I would like to hire a Programmer

SECTION C DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/AND WORK STATEMENT I. BACKGROUND "Explore, Learn, and Protect!" The Junior Ranger motto is recited by children around the country; each taking an oath of their own to protect parks, continue to learn about parks, and share their own ranger story with friends and family. The National Park Service (NPS) Junior Ranger program is an activity based program conducted in almost all parks, and some Junior Ranger programs are national. Many national parks offer young visitors the opportunity to join the National Park Service "family" as Junior Rangers. Interested youth complete a series of activities during a park visit, share their answers with a park ranger, and receive an official Junior Ranger patch, badge, or certificate. Junior Rangers are typically between the ages of 5 to 13, although people of all ages can participate. NPS also has a program called Every Kid in a Park that gives a free annual pass to every child in the United States that is a fourth grader, or age equivalent free-choice learner. This pass will give kids and their immediate family free access to hundreds of parks, lands, and waters for an entire year. National Park Service has a national digital Junior Ranger/kids presence, in the form of a kids webpage, found at [login to view URL] There is also a game-based and activity-based website called WebRangers, found at [login to view URL] WebRangers, despite still being based on Flash technology and therefore not available on many computers and mobile devices, is still used by a large amount of children of all ages on a daily basis, in classrooms and at home. It was a major success story in NPS digital efforts, but the Flash-based technology hampers its ability to be used on the devices that most children use today, and it may not need a direct replacement. Any suggested replacement shall be part of an overall digital strategy for Junior Rangers. II. PURPOSE The purpose of this contract is to create a strategy for the future of the digital Junior Ranger program and a strategy for the way that the digital program responds to, and intersects with, the physical Junior Ranger program. III. SCOPE OF WORK The contractor shall provide all services - including travel, labor, equipment, materials, and facilities - necessary to assess the current state of the digital Junior Ranger program and how it intersects with the physical Junior Ranger program. This assessment shall cover both national and park-specific Junior Ranger programs, and include holding discussions with both NPS stakeholders, and families and individuals who have or will use the Junior Ranger physical and digital programs. The contractor shall provide an Request for Proposal P17PS02056 Page 3 of 24 NPS Digital Junior Ranger Interpretive Plan based on the outcomes of this assessment of existing Junior Ranger programs. The contractor shall create written guidance and tools in the form of an NPS Digital Junior Ranger Implementation Strategy Plan that shall suggest approaches to branding, marketing, communication, standards and best practices, understanding the audience, NPS staff training, sustainability, current and future funding, fundraising by or with partners, staffing, infrastructure, and other needs. This plan shall be produced in a format that can be used by national, regional, and park NPS staff when planning and developing products for a Digital Junior Ranger program. The contractor shall propose digital products and services for the Junior Ranger Program, including websites, native iOS and Android apps, social media, and other technologies to be suggested by the contractor. The contractor shall provide initial nonworking design prototypes and service plans for these digital products. A. PROJECT MANAGEMENT The Project Manager shall oversee the base contract to ensure scheduling, coordination, oversight, and communication is effectively accomplished for all work produced under this contract. The Project Manager shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all matters relating to this contract. The Project Manager shall be the primary point of contact between the contractor and the Contracting Officer (CO)/Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for this contract. The Project Manager shall perform the following work: 1. Be available to take or respond to phone calls or email messages during normal business hours. Participates in periodic conference calls with COR to discuss project work, content, or other deliverables. 2. Prepare and submit written summaries of all project meetings and conference calls within five working days after the meeting/call. 3. Provide quality control to ensure that all elements of project work meet contract specifications. 4. Provide routine inspections of ongoing work. 5. Ensure accuracy of content through research and thorough reviews with COR as required. 6. Inform the COR of any issues that could affect work quality or schedule. Request for Proposal P17PS02056 Page 4 of 24 7. Ensure that all work that is not acceptable or compliant with specifications is corrected prior to review by the COR. 8. Track work progress to ensure the project is completed according to the schedule. Coordinate and confirm the dates for all submittals, meetings, shipments, and deliveries with the COR. 9. Coordinate the review and approval of all submittals with the COR; receive all reviewed submittals and ensure appropriate follow-thru and compliance. 