This document summarizes and demonstrates several free and commercially available software tools that can be useful at different stages of the proposal process. It reviews tools for mind mapping, search, project management, color selection, visualization, screen capture, and more. For each tool, it provides information on type, vendor, website, cost, purposes, templates, similar alternatives, and which proposal phases it could be useful for. The goal is to help proposal professionals select and utilize helpful digital tools.
Proposal professionals are notorious for working long hours, weekends, and holidays. Wendy Frieman outlines how to strike a work-life balance and gain back some sanity in the federal contracting profession.
The Association of Proposal Management Professional's (APMP) Professional Accreditation program is a global initiative that establishes credibility inside and outside the proposal development profession. Panelists will share lessons learned pursuing accreditation and provide attendees with tips and techniques for tackling the Proposal Practitioner Assessment Questionnaire (PPAQ), mastering the Proposal Professional Impact Paper (PPIP), and presenting it at the Professional Level interview.
Proposal professionals are notorious for working long hours, weekends, and holidays. Wendy Frieman outlines how to strike a work-life balance and gain back some sanity in the federal contracting profession.
The Association of Proposal Management Professional's (APMP) Professional Accreditation program is a global initiative that establishes credibility inside and outside the proposal development profession. Panelists will share lessons learned pursuing accreditation and provide attendees with tips and techniques for tackling the Proposal Practitioner Assessment Questionnaire (PPAQ), mastering the Proposal Professional Impact Paper (PPIP), and presenting it at the Professional Level interview.
PR1 - Efficient Magazine Workflow for Production and Editorial
These slides are from my presentation this morning at MagNet, Canada's Magazine Conference.
It is a collection of programs that enables a person to manipulate visual images.
Super Paint (1973) was one of the earliest graphics software applications.
Currently Adobe Photoshop is one of the most used and best-known graphics programs.
"Just Push the Button" is the biggest misconception of project management, execution and delivery in the digital age. Bill Finn, CEO of Finn Digital, will give you an insider's tour through the perceptions, pitfalls and performance advantages of the people, process and products involved in project managing for the digital deliverable. Real-world examples drawn from 14 years in the digital space will illustrate what can happen when globally-minded, Fortune-listed corporations ask us to "just push the button".
Using Best Practices to Build Your Production Battle Plan-APMP 2011-Briana Co...Lohfeld Consulting Group
Contractors fight many battles during the war to win business with the Government, from capture management and solutioning to finding key personnel. You can win all of these battles but still lose the war if you do not succeed on the final task—producing and delivering the bid! This session provides sound guidance for developing your own production battle plan. We’ll take you through the BD life cycle and discuss how to incorporate production into each phase. Using war stories from the industry’s leading editors, desktop publishers, graphic artists, and printing companies, we’ll discuss best practices. Specifically, we will define production elements (it’s more than just hitting print), discuss how to budget (time and money) for production and when to start, identify key skills of the best production staffs, and begin contingency planning. You will leave with a comprehensive production checklist to help you develop your own winning production battle plan for your next bid.
Tu Mu, Chinese military commentator, said, “If I wish to take advantage of the enemy I must perceive not just the advantage in doing so but must first consider the ways he can harm me if I do.” A key part of waging war and offensive strategies in the proposal world is to war game in a Black Hat review where we create potential war scenarios by aligning ourselves and our allies against a set of opponents. Each team assumes the competitor mindset and prepares as if they are the competition. Each team collects intelligence and develops their battle plans and using rules created to closely simulate battle (proposal evaluation) conditions, play out the war game in front of the evaluators. Only one team is victorious, we gain valuable insight into the strategies of our competition, and gather lessons learned. In this session, we explore the Black Hat process, how to define the competitive information you need upfront, develop high producing teams, optimize the teams’ products and leverage them in your proposal.
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PR1 - Efficient Magazine Workflow for Production and Editorial
These slides are from my presentation this morning at MagNet, Canada's Magazine Conference.
It is a collection of programs that enables a person to manipulate visual images.
Super Paint (1973) was one of the earliest graphics software applications.
Currently Adobe Photoshop is one of the most used and best-known graphics programs.
