Category: APMP & Accreditation

Five sessions later – part 3 – “The Proposal Whisperer”

9/20/2012

Posted by BJ
For the third session I presented at Bid & Proposal Con 2012 my co-presenter was a dog, literally.

This session was titled “The Proposal Whisperer: Training Sales and Subject Matter Experts and Rehabilitating Proposals Professionals.”

With a nod to the popular TV show The Dog Whisperer and its presenter, Cesar Milan, in this presentation I presented concepts and techniques that I use when working with my dog Jack which also apply to working with…and training… sales and subject matter experts.

I first introduced Jack and he and I demonstrated several of the many commands he understands and things he will do when asked (admittedly, as Jack is a very intelligent and independent type, this is often dependent on his mood and inclination at the particular time :-) )

I then went on to explain the concepts I keep in mind while Jack and I work and train together. These are:

Allowing the individuals involved (be it people or dogs) to get to know each other (to “sniff each other’s butts” in dog terms) before getting to work.
Understanding perspectives and communication styles
Motivators and rewards
Using positive reinforcement
Playing to strengths and preferences
Respecting attention spans
Effective training is interactive, challenging, exciting and fun.

For each of these topics, I presented how I use the concept when Jack and I train together and spoke to how the audience members could apply these when working with the individuals involved in the development of a proposal.

The presentation had an interesting, though not surprising, effect over the course of the rest of the conference. When I was greeted by someone who had attended the session Jack and I presented, one of two things happened.

If Jack wasn’t with me I was asked, “Where’s Jack.”

If Jack was with me, I was ignored and people said, “Hi Jack” and gave him pats and scratches.

I guess I know who people really came to see during this presentation. ;-)

PS apologies for the lack of posts here over the summer: normal service is now resumed, and expect to hear from us more regularly again from now on!

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Five sessions later – part 2 – “The Great Debate”

6/23/2012

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Posted by BJ
The second presentation at this year’s APMP Bid & Proposal Con in which I had the (somewhat dubious) honor of participating was The Great Debate. This was a skit put on by the newly formed Improv group, aptly named, The Type ‘O’s.

The group consisted of me, Bobbie O’Brien, Robin Davis and our good friend Jeff Elkins.

The Great Debate was intended to highlight the differences and similarities between proposals within the commercial, government and grants. The debate was done in the style of a presidential debate, with Bobbie (Bobbie Itsduewhenowitz) representing government, Robin (Robin Mytime) representing commercial and Jeff (Professor A. Thought, with the ‘A’ standing for After) representing grants. I played the part of Cooper Anderson, of the show 720 (twice as good as that guy Anderson Cooper on 360) and acted as moderator for the debate.

As the saying goes, “You had to be there.” to truly enjoy the fun and silliness as the three representatives presented life within their sector. I’m not sure if this session was taped or if it will be made available on the APMP site. I’ll check and let you know.)

Ms. Itsduewhenowitz made it quite clear that within government there was no shortage of reviews, referring to these as “The Crayola reviews”, a term coined by Jay Herther, the well know government proposal guru. She also highlighted the somewhat extraordinary resources she typical had; She pointed out her team typical included a chef, a masseuse and a VPA (vehicle parking attendant).

Ms. Mytime made it quite clear that she had very little time to respond, as she even kept her responses within the debate as brief as possible and constantly asked, “Was I on time?”

And our professor, complete with robe, pointed out how very specific some grants could be, citing the current grant for which he was competing which was for studying “The effects of mosquitos on white cows with brown spots and only one horn.” Throughout the debate the professor, and eventually the other representatives, swatted away at mosquitos buzzing around them.

The representatives did a great job of highlighting, in a most exaggerated fashion, the differences and similarities between the three sectors and based on the laughter and applause from the audience, the points resonated with them.

Most flattering, based on audience response, the APMP board has asked the Type ‘O’s to present at next year’s conference and the four of us in the troupe look forward to doing so (When we do, we’ll be sure to get it on tape.)

