1962 – 1966    University of Toronto, B.A. Sc. (Engineering Physics)

1967 – 1968    Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, M.A.  (Computers & Statistics)

 

1966 – 1967                Newtonbrook Secondary School, North York, Ontario – taught mathematics

1968 - 1972                 Medcom Medical Computer Company, System Designer

1972 - 1974                 Manufacturers Life – System Analyst

1974 – 1984                Founding partner, Gellman Hayward & Partners, I.T. consultants

1984 – present             Michael Asner Consulting

1. Help governments, public sector agencies, and lawyers deal with RFP issues.

2. Provide RFP-related training

3. Publish Reference Material

4. Help private sector firms improve their proposal writing capabilities.

I provide consulting services, offer training and workshops, and publish articles all related to proposal writing and how to sell to governments. More
information about my activities in these areas can be found at my web site dealing with Proposal Evaluation: Getting inside the Evaluator's Head: http://www.fedmarket.com/proposalCentral/proposal_evaluation.shtml
 

GIS- T (Geospatial Information Systems for Transportation) Symposium (Houston, TX) speech on RFP problems

CAUBO (Canadian Association of University Business Officers) (Winnipeg, Manitoba) speech on major trends in procurement

Caribbean Institute of Public Procurement (Trinidad)  is a recently formed to promote procurement reform throughout the Caribbean region. Two-day workshop on Best RFP Practices and Trends in Public Procurement.

 

County of Santa Clara, CA – I completed a variety of assignments over a 12 month period including: a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Procurement Dept., a review of all current RFPs to ensure compliance with best practices, acting as a Fairness Officer on two major projects, acting as the Procurement Officer on a