"Just Push the Button" is the biggest misconception of project management, execution and delivery in the digital age. Bill Finn, CEO of Finn Digital, will give you an insider's tour through the perceptions, pitfalls and performance advantages of the people, process and products involved in project managing for the digital deliverable. Real-world examples drawn from 14 years in the digital space will illustrate what can happen when globally-minded, Fortune-listed corporations ask us to "just push the button".
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Best SW tools tricks tips_-apmp_intl_conference_wingate_june_2010
1. Developing Your Proposal
“Green Thumb”
Using the Best Software
Tools, Tricks, and Tips
Presented to APMP International
June 2010 Beth Wingate
2. Overview
• Review and demo 33 free and commercially available
applications useful at many proposal stages
• Online and computer-based applications
• Discuss:
– Type:
– Vendor:
– Website:
– Cost:
– Purposes:
– Templates:
– Similar tools:
– Proposal phase(s):
2
3. Wordle
• Type: Graphics development
• Vendor: Jonathan Feinberg
• Website: www.wordle.net/create
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Generates “word clouds” from provided text
– Gives greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in source text
– See how many times particular words appear in RFP or proposal
(Amy Barden – APMP-NCA Chapter)
• Proposal phase(s): Graphics development, review preparation
3
5. MindManager
• Type: Mindmapping
• Vendor: MindJet
• Website: http://www.mindjet.com/products/mindmanager-8-win/overview
• Cost:
– $349/person
– Free 30-day trial
• Purposes:
– Visually organize and manage information, people and projects.
– Create graphical diagrams (mind maps) starting with a central theme and adding branches
with ideas, notes, images, tasks—even hyperlinks and attachments.
– Improve work processes, visually document and implement best practices
– Visually connect ideas and information to help save time, solve real business problems,
improve business processes, and drive innovation
– Brainstorm and document meeting minutes/actions
• Templates: included with product
• Similar tools: FreeMind, iMindMap, Inspiration, Compendium, Freeplane, XMind
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, RFP review, storyboarding, writing, planning meetings,
during meetings
5
9. dtSearch (Desktop/Network)
• Type: Search tool
• Vendor: dtSearch
• Website: www.dtsearch.com
• Cost:
– Desktop version $199/single seat
– Free 30-day desktop version trial
– Network version $160/seat for 5 seats
• Purposes:
– Instantly search terabytes of text across a desktop, network, Internet, or Intranet site
– Scrolling word list for instant feedback as you type in a search
– Look-up word feature, detailing effect of fuzzy, phonic, wildcard, stemming, and thesaurus search
– Browse and customize thesaurus options
– Field button showing all indexed document fields
– Search history display
– Search reports showing hits in retrieved documents, along with requested amount of context
– Clipboard options, file launching, and other tools for working with retrieved data
– Exporting of search results in various data formats for easy use with other programs
• Similar tools: ISYS Personal Edition, Google Desktop, Windows Search 4.0
• Proposal phase(s): All
9
13. GanntProject
• Type: Project manager, graphics development
• Vendor: GanttProject (collaborative development effort)
• Website: www.ganttproject.biz
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Cross-platform, open-source desktop tool for project scheduling and management
– Runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX
– Create work breakdown structure, draw dependencies, define milestones
– Assign human resources to work on tasks, see allocation on Resource Load chart
– Generate PERT chart from Gantt chart
– Save charts as PNG images and generate PDF and HTML reports
– Import projects from and export them to Microsoft Project formats
– Export to spreadsheets with CSV
– Share projects with colleagues using WebDAV
• Similar tools: Dia for Windows, MS Project
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, storyboarding, writing, graphics development