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Five sessions later

6/14/2012

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Posted by BJ
This post is the first of several I’ll write regarding the recent APMP Bid & Proposal Con 2012, held May 22-25, 2012 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel.

At this year’s conference I had the honor and privilege of being asked to present or participate in five sessions, as well as presenting the Strategic Proposals Commercial Proposals Masterclass on the day prior to the start of the conference. Strategic Proposals was also sponsor and exhibitor, so as you might imagine, it was a very busy week.

The Strategic Proposals Commercial Proposal Masterclass

This was the first time we offered the Commercial Proposals Masterclass in conjunction with the annual APMP conference. This was done, in part, to support the efforts by APMP to give more focus to the commercial sector. (This workshop was also presented earlier this year in conjunction with the APMP NCA Chapter Boot Camp held in April.)

The workshop was very well attended and received, with participants coming from various industries within the commercial sector, such as telecom, software development, insurance, consulting and manufacturing. There were even a couple of people with a current primary focus in government who said they were attending to “broaden their perspective” and “because there’s always something to be learned by participating in a workshop presented by Strategic Proposals”. The feedback from participants was extremely positive, and several participants commented that they were excited and encouraged to see a workshop specifically for those who worked on commercial proposals offered in conjunction with the conference. (The plan is to offer the Commercial Proposals Masterclass on October 23rd, in Atlanta, in conjunction with/and the day prior to the APMP SPAC Conference (details to be announced soon).

The First Time Attendees Workshop – Getting the Most Out of APMP Bid & Proposal Con 2012

This session, as the title would suggest, was intended for those attending the annual APMP conference for the first time. I had the privilege and pleasure of co-developing and co-facilitating this workshop with Mike Parkinson of 24 Hr. Co.

The objectives for the workshop, as Mike and I told the participants, were to:

Get you connected with APMP
Get you connected with other first time attendees
Help you get the most out of your conference experience
Get energized, have fun!

Getting connected with APMP:

To help the first time attendees connect with one another we played “Stand Up If”, wherein we made statements and if it was true for the individual, they stood up. As participants stood up in response to the various statements made, we learned:

Participants had come to the conference from almost every state in the nation, as well as from several other countries including Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Germany, India and China.

The number of years of experience with proposals participants had, with this ranging from as much as 25+ years to as little as “I start when I get back from the conference.”

The respective roles of the participants, discovering there were proposal writers, managers, group leaders and even a couple of sales people. (Obviously, the latter were smart enough to appreciate the benefit of attending a conference focused on proposals.)

We then presented a quiz on “APMP History”, to get the participants connected with APMP. Questions covered statistical information, APMP chapters, previous conferences and some miscellaneous trivia. For each question, we provided the answer and a bit of additional information. Here’s a sampling of the questions asked and the associated answer and related information.

Question: How many people were in attendance at the very first official meeting of APMP?

a) 6

b) 17

c) 28

d) 42

Answer: c) 28 – held on August 16, 1989; B.J. Lownie was in attendance.

Question: In how many countries is APMP currently represented?

a) 16

b) 59

c) 42

d) 27

Answer: b) 59 – including Argentina, China, Croatia, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Guam, Iraq, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, Venezuela… to name a few.

Question: What percentage of APMP members have achieved some level of accreditation?

a) 20%

b) 40%

c) 50%

d) 60%

Answer: d) 60%

Levels – Foundation, Practitioner, Professional

Total: 3407

Foundation: 3060

Practitioner : 286

Professional: 61

Getting connected with other first time attendees:

Next up we presented an “Introduction Exercise” wherein the participants were directed to meet with 3 or 4 other first time attendees and introduce themselves to each other. The format that we suggested included their name, location, title/role, years of experience, what they enjoyed most about proposals and their objective(s) for the conference. We also suggested they share something about themselves such as a hobby, interest or their background. The conversations were lively and loud and it was with some reluctance that Mike and I brought the exercise to an end and the group back to their seats.

