Contracting Conversations

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim have the pleasure of talking with Christina Jalbert, Learning Asset Manager for CON 7160, the Facilities Capital Cost of Money (FCCOM) On-Line-Training (OLT) Course.  Christina goes into a review on how the course is structured, who the course is targeted for, and how students are evaluated.  Be sure to check out our other Podca...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, we explore multiple incentives which can be a very useful tool on a variety of contracts. Jim and Scott continue their conversation concerning incentive contracts with Dave Lewis, the Learning Asset Manager for CON 7640 - Multiple Incentive Contracts. He explains how these contracts work, at a high level, when to use, and who the target audience i...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim have the pleasure of talking with Erin Moore, the Learning Asset Manager for CON 7100, the Materials and Services On-Line-Training (OLT) Cours.  Erin goes into a very thorough review on how the course is structured, who the course is targeted for, and how students are evaluated.  Be sure to check out our other podcasts with Erin...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim have the pleasure of talking with Erin Moore, the Learning Asset Manager for CON 7110, the Direct Labor On-Line-Training (OLT) Course.  Erin goes into a very thorough review on how the course is structured, who the course is targeted for, and how students are evaluated.  The course will cover subjects, such as how to evalua...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim have the pleasure of talking with Erin Moore, the Learning Asset Manager for CON 7140V, the Advanced Cost Modeling Course.  Erin goes into a very thorough on how the course is structured, who the course is targeted for, and how students are evaluated.  Before you take this course, she recommends, if you aren't comfortable with M...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim celebrate their 100th episode with this special podcast on where they have been and where they are going.  They will take you on a tour of the DAU.EDU site, where the podcast resides, and what playlists are available. Then they will discuss the future of the podcast, such as recording on-site at NCMA's NEXUS Conference (co-hosted wit...

Contracting Conversations: NEXUS - - Connected Acquisition Teams Get It Right the First Time! DAU and the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) are partnering to host Nexus March 3-6, 2024. This event unites government and industry acquisition teams and provides a unique platform for cross-functional collaboration to tackle pressing issues in federal procurement, such as supply chai...

Contracting Conversations: NEXUS - - Connected Acquisition Teams Get It Right the First Time! DAU and the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) are partnering to host Nexus March 3-6, 2024. This event unites government and industry acquisition teams and provides a unique platform for cross-functional collaboration to tackle pressing issues in federal procurement, such as supply chai...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim chat with Ray Ward, the Learning Director for CCON 025 - Contracting for Services Credential.  Ray talks about what the credential consists of, the sequence taken, capstone assessment, target audience and how to enroll.  Please listen in if you want to know what to expect and if it is the right credential for you. I-Catalog for...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim chat with Cindy Baker, the Learning Asset Manager for CCON 024, Operational Contracting Credential.  She tells us what it is all about, how many assets, the capstone assessment, definition of operation contracting, the target audience, and the possibility of a operation contracting workshop, with a live instructor, in the future...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, it's Part 5 of our series, 'Contracting in the Age of AI - Responsible AI - The Pitfalls and Risks of AI, Rhonda Maus, Professor of Software Engineering, Agile Coach, and DAU's lead for AI Research, continues the series by talking about risk mitigation, safety related incidents in early AI technology (trust issues), importance of continuous update...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, it's Part 4 of our series, 'Contracting in the Age of AI - Responsible AI - "This is the Way!", Rhonda Maus, Professor of Software Engineering, Agile Coach, and DAU's lead for AI Research, goes more in-depth into Responsible AI (RAI), what is RAI, trusting our systems (how do we keep control?), the beauty of AI (what about risk?), why does AI make...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, we present Part 3 of our series, 'Contracting in the AGE of AI - What is going on in DoD with AI?', Rhonda Maus, Professor of Software Engineering, Agile Coach, and DAU's lead for AI Research, talks about the adoption of AI mandates, how DoD is organizing itself, how we define the workforce roles, and Responsible AI (RAI) and what it means for DoD...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations,  Chris Merkel sat down with Jim and Scott to discuss CBFM 002, Industry Financial Business Acumen Credential.  T he credential provides DoD Acquisition professionals a deeper understanding of how Industry supports DoD. This credential will address the operational, financial, and decision-making aspects of doing business with DoD where th...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Prof Chris Merkel joins Jim and Scott to discuss BFM 2750V, Industry Financial Business Acumen. Chris shares the class subjects such as how Industry asses their priorities leading to how that influences their business decisions.  The course then addresses, from a government perspective, how knowing this process can help us reach better acquisition...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, it's Part 2 of our series, 'Contracting in the AGE of AI - So what is AI...Really?', Rhonda Maus, Professor of Software Engineering, Agile Coach, and DAU's lead for AI Research, talks about Applied versus Fundamental AI, types of AI software, AI Domains, the three DoD AI definitions, how AI can be applied to the contracting process, and will AI re...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, are you curious about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it affects your work as a contracting professional? If so, you will want to tune in to the new series, Contracting in the Age of AI, where we will dive into the fascinating world of AI with our software expert, Rhonda Maus, Professor of Software Engineering, Agile Coach, and DAU's lead for AI r...

Welcome to Contracting Conversations, the podcast that brings you the latest insights and best practices for the contracting workforce. I’m Scott, and I’m Jim, and we are your hosts for this channel. We started this podcast 18 months ago, and since then we have learned a lot from our guests, our listeners, and our own experiences. That’s why we decided to update our introduction and let you know w...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, we explore incentives which have been out of favor in the recent past but can be a part of a contracting officer's toolbox - Award Fee and Award Term Contract.  Jim and Scott continue their conversation concerning incentive contracts with Dave Lewis with Dave Lewis, the Learning Asset Manager for CON 7630 - Award Fee and Award Term Contracts....

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, we explore the complex world of Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee (CPIF) contracts with Dave Lewis, the Learning Asset Manager for CON 7620. He explains what CPIF contracts are, how to structure them, when to use, comparison between CPIF and FPIF, Range of Incentive Effectiveness (RIE), and what is the target audience. He also shares some insights from the CPIF...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim have the pleasure with speaking with Dave Lewis, the Learning Asset Manager for CON 7610, Fixed-Price Incentive (Firm-Target) (FPIF) Contracts Course.  We continue our conversation with Dave Lewis on his incentive contract courses - this one is on FPIP contracts, where he talks about what this course focuses on, such as limitations o...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim have the pleasure with speaking with Dave Lewis, the Learning Asset Manager for CON 7600, Introduction to Incentive Contracting Course.  Incentive Contracting is Dave's passion in contracting, and this course, along with the other Incentive Contracting courses (7610/7620/7630/7640), are two years in the making.  Dave t...

In this segment of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott talk with Judy Whalen, DAU's Learning Asset Manager for CON 7020, Overhead Should Cost Review Course.  You will learn what the course is all about, what is covered, and how students are assessed. These links are recommended for further information:  CON 7020:   https://icatalog.dau.edu/onlinecatalog/cour...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott talk with Judy Whalen, DAU's Learning Asset Manager for CON 7310V - the Cost Analysis Course.  You will learn what the course is all about, what is covered, and how it is structured (including all about the new length and why).  If you need to do Cost Analysis for your negotiations or modifications, this course ma...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott talk with Judy Whalen, DAU's Learning Asset Manager for CON 7300V - the Price Analysis Course.  You will learn what the course is all about, what is covered, and how it is structured - the course length is changed from 5 to 8 days to allow for more time for students to work on class exercises.  A vast majority of...