10. Ensure that all work is completed and delivered according to schedule. In the event of problems or deficiencies, the Project Manager shall determine the nature of the problem and provide a proposal for resolution. Ensure that approved remedies or repairs are made in a satisfactory manner and within the time constraints of the schedule. 11. Compile, prepare, and forward a closeout package to the COR to include specified deliverables under this contract. B. CREATE A NPS DIGITAL JUNIOR RANGER INTERPRETIVE GUIDE The contractor shall interview target audience members, to assess what they need and want from an NPS Junior Ranger program. The contractor shall write a brief report of findings and recommendations about this assessment. The contractor shall then use the information gathered in that assessment to create the NPS Digital Junior Ranger Interpretive Guide, which shall: 1. Provide direction for management decisions for the servicewide Junior Ranger program. 2. Define what the program shall accomplish and how it shall be operated, over the period of the next 5 years. 3. Describe how the NPS Digital Junior Ranger Program will successfully implement the Junior Ranger motto, “Explore, Learn, Protect.” 4. Identify audience needs and ways that they would like to be engaged with the NPS through a digital Junior Ranger experience. 5. Propose the desired future NPS Digital Junior Ranger program by describing primary interpretive themes, informational topics, audiences, and the services and methods that will best enable those audiences to meaningfully explore park resources. At the national level, the Interpretive Guide shall focus on broad thematic Junior Ranger web-based activities, mobile applications, social media, audio visual, and other new technology suggested by the contractor. Request for Proposal P17PS02056 Page 5 of 24 At the individual park level, the Interpretive Guide shall focus on park-specific thematic Junior Ranger web-based activities, mobile applications, social media, audio visual, and other new technology suggested by the contractor. C. CREATE A NPS DIGITAL JUNIOR RANGER PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY REPORT The contractor shall work with the COR to collaborate with NPS staff and NPS stakeholders such as partners and other stakeholders identified by the COR to conduct a needs assessment of the existing Junior Ranger Program. Based on this assessment, the contractor shall create an NPS Digital Junior Ranger Program Implementation Strategy Report, which shall: 1. Document roles and responsibilities among NPS staff and stakeholders for advancing the Junior Ranger Program over the next five years. 2. Suggest approaches to internal marketing, communication, and training within the NPS. 3. Clarify branding of the NPS Junior Ranger Program, including suggesting any necessary changes to the logo and other elements of branding. 4. Identify and address issues of sustainability, infrastructure, staffing, funding, and other needs that must be fixed in order to implement the new NPS Digital Junior Ranger Program. 5. Identify opportunities to engage fundraising partners to sustain the program and digital products in the future. 6. Include informational resources to be used by the national, regional and park levels in NPS when planning and developing products for a digital Junior Ranger experience. 7. Identify the specific target audiences and how to address their needs. 8. Identify desired learner outcomes and how to measure success. 9. How to develop digital Junior Ranger experiences that meet standards and best practices for the NPS Digital Junior Ranger program for content, design, and experience. D. CREATE DESIGN PROTOTYPES AND INDIVIDUAL SERVICE PLANS The contractor shall propose digital interpretive products and services for the Junior Ranger Program, including national-level Junior Ranger web-based activities, mobile applications, social media, and other technologies to be suggested by the contractor. For each proposed product or service, the contractor shall create a one-or-two-page Individual Service Plan document which shall: 1. Describe the type of product or service, its locations, delivery methods, primary interpretive theme(s) or informational topic(s), and audience addressed. Request for Proposal P17PS02056 Page 6 of 24 2. Outline logistical and operational concerns for the service or product type. 3. Identify benchmarks for success and target metrics. 4. Indicate applicable design standards Each product or service proposed by the contractor shall also include design prototypes which shall: 1. Outline basic content and design ideas, and potential graphics. 2. Show schematic or prototype design illustrations and templates, and shall not include any code or working products. Request for Proposal P17PS02056 Page 7 of 24 SECTION D PACKAGING AND MARKING I. PACKAGING Preservation, packaging, and packing for all shipments or mailings of all required submittals shall be in accordance with good commercial practices. This shall include adequate packaging and marking to prevent deterioration and damage during shipment, handling, and storage and be adequate to ensure acceptance by common carrier and safe transportation at the most economical rates. The contractor shall avoid elaborate or excessive packaging. To the maximum extent practicable, the contractor shall use recycled content packaging and packing materials and avoid use of non-recyclable packaging and packing materials.