Helping to get the most out of the conference experience:

Next up we covered “The Conference Schedule and Sessions”. Within this section of our presentation Mike and I offered our tips and advice drawn from our experience attending the conference many times over the years. This included suggesting the attendees have a plan for which sessions they would attend, and offering our opinion that they should be sure to attend the keynotes and main room sessions as these would be very worthwhile and no doubt, informative and engaging.

We suggested they “Try something new” and consider attending a session on a topic which was new to them or perhaps somewhat outside of their typical area. We also recommended they “Try something old” and attend a session with a topic they felt they knew well and from which they perhaps would not get much benefit, as we believed they probably would pick up useful reminders or even new information.

We pointed out that many sessions would be available on line after the conference but that they should still take notes so that they would later be able to recall each session. We pointed out it was our experience that the sessions tend to “run together” after consecutively attending several each day, as would be the case for this conference.

We also highlighted that they should plan to attend both the awards banquet and the closing session. We pointed out that this was the first conference in which an awards banquet was being held and that it would include dinner and dancing, as well as the giving out of awards. (The awards banquet was a huge success and I’ll provide details on it in a future post.)

To close out the “Schedules and Sessions” portion of our presentation, we let the participants know they should be sure to attend the closing session as this was when the vendors gave out prizes (by drawing one of many business cards received from attendees who visited their booth). We let them know that this year, for the first time ever, there were also worthwhile, highly appealing grand prizes being given out by APMP and that their attendance was required at the closing session in order to win. The two prizes were: $1000 cash, and, an all-expense paid trip to next year’s conference in Atlanta, including airfare, hotel, registration and even tickets to the awards banquet.

We then covered, “Networking”, offering such tips as not to be shy and to say hi to someone new and introduce themselves. We suggested they meet new people and not just stay with people they know, and challenged them to set a goal of meeting as many new people as possible during the conference.

In our section on “Exhibitors”, we again suggested that they not be shy and that they stop at the various booths to find out what the vendors offered. We suggested they get promotional material, pointing out that the vendors wanted them to have it. Here too, we suggested they challenge themselves to visit as many exhibits as possible, pointing out that even if a vendor/product isn’t relevant for you now, it’s good for future reference.

Get energized and have fun:

In our final section of our presentation, Mike and I presented our “Tips” for the conference. In this section we suggested the first time attendees would do well to:

Arrange to have lunch/dinner with the new people they met at the conference.

Step outside and get some fresh air.

Manage their energy level as the conference covers three days and starts early, suggesting they be careful with the late nights and alcohol consumption.

Be careful as to how much food they consumed as “There’s lots of food, including desserts and snacks, and it’s really easy to eat more than you intended.”

Get out and see the sights in Dallas and that “You want to make sure you get a ride on the trolley.”

Relax, enjoy yourself, have fun!

We concluded our session by once again welcoming them to the conference and to the “APMP Family”, highlighting the key points we had covered and thanking them for attending the session.

Wishing them a great conference experience, we headed down the hall to the opening reception of the conference. (This was, in my opinion, by far and by all measures, the best opening reception to date. I’ll provide details on it in a future post.)

Be sure to watch for Part 2 of Five Sessions Later covering The Great Debate which was presented by the new APMP Improv troupe The Type ‘O’s, of which I was honored to be a member.

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Getting the most out of your APMP Bid and Proposal Con experience

5/20/2012

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Posted by BJ
I was recently asked by the Executive Director of APMP, Rick Harris, if I would facilitate, along with our good friend from 24 Hr. Co. Mike Parkinson, a session for First Time attendees at this year’s APMP conference. This session will be held Tues. afternoon at 4pm.

The objectives of the session are for the participants to:

Get connected with APMP
Get connected with other first time attendees
Understand how to get the most out of your conference experience
Get energized, have fun!

