Jon and B.J.'s Proposal Blog
Posted by Jon on 31 July, 2009 under Musings | 
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I was working on a pitch to a prospective client the other day, and had made a couple of tweaks to BJ’s profile. I ran Word’s spell check on the document, and it immediately suggested that one of his hobbies – “roller-blading” – might need to be changed.
Its suggestion? “Roller-balding”, which seemed strangely appropriate given that my esteemed colleague’s hair didn’t quite make it into this millennium!
Posted by BJ on 29 July, 2009 under Musings | Add your comment
I read the comics in local newspaper while eating breakfast each morning. I occasionally have pangs of guilt for doing so, as it can seem somewhat childish to be reading the “funnies”, as my father would have called them.
Indeed, some of the comics are quite childish. However, others are socially and politically oriented (Doonsbury) and hit close to home (Dilbert). I often come across nuggets of wisdom that are brilliantly expressed within a comic strip. In fact, the vehicle being a very brief and humorous one adds greatly to the message’s clarity and it being memorable.
And occasionally I come across a strip that delivers a nugget of wisdom that is relevant to our profession. One such strip was today’s Pickles.
This strip has two messages for us.
As I’m sure many of you have experienced, many proposals seem to be written solely to ‘say something’ rather than to deliver any clear message. These are typically in response to an opportunity that has “fallen off a truck”, rather than having been qualified and a fully informed decision taken.
The second demonstrates what happens when we’re not really listening. Fortunately, that just doesn’t happen on a proposal team. Right?
This comic strip is fairly memorable, at least for me, as I’ve had this conversation a time or two with my wife. :)
Posted by Jon on 27 July, 2009 under Musings | Add your comment
A few months back, I was fortunate enough to meet my idol: Kenny Dalglish, the former Liverpool soccer player and manager. The event was lovely: a fundraiser for his wife Marina’s charity. It’s a great cause – and if you can spare £5 to buy a brick for the new radiotherapy unit they’re trying to build, do please click here.
Ian Rush played for Liverpool at much the same time. He commented of Dalglish in his autobiography, published last year, that:
“Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what the talented find impossible is genius.”
Forget football: that’s just a wonderfully insightful quote – thought-provoking in any walk of life, including proposals.
(Come across a genius recently on one of your proposal efforts? What made them so different to the other folks with whom you work?)
Posted by Proposal Panda on 24 July, 2009 under Proposal Panda | 1 Comment
After a long flight from Virginia, I arrived at The Sanborn Map Company in Colorado Springs, hoping to relax and enjoy my time near the mountains. But soon after stretching my legs, I was issued an official staff badge and tasked to assemble an important proposal set to ship that day. No ladder was in sight, so I scrambled up the side of the file cabinets and got to work.
Heather and Lee Ann, the Sanborn Proposals team, asked me if I needed help, but I was in the zone. In a matter of minutes, I had assembled and bound 10 250-page proposals. My hosts were amazed and asked if I would like a job. I graciously declined (bamboo doesn’t grow in Colorado).
I dropped the proposals off at the shipping department, and then wandered around the office, introducing myself to the entire Sanborn staff. They were really cool folks, but I was still a bit fuzzy (no pun intended) on what, exactly, a geospatial company does. So I got my paws on a book about photogrammetric mapping and spent the afternoon learning about all things geospatial.
The day flew by quickly and, before I knew it, the clock said 5:00 p.m. – and it was Friday! Lee Ann invited me to join her for the weekend. I’m glad I accepted, because there’s a lot to do in Colorado Springs! From Pike’s Peak to the U.S. Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods, we did it all.
Heather even let me borrow some of her hockey equipment, and we got to play in a pick-up game on Sunday night! Since I am from a mountainous region in China, the altitude here (6,035 ft) didn’t really affect my nimble athleticism (bet you didn’t know pandas could skate), and everyone was impressed with my stick-handling skills even though I don’t have opposable thumbs!
It was a busy couple of days, and Sunday night I was really tuckered out. I was invited to a sleep-over with my distant cousin, Publishing Polar Bear, but as you can see, we all decided to turn in early.
All in all, I had a great time at Sanborn. I learned a lot and saw some great sights! Sigh, Sanborn and Colorado Springs, I hardly knew ye.
Posted by BJ on 23 July, 2009 under Processes & best practice | 5 Comments
One of our readers (Hey there Sabrina) recently wrote to us with a question regarding our position on whether photos should be included with resumes.
As often happens when Jon and I respond to the same question, our opinions differ. In this cas however, the difference is mostly based on norms within our respective countries.
Both Jon and I agreed that including photos contributes to a person evaluating a response having a sense of who is on the team, as well as the team feeling more ‘real’. However, the guidelines, stated or implied, within our respective countries and cultures, caused us to operate differently.
Jon responded that within the UK, the preference seems to be to include photos.
I pointed out that on this side of the pond, I typically don’t see photos included and I advise clients with whom I’m working not to include them. In fact, Federal guidelines which govern many responses restrict any reference to a person’s ethnic background and photos would be such a reference.
We’d be interested to hear what you’re seeing in RFP’s regarding photos and whether you typically include them. Let us know.
Posted by Jon on 21 July, 2009 under Word play & writing | Add your comment
Waking ridiculously early in a London hotel the other morning, I watched an episode of Simon Schama’s magnificent ‘History of Britain’, on a TV channel called ‘Yesterday’.
I returned to the room very much later after a long day out at work, and flicked on the TV. The same channel appeared, with a plain screen displaying the announcement:
Yesterday returns at 6 a.m.
I’m sure it made perfect sense to the writer – just like so much proposal text, ending up almost comically inept for wont of peer review.
Posted by Jon on 15 July, 2009 under Word play & writing | 1 Comment
Waiting for a friend recently in a rather nice fish restaurant in Edinburgh, as a gentleman and lady arrive at the next table. He’s obviously been here before, because he immediately comments, in a matter of fact way, “I’m just going to have their soup, then a lunchtime quickie.”
“WHAT?” she shrieked in sheer surprise.
He looked puzzled – then blushed, and passed her the menu. “Lunchtime quickie: £7.50, Monday to Friday. Mussels or seafood chowder with crusty bread, chips and a glass of wine.”
I suppose we do that in proposals, too – assume that the reader’s familiar with a particular phrase or concept. But I doubt it has quite as shocking an effect!
