FCW Insider: Fed 100 insights, Part 1

The countdown clock is ticking on Fed 100 nominations. We are closing nominations soon after we all get back from the the holidays next week, so... work away! It is easy to nominate somebody. Just visit www.fcw.com/fed100.

A few items:

One: There were apparently some technical issues with the FCW.com/Fed100 Web site that may have given some people error messages. (To make a very long and boring story short, it was a problem with the character counter. If you cut and pasted from another program, it didn't count the words.) The long and short of it is that has been fixed. So... nominate away. Remember that it is not specifically a word count, but a character count, so it includes spaces. I know writing short can be more difficult, but... the judges will love you.

Two: We always get asked if industry people can win Fed 100 awards. Absolutely. The issue that we tend to have is judges tend to be more harsh with industry. Just winning a contract sometimes doesn't cut it. The judges want to know what the person has done that is above and beyond. So... make the case. If winning a contract was above and beyond, say why.

Third: I asked a number of people who have been judges to offer their insights about Fed 100 nominees. I'll post a few of them over the next few days. I told the judges that I would not name them -- and each judging panel is unique, so I offer this as guidance rather then rules or specific criteria. But I hope it provides you with some insights.

So... here is the first insights offered up by a former judge:

1. 
   

   Make sure your references are in fact your references and that they know it!

   
   


2. 
   

   It is far better to have Government nominate Government as opposed to the vendor who is providing the service.

   
   


3. 
   

   Keep the facts simple and clearly define the “accomplishment’…Tell the story!

   
   


4. 
   

   Point out the benefit to Gov. that has occurred now, or will occur in relatively short order;

   
   


5. 
   

   Government nominations of Industry do matter and carry weight;

   
   


6. 
   

   Focus on service, not dollars earned (Cost avoidances to Government catch my eye everytime).