As I developed the content for this presentation, I realized that the information for getting the most out of the conference would be useful to anyone attending the conference. For first time attendees the session will provide guidance and tips that may be new concepts for them. For those who have attended previously the information will act as a refresher and remind them of things they may have forgotten.

Under the topic of “Getting the most out of attending the APMP Bid & Proposal Con 2012, I’ll present four sub topics. These are:

Sessions
Networking
Exhibitors
Tips

Under sessions, I suggest:

Have a plan

Review the schedule and highlight the sessions you wish to attend. Review the floor plan so you know in which room the session you wish to attend is being presented and you’ll be able to get there in time.

Attend the keynotes and main room sessions

This year’s keynotes promise to be informative and engaging, as do the other main room sessions. I’m moderating the first main room session, The Great Debate, wherein the differences and similarities between government, commercial and non-profits will be explored, in the form of a debate, by newly formed APMP Troupe the ‘Type ‘O’s’. This is sure to be great fun and very entertaining.

Try something new

Consider attending a session with a topic that is not one you’d normally attend. You may find you get a great deal out of a session which you believed wouldn’t hold much value for you.

Try something old

Attend a session on a topic which you feel you know well. You might pick up a new tip or trick and it will also act as a refresher (and most of us who have been at this game awhile can always use a refresher.)

Take notes

Try as you might and as much as you think you will, you won’t remember the information after you’ve attended several sessions. In fact, if you’re like me, they’ll start to blend together in your mind (especially by day three). Taking notes will help you remember the highlights of the sessions. For many of the sessions the presentations will be available on line.

Attend the closing sessions

This year’s conference closing session is set to be very informative and engaging. You should definitely plan to attend, especially since some lucky participant will win a $1000 prize and another will win a free registration to next year’s conference.

I hope these tips help you get the most out of your APMP Bid & Proposal Con experience. See you in Dallas!

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The Proposal Whisperer (Or: My Co-Presenter is a Dog!)

5/10/2012

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Posted by BJ
At the upcoming APMP Bid & Proposal Con 2012, to be held in Dallas May 22nd-25th, I’ll present several sessions. One of the sessions I’ll present is, “The Proposal Whisperer – Training Sales and Subject Matter Experts and Rehabilitating Proposal Professionals”. This session is an encore presentation of a session I presented at the APMP Noreasters’ annual Symposium, where it was one of the most well attended, entertaining and talked presentations at that conference. Part of the reason for that was my co-presenter was my dog Jack, whom I’ve mentioned in several previous posts, and he’ll be my co-presenter for the session in Dallas as well.

During this session I present the concepts and techniques I use when training and working with Jack. Concepts like respecting attention spans, playing to strengths, positive reinforcement and understanding motivators. Jack and I will demonstrate how we put these concepts into practice as he and I go through the many commands and tricks he understands and performs. We’ll even demonstrate how we learn a new command together and teach the participants how then can teach their own dog, or perhaps a co-worker, a trick or two.

Jack and I hope to see you in Dallas and that if you do attend the conference you’ll join us for our session. Woof!

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APMP accreditation recognized as contributing to team development

12/13/2011

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Posted by BJ
One of our readers, Melissa D, a co-chair of the New York Metro Chapter of APMP, recently received a commendation from her company for her work in developing the proposal support team which she manages and of which she is also a key member.

In an article published by the company, Melissa highlighted the role accreditation has played in the development of her company’s proposal group. She commented, “Just as an accountant should have a CPA and a lawyer needs to pass the Bar, our proposal professionals should be accredited and have the chance to participate in learning and development programs.”

In the article, Melissa also offers her views on ways to develop your team (and echoes many of the things Jon and I have stated and written about here in the blog). Here’s what Melissa advises:

Recognize that each individual is different – with different skill sets, needs and interests.
Understand the expectations for your group and consider ways you can coach and mentor.
Join professional organizations (such as APMP) to stay abreast of best practices for your group or industry.
Seek out training opportunities
Don’t get too comfortable – There’s always something to learn!