13
15. Dia for Windows
• Type: Graphics development
• Vendor: The Free Software Foundation and authors
• Website: http://dia-installer.de/index_en.html
• Cost: Free
• Purposes: Draw structured diagrams
• Templates:
• Similar tools: MS Visio, Open Office Draw, GE’s
Imagination Cubed online whiteboard , MS Paint
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, storyboarding, writing,
graphics development, reviews
15
17. ColorPix
• Type: Color picking utility
• Vendor: Color Schemer
• Website: http://www.colorschemer.com/colorpix_info.php
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Color picker grabs the pixel under your mouse and transforms it into
multiple color formats (RGB, CMYK, others)
– Use built-in magnifier to zoom in on screen and click on a color
value to copy it directly to clipboard
– Can keep ColorPix on top of other applications
• Similar tools: Instant Eyedropper
• Proposal phase(s): Graphics development
17
19. ColorSchemer/Adobe Kuler
• Type: Color scheme development websites
• Vendors: Color Schemer; Adobe
• Websites:
– http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html
– http://kuler.adobe.com
• Cost: Free online ($49 for PC copy of ColorSchemer)
• Purposes:
– Color picker grabs the pixel under your mouse and transforms it into
multiple color formats (RGB, CMYK, others)
– Use built-in magnifier to zoom in on screen and click on a color
value to copy it directly to clipboard
• Similar tools: Instant Eyedropper
• Proposal phase(s): Graphics development
19
23. Google Earth
• Type: Graphics development
• Vendor: Google
• Website: http://earth.google.com
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Get views of where work will be done (Kirste Webb, APMP
President)
– Fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D
buildings, from galaxies in outer space to canyons in the ocean
– Explore geographical content, save toured places, and share with
others
• Similar tools: NASA World Wind
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, storyboard development,
graphics development
23
25. Billion Dollar Graphics
• Type: Graphics development
• Vendor: Billion Dollar Graphics
• Website:
www.billiondollargraphics.com/businessgraphiclibrary.html
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Free library of business and information visual solutions
– Search for graphic solutions (sample graphics/styles online)
– Save time and money when developing presentations, proposals,
marketing materials, business documents, white papers, or
educational materials
• Similar tools: Information graphics article on Wikipedia
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, storyboarding, graphics
development
25
27. Magnifier
• Type: Magnifier
• Vendor: Microsoft (already on your PC)
• Location:
– Start Button >All Programs>Accessories>Ease of
Access>Magnifier
• Cost: Already on PC
• Purposes: See small details in graphics
and on screen
• Similar tools: ZoomIt v4.1
• Proposal phase(s): All
27
29. Snagit
• Type: Screen capture utility
• Vendor: TechSmith
• Website: www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp
• Cost:
– $49.95/person
– 30-day free trial version
• Purposes:
– Screen capture utility
– Edit and combine captures (entire screen, window, active window, region, fixed region,
object, menu, web page with links, sequential captures)
– Share them via favorite applications
– Organize and find them again later
– Grab and mark up screen shots to help guide teams through using new technology
(Amy McGeady, APMP Regional Director and Wendy Frieman, APMP-NCA Chapter)
• Similar tools: Snipping Tool
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, storyboarding, writing, graphics development
29
31. Snipping Tool
• Type: Screen capture tool
• Vendor: Microsoft (already on your PC)
• Location: Start Button>All
Programs>Accessories>Snipping Tool
• Cost: Already on PC
• Purposes: Capture images from screen and
use in documents, presentations, user guides
• Similar tools: MWSnap, Snagit
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, storyboarding,
writing, graphics development
31
33. AcroWizard 2.1
• Type: Acronym manager/finder/list generator
• Vendor: Anvil Logic, Inc.
