals shall contain detailed information on past performance and relevant contracts for same and/or similar services with a minimum of three (3) references including contract numbers, points of contact with telephone numbers and email addresses (i.e., the point of contact who can verify performance). The BBG shall evaluate the Offeror’s Past Performance pursuant to FAR 15.305(a)(2). Each Offeror’s Past Performance shall be determined to be favorable or unfavorable. Pursuant to FAR 15.305(a) (2) (iv), in the case of an Offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the Offeror will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. THE FOLLOWING FACTORS SHALL BE ADDRESSED IN THE PRICE PROPOSALS AND SHALL BE USED TO EVALUATE PROPOSALS: Price Proposal : Offerors shall submit a separate Price Proposal showing an all-inclusive price of conducting music research in the target areas. In responding to this solicitation, offerors are requested to submit price quotations specifying the price for each of the three components separately, along with a total price for the entire project. In addition, the proposals shall provide a separate price quotation for each of the research locations specified under Component #2 (Music research for VOA’s French to Africa service) and for each of the locations specified for music library testing under Component #3 (Music Research for Radio Farda.) BBG reserves the right to reduce the scope of work requested under this solicitation in the event that the costs exceed the budget allocated. The prices for shall be provided in English and United States dollars. The Price Proposal must contain Attachment A entitled “Price Schedule” filled out by the Offeror. The Government will evaluate the price proposal by: 1 1. comparing the proposed prices received in response to the solicitation against the IGE and historical prices paid by the Government for the same or similar services; 2. 2. assessing the responsiveness of the Offeror in providing the requested prices; and 3. 3. adding the total price for all options to the total price for base period. Offerors are cautioned that failure to address each of the above technical factors (and subfactors) and price factors may deem their proposal unacceptable. Proposals which are non-conforming will be rejected at the sole discretion of the Contracting Officer. (x) Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items with its offer. Offerors may either submit a paper copy of FAR Clause 52.212-3 or submit this information through the System of Award Management (SAM) at HTTPS://WWW.SAM.GOV/PORTAL/PUBLIC/SAM/ PRIOR TO CONTRACT AWARD. Proposals must also include contractor's DUNS Number, prompt payment terms, and correct remittance address, if different from mailing address. THE CONTRACTOR MUST BE REGISTERED ONLINE IN THE SAM WEB SITE PRIOR TO CONTRACT AWARD. (xi) The FAR clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition with addendum to the clause. The addendum is as follows: SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS: 1. BILLING AND PAYMENT - The Contractor is authorized to submit its invoice for payments on a quarterly basis for certification and acceptance by the COR. Note: The BBG intends to change its current invoicing procedures to an optical reading system. The Contractor may be required in the future to use a standard invoice template. Any costs associated with complying with the invoice change will be at the Contractor’s expense. 2. INVOICE ADDRESS - Invoices shall be sent to the following address: Broadcasting Board of Governors International Broadcasting Bureau Sonja Gloeckle, IBB Director of Research 330 Independence Ave. SW, Room 3274 Cohen Building Washington, DC 20237 3. CONTR A CT I NG O F F ICER ’ S R E P R E S ENTATIVE The Contr ac t i n g O f f i ce r will a ppoint b y letter a C ontr ac t i ng O f fi c e r ’ s R e p r e s e ntative ( COR) w ho will h a ve the re spons i bi l i t y of e ns u ri n g that the w o r k p e r f o rm e d b y the C o ntr ac tor c o n fo r ms t o the re quir e m e nts of the c ontr ac t and su c h ot h e r re spons i bi l i t ies a nd a uthorities a s m a y b e spe c ified in t he letter o f authori z a t i on or in th i s c o ntr ac t. I t i s un d e r s t oo d a n d a g r e e d, i n p a r t i c u l a r, t h a t t h e COR s h a l l no t h a v e t h e a uth o r i t y t o m a k e c h a n g e s to t he s c o pe or t e rms a nd c ondi t ions of the c ontr a c t unless a nd on l y to t he e x tent that such a uthori t y is s p e c ified in t he letter of authorization or in t he c ontr ac t. THE CONTRACTOR IS HERE B Y F ORE W A R NED THAT, A B S EN T TH E R EQU I S I T E AUTHO R I T Y O F TH E C O N T RAC T IN G O F FIC E R ’ S R E P R ESE N T A T IV E ( C O R ) T O MAK E AN Y S U C H C H A NGE S, I T MAY B E H E L D F U L L Y RES P O N S I B L E F OR A N Y CH A