Congratulations to Melissa on this prestigious award, on her promoting APMP accreditation and her obviously ‘getting it’ when it comes to the profession of proposals.

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Are you paid enough?

12/9/2011

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Posted by Jon
Interested in knowing how your remuneration compares to that of fellow proposal staff? I thought you might be!

APMP’s 2011/12 Global Salary Survey has just been unveiled. You can complete it anonymously here. The survey assesses eight key salary drivers and the associated compensation structure:

Industry

Region

Gender

Age

Education

Job Function

Management Responsibility

Experience

The deadline for participating is 23 December: do pop over to the survey site and join in! I’ve just filled it in myself, and it only took about three minutes.

If you choose to provide your email address, you’ll receive a report showing the key findings once the survey results have been analysed – probably around the end of January. If it shows you’re underpaid, what better way to support your claim for a pay rise. And if it shows you’re overpaid – well, let’s just hope your boss hasn’t participated too!!

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APMP accreditation 2.0

10/17/2011

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Posted by Jon
There’s some good news in the offing for those interested in APMP accreditation, as a refresh of the certification scheme is about to take place. We’re particularly pleased to see this: we recognise the strengths of the existing scheme and the hard work that’s gone into making it the definitive qualification for bid and proposal staff worldwide. Yet the syllabus and testing process as they stand feel increasingly creaky – very much a “version 1” – and we’ve been lobbying for some time for it to be revised. It’s a tribute to Rick Harris, APMP’s new executive director, that change is finally on the way so soon after he’s taken up office.

Most people recognise that the current standards are too oriented to larger proposal projects – a bias perhaps reflecting APMP’s heritage in the US federal government and defense markets. The next generation of the competencies has to reflect the skills needed to run proposals successfully in other sectors – such as the commercial and healthcare markets – and around the world.

“Pink teams” reviewing “wall-mounted storyboards”? ‘Capture’ management? Bid budgets for each deal? A requirement at Practitioner level for experience on ‘complex’ bids? There are too many things that simply aren’t appropriate for a scheme that has to appeal to all proposal staff around the world. And there are gaps, too: there’s far too little on leading and motivating the proposal team – or, perhaps, on problem-solving. There’s nothing on the content development process – or on writing great content!

And even once the competencies have been refined, the way in which they’re tested needs real work. There are numerous questions at Foundation level that are ‘controversial’, to say the least. The “PPAQ” form at Practitioner is in dire need of an overhaul – a personal opinion that would tend to be validated by the relatively low number of people who’ve attained this second tier of accreditation. And the language used throughout needs to be less impenetrable, especially for candidates who are not native English speakers: put bluntly, the next iteration of the scheme needs to be far better written.

I’m very much looking forward to feeding in my views to whichever research organisation APMP selects to canvass opinion from proposal teams worldwide. After all, I think I’m right in saying that I’ve delivered APMP Foundation training in more countries around the world than anyone else – sixteen nations across four continents in the past eighteen months alone! I’m willing to providing whatever time it takes to comment in detail on the current competencies, questions or forms – and to contribute (as a member of the APMP steering committee for accreditation, and as an Approved Trainer) to the peer review of any new materials.

We’ll share anything here that we’re able to – including, if we can, anything we learn about how you can contribute your views to the research exercise. In the meantime, we’d welcome your comments on the changes that you’d like to see to the scheme, and we’ll make sure that your input’s drawn to the attention of the relevant folks.

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The Art of (Proposal) War

5/25/2011

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Posted by Jon
Next week sees the 22nd APMP annual conference, taking place in Denver. I’m particularly looking forward to the event, as it marks the tenth consecutive year at which I’ll have presented at the conference – a record for a presenter based outside the US, I would strongly suspect.