• Website: www.anvillogic.com/products/
• Cost: $79.99/person (Free fully functional evaluation version)
• Purpose:
– Analyze document and build accurate table of acronyms in
seconds
– Find acronym definitions
– Show if acronym is defined in document and defined at first use
• Include this information in resulting table of acronyms
• Similar tools:
• Proposal phase(s): All
33
35. Acronym Finder
• Type: Acronym manager/finder
• Vendor:
• Website: http://www.acronymfinder.com/
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Online tool to find out what any acronym, abbreviation, or
initialism stands for
– World’s largest, most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms,
abbreviations, and initialisms
– Combined with Acronym Attic, contains more than 4 million
acronyms and abbreviations
– Has more than 900,000 human-edited definitions
• Similar tools: Free Dictionary.com, DoD Dictionary
• Proposal phase(s): All
35
37. Computer Desktop Encyclopedia
• Type: Dictionary/encyclopedia
• Vendor: Computer Language Company
• Website: www.computerlanguage.com/
• Cost
– $44/yearly subscription of 4 CDs (moving to $10/year web-based updates)
– Free download demo version with 250 terms
– $4.99 from iTunes Store for iPod Touch/iPhone
• Purposes:
– Straightforward definitions of all major hardware and software technologies
– More than 25,000 definitions of hardware, software, IT, and consumer electronics
– More than 3,000 noteworthy illustrations, photos, charts, and diagrams
– Explains correct/incorrect use of terms and includes synonyms
• Similar tools: Free Dictionary.com, DoD Dictionary,
Merriam-Webster Dictionary online
• Proposal phase(s): All
37
39. Merriam-Webster Dictionary
• Type: Dictionary
• Vendor: Merriam-Webster
• Website: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
• Cost:
– Free online dictionary and thesaurus
– $29.95 – annual subscription to unabridged dictionary/thesaurus
– $25 – hardcopy with CD to take anywhere on your computer
• Purposes:
– Easier than carrying heavy dictionary around
– Better word choice than MS Word’s dictionary
• Similar tools: Free Dictionary.com, DoD Dictionary
• Proposal phase(s): All
39
41. DoD Dictionary of Military Terms
• Type: dictionary
• Website: www.dtic.mil/doctrine/dod_dictionary
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Browse DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
and Joint Acronyms and Abbreviations master database
• Managed by Joint Doctrine Division, J-7, Joint Staff,
as amended through 10/31/09
– Download PDF of JP 1-02, DOD Dictionary of Military and
Associated Terms, as amended through 10/31/09
• Similar tools:
• Proposal phase(s): All
41
43. Free Dictionary
• Type: Dictionary
• Website: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dictionary.htm
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Contains English dictionary, medical dictionary, legal dictionary, financial
dictionary, acronym listing, idiom listing, encyclopedia, and Wikipedia
encyclopedia link
– Contains over 200,000 boldface terms and over 33,000 written examples
– Augmented with Collins Essential English Dictionary and 30,000
illustrations, audio pronunciation feature, etymologies, abbreviations,
biographical entries, and usage examples from classic works of literature
– Provides translations to Spanish, French, German, and Italian—including
everyday business, computing, current events, and tourism terms
• Similar tools: Merriam-Webster Dictionary
• Proposal phase(s): All
43
45. ABBYY PDF Transformer 3.0
• Type: PDF converter
• Vendor: ABBYY
• Website: http://pdftransformer.abbyy.com/
• Cost:
– $79.99/person
– 15-day/50-page free trial
• Purposes:
– Intuitive, versatile, multilingual tool converts any type of PDF into editable formats with
original layout and formatting retained
– Create PDFs directly from MS Office applications with one click
– Combine multiple files from different sources into one PDF
– Adjust PDF, redact sensitive information, add stamps, turn files to searchable and
protected PDF documents, or turn them into PDF/A format
• Similar tools: PrimoPDF Converter
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, research, RFP review, storyboarding, writing
45
47. PrimoPDF Converter
• Type: PDF converter
• Vendor: Nitro PDF, Inc.
• Website: www.primopdf.com/index.aspx
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– CNET® Download.com "Top 30,” #1 ranked "PDF Software" utility on Download.com
– PDF creation utility that enables printing to PDF from virtually any Windows
application
– World's most widely-used free PDF creation tool
– One-click, drag-and-drop PDF creation
– Create PDF files that can be opened in any PDF viewer
– Convert 300+ file types to PDF
– Protect and encrypt information with strong password-based PDF security
– Set PDF metadata
• Similar tools: ABBYY PDF Transformer 3.0
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, research, RFP review, storyboarding, writing
47
49. Chicago Manual of Style
• Type: Style manual
• Vendor: The University of Chicago Press
• Website: www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/contents.html
• Cost:
– $35/year for a 1-year individual subscription
– Free 30-day trial
• Purposes:
– Classic style guide for writers and editors available from any
computer to answer style-related questions
– 15th Edition available in book form and as subscription Web site
(same content in both)
– Substantial sections discussing electronic publishing, editing for
online publications, and citing electronic sources
– Includes chapter on grammar and usage by Bryan A. Garner
(A Dictionary of Modern Usage)
• Similar tools: AP StyleBook Online
• Proposal phase(s): Writing, editing
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51. Google Translate
• Type: Language translation
• Vendor: Google
• Website: http://translate.google.com/#
• Cost: Free
• Purposes: For quick, short translations to
common languages (Kirste Webb, APMP
President)
• Similar tools: Babelfish
• Proposal phase(s): Writing, editing
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53. What time is it?
• Type: Time zone manager
• Website: http://whattimeisit.com/
• Cost: Free
• Purposes: Helps determine time in another
city/continent (Kirste Webb, APMP President)
• Similar tools: Time Zone Converter,
The World Clock
• Proposal phase(s): All!
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55. GoToMeeting
• Type: Online collaboration Vendor:
• Vendor: Citrix
• Website: www.gotomeeting.com
• Cost:
– $49/month
– $468/year (20% saving)
• Purposes:
– Online meeting solution
– Hold on-the-fly or scheduled presentations, perform live demos, and collaborate on
documents in real time
– Participants don't need your application to view your files
– Takes 2 minutes to set up and a few seconds to start a meeting
– Unlimited use for same monthly fee
• Similar tools: WebEx, Skype, DimDim
• Proposal phase(s): Solutioning, RFP review, storyboarding, writing, planning
meetings, during meetings
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57. Skype
• Type: Online collaboration
• Vendor: Skype
• Website: www.skype.com
• Cost: Free
• Purposes:
– Free, face-to-face, internet-based communication versus using a telephone
– Can show desktop
– Can send text messages while talking
– Requires a headset (or use computer’s built-in microphone and speakers) to talk to each other
– Requires web camera to make free video calls
– Secure, encrypted Skype-to-Skype (computer-to-computer) calls
– Calls to standard telephone or mobile numbers are encrypted until they reach public switched
telephone network (PSTN)
– Easiest and cheapest way to talk to international folks. Particularly with the video conferencing –
easy to read people’s facial expressions and to literally hold up pieces of paper or whiteboards to
say “is this what you mean?” I find it essential when dealing with different cultures to see the people
I’m talking to. A lot gets lost in translation in email or even in words over a telephone. (Colleen Jolly,
APMP-NCA Secretary)
• Similar tools: WebEx, GoToMeeting
• Proposal phase(s): All
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59. Philips 660 Digital Voice Tracer with
Dragon Naturally Speaking v10
• Type: Document dictation and speech recognition
• Vendor: Phillips/Nuance
• Website: www.consumer.philips.com/c/dictaphone/speech-recognition-edition-
lfh0660_10/prd/us/
• Cost: $140
• Purposes:
– Dictate documents and notes on the move
– Back in the office, plug recorder into PC, transfer file, and let Dragon NaturallySpeaking
automatically transcribe dictation
– 99% speech to text accuracy
– 140 hours recording, 1 GB storage w/ MP3/WMA player and USB mass storage device
functionality, 5 MP3 format recording modes
– Alarm clock with voice play, user configured timed recording, file split, auto divide, and time
stamp insertion
– Voice activated recording - automatically records only when sound is detected, no wasted
memory when operated hands free
– Extra large screen provides at-a-glance overview and extra large speaker reproduces quality
sound
• Proposal phase(s): All
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63. Morale booster
• Type: Online pizza ordering!
• Vendor: Papa John’s, Dominos, Pizza Hut
• Website:
– www.papajohns.com
– www.dominos.com
– www.pizzahut.com
• Cost: Free (minor charge for pizzas and other items)
• Purposes:
– Vital tool to support the health and well-being of your proposal
teams at all hours of the day and night
– Also useful for providing support in home-based situations while
developing proposal-based materials
• Proposal phase(s): All!
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64. Conclusion
• Bonus – LifeHacker.com
• Questions?
• Your favorites?
Beth Wingate, AM.APMP
APMP International Director of Education
Managing Director
Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc.
12202 Fox Hunter Place, Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Office: 703.266.2653 Cell: 703.638.2433
BWingate@LohfeldConsulting.com
Beth.Wingate@APMP.org
www.LohfeldConsulting.com
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