N G ES NOT A U T H O R IZ E D I N A D V A N C E, I N W R I T I N G, BY T H E CO N TRAC T I N G O F F I C ER; MAY B E D E N I ED COMPENSA T I O N O R OT H ER R E LI E F FO R AN Y AD D I T I ON A L W O R K P E R FO R ME D T HA T I S NO T S O AU T HO R I Z E D; AN D M A Y A L S O B E REQ U I R E D, AT N O A D D I T I O N A L COSTS TO T HE G O V E RNME N T, TO TA K E A L L COR R EC T I VE A C T I ON NECES S I TA T ED B Y REASON O F THE U N A U TH O R I Z ED CHANGES. (End of Clause) 4. CONTA C T IN F O R M ATI O N: The Contr ac tor sh a ll pr o vide a d a y - to - d a y o p e r a t i o n a l cont ac t a s w e ll a s a co n ta c t for prompt contract administration: Contr ac tor – Day to day operational contact Name: Tit l e : Address: P hone Numb e r: Email: Contr ac tor – Prompt contract administration contact Name: Tit l e : Address: P hone Numb e r: Email: 5. EXERCISING OF OPTIONS UNDER THIS CONTRACT : The Government reserves the right to exercise unilaterally the options subject to the availability of funding, in Attachment A entitled "Service and Price Schedule." The parties agree that the Government may partially exercise and fund any options in Attachment A and may do so multiple times up to the point that the option has been fully exercised and funded. The Contractor, however, will not be entitled to any additional compensation beyond that associated with the amount of the option exercise. In the event that BBG does not give written notice to exercise an option, the contract will expire at the end of the existing period of performance (the Base Period or Option Period) as applicable. Additionally, the parties agree that, in the event the BBG decides not to exercise any options, BBG will have no further obligation to the Contractor under this contract other than to pay for services actually rendered by the Contractor to BBG hereunder. (End of Clause) (xii) FAR clause 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation by reference and proposed subsequent contract as well as the following clauses contained within FAR clause 52.212-5: 52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (Sept 2006); 52.204-10, Reporting Executive compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Jul 2013); 52.209-6 Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment (Jul 2013); 52.209-6 Updates of Publicity Available Information Regarding Responsibility matters (Jul 2013); 52.209-10 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (May 2012); 52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging while Driving (Aug 201); 52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (Jun 2008) and 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management (Jul 2013). Please note some clauses may not be applicable to a foreign offeror. (xiii) Additional FAR provisions and clauses incorporated by reference and applicable to this solicitation include: 52.227-17 Rights in Data—Special Works (Dec. 2007); 52. 217 - 9 Op t i on t o E x t end t he T erm of the C on t ract ( Mar 2000); 52.237-3 Continuity of Services (Jan 1991); 52.246-4 Inspection of Services--Fixed-Price. (AUG 1996). There are no other additional contract requirement(s) necessary for this acquisition other than those consistent with customary commercial practices. (xiv) No Defense Priorities and Allocation System (DPAS) rating assigned. (xv) Failure to provide any of the required services for any of the CLINs may result in the rejection of your proposal. Proposals shall be in writing and must be signed by an official authorized to bind the organization. Oral, faxed or emailed proposals will not be accepted. Please note that questions must be submitted in writing to Myria Carpenter by email (proposalquestionMEDC@bbg.gov) or fax (202-382-7870) and received before the deadline of 12:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time on July 24, 2014. Technical Proposals shall be submitted as an original and three copies and Price Proposals shall be submitted as an original and one copy. All proposals must be sent via courier or overnight delivery and must be received before deadline. Proposals are due at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, 330 C Street, SW, Room 4007B, Washington, DC 20237 on August 4, 2014, at 12:00PM, Eastern Time. (xvi) Contact: Myria Carpenter, Contract Specialist, Facsimile 202-382-7870, email: mecarpen@bbg.gov. All responsible sources may submit an offer that will be considered by the Agency.
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(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/BBG/ADM/MCONWASHDC/BBG50-R-14-0047/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Various locations around the world, United States
- Record
- SN03426736-W 20140718/140716234607-0c4e4913953d5ffa6bff0bdb2c70493d (fbodaily.com)
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