This year’s theme, “The Art of Winning”, takes its inspiration from Sun Tzu’s famous book on military tactics, “The Art of War”, written some 2,500 years or so ago. Much as Machiavelli is my preferred evil source of reference for running proposals, it’s been great fun returning to Sun Tzu’s book having not read it for many years. I thought you might enjoy a few selected quotes, which seem particularly pertinent to those of us who write proposals.

1.       “Do not make war unless victory may be gained thereby; if there be prospect of victory, move; if there be no prospect, do not move.” (Qualify, folks!)
2.       “To be late, and hurrying to advance to meet the foe, is exhausting.” (Pre-proposal planning matters: let’s plan for success rather than merely responding to RFPs)
3.       “These things must be known by the leader: to know them is to conquer; to know them not is to be defeated.” (How clear are you with your sales teams on the information they need to dig out before you start work on a proposal?)
4.       “The army that conquers makes certain of victory, and then seeks battle. The army destined to defeat, fights trusting that chance may bring success to its arms.” (What a fabulous endorsement of the need to work out your proposal strategy before you start to write)
5.       “If a victory be gained by a certain stratagem, do not repeat it. Vary the stratagem according to the circumstances.” (We need a specific strategy for every opportunity – and simply cutting and pasting the Exec Summary from the last deal isn’t good enough!)
6.       “The wise man considers well both advantage and disadvantage. He sees a way out of adversity.” (That’s why the APMP accreditation syllabus puts so much emphasis on the Bidders’ Comparison Matrix)
7.       “In general, the procedure of war is: the Leader, having received orders from his lord, assembles the armies.” (Hey, we’re working for the sales organisation, right - supporting them as they seek to win business. To an extent, we need to know our place).
8.       “As a rule, the soldiers prefer high ground to low. They prefer sunny places to those the sun does not reach.” (Yep, motivating the team’s pretty important)
9.       “Universal courage and unity depend on good management.” (Ever seen a dysfunctional proposal team, with everyone pulling in opposite directions…?!)
10.   “We create a situation which promises victory; but as the moment and method cannot be fixed beforehand, the plan must be modified according to the circumstances.” (How relevant to the ever-changing world of managing proposals)
11.   “If victory be certain from the military standpoint, fight, even if the lord forbid. If defeat be certain from the military standpoint, do not fight, even though the lord commands it.” (A controversial one, this – does it encourage rogue bidding? Not necessarily one I’d want to share with salespeople, but an interesting insight into their mindset!)
12.   “As has been said: “Know thyself; know the enemy; fear not for victory.” (That’s proposal strategy in a nutshell!)
13.   “To fight and conquer one hundred times is not the perfection of attainment, for the supreme art is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” (Hey, if we can avoid getting into a competitive tendering process in the first place – writing pro-active proposals, especially seeking to renew existing contracts, then so much the better)
14.   “He who does not employ a guide, cannot gain advantage from the ground.” (Training for all participants; coaching; mentoring – all key to success)

It promises to be a great conference: if you’re lucky enough to be attending, do come and say hi!

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APMP: a new Executive Director

11/12/2010

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Posted by Jon
Many of you will have read the news last month that David Winton, Executive Director of APMP, has taken the decision to step down from the post at the end of this year. As the official announcement from APMP stated:

David has been actively involved with APMP for the past 20 years, and has served as our Executive Director for the past 18 years. He has worked tirelessly to grow our membership and to increase recognition for our profession. Under his tenure, APMP has grown to more than 3,800 members in 68 countries, and more than half of the membership has achieved accreditation. He has successfully coordinated and co-chaired 18 annual international conferences, and many chapter events and symposia.

On a personal note, I’ll be extremely sorry to see David leave; he’s someone I admire and respect greatly. He’s offered marvellous support to me since I first met him nearly ten years ago – being wonderfully helpful to the UKAPMP chapter in its early days and since, and being incredibly helpful regarding the conferences at which we’ve presented and exhibited over the years.

The search is now on for a new Executive Director for APMP (and anyone interested should contact Kirste Webb). Whilst policy for the association is set largely by its elected officers, the Executive Director inevitably has a huge impact on APMP’s direction. Here are my personal thoughts on some of the priorities for the new post holder (and the Association more generally) in the coming years – building, of course, on much excellent work that’s already underway:

1. Grow membership. 3,800 is an impressive figure – but still represents merely a fraction of the bid / proposal community in any of the countries where we have chapters or members. Let’s set an aggressive, challenging, step-change target – say, to at least double it (or to 10,000) within four years – and build a clear plan to get there.

2. Grow internationally. March 2011 marks the tenth anniversary of the APMP’s first international branch. Nearly a decade on, the association’s roots have spread, with chapters in several other countries. Yet many of these international groups are still relatively young, and relatively small. I’d like to see real focus from APMP on growing these more rapidly – with strong financial investment if needs be. We also urgently need more realistic membership rates in countries where the cost of living is so much lower than in the US / western Europe, if we’re not to inhibit growth.

3. Run a non-US conference. Why don’t we decide that APMP’s main worldwide conference in, say, 2014 will be one of the autumn events held outside the US – e.g. an expanded version of the excellent event that takes place every year in the UK? The May/June summer event could still take place that year – but would be classed simply as the US national gathering for a year. I think that’d give a very powerful message about the association’s worldwide reach. (And let’s run the conference in, say, South Africa or India before the end of the decade, too).

4. Commercial focus. Clearly, APMP’s legacy is in the government / defense space – and I respect and value the pioneering work in those areas, which have largely shaped the way we view our profession today. But so many proposal teams work in such different environments – with response times measured in days and weeks, rather than months or years – that APMP needs to come to terms more fully with the commercial world, with approaches in this arena seen as equally valid as those in the traditional areas of APMP’s strengths. More research focused specifically onto this area may also help.

5. “Accreditation, mark 2”. The accreditation scheme has been one of APMP’s greatest success stories in recent years. Yet the current model draws on benchmarking data from a study nearly ten years old – at a point where the Association was largely US and government / defense oriented. That means that the competency definitions are skewed (and irrelevant for many who wish to become accredited) – whilst some of the syllabus feels increasingly dated. The competencies and questions urgently need updating; there needs to be a vendor-independent study guide (rather than a proprietary textbook, no matter how good that is); we need an exam in languages other than English. And the investment needed to make that needs to be generated and made available – surely not infeasible, given the revenues and memberships that accreditation has generated. Moreover, far too few members have reached the higher levels of accreditation (Practitioner & Professional) – progress in this area needs to be accelerated.

6. Financial openness. I’d like to see the Association’s financial accounts and plans published openly every year for all to review, along with a review of central spend versus monies invested back into local chapters. It’s tough for a not-for-profit organisation to balance financial robustness with the investments that we’d all like to see; letting members understand the finances can only help.

7. Exploit the website. How many members regularly access the www.apmp.org site, or really make use of the wealth of wonderful information in the APMP “Body of Knowledge”? I genuinely believe that there’s far more potential for the APMP website to become the focal point for proposal professionals – the daily “must visit” site for all members over their morning cup of coffee.

8. Focus on proposals. I know I’m fighting an unpopular cause here, but we’re called the Association of Proposal Management Professionals. The clue’s in the name. By focussing more and more on “business development”, I believe we’ve diluted our message and lost a degree of focus.

I’m sure there’d be other things on my wishlist, if I kept writing, but that’s enough for now. And I know I write from the luxurious position of being someone who’s served as an officer of the association in the past, but whose commitments mean I can’t take on elected posts again myself at the moment – especially in such a US-oriented organisation. But I’d welcome readers’ thoughts on the future priorities for the association, to assist the new Executive Director, whoever that may turn out to be.

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BJ Lownie and Jon Williams are the co-founders of Strategic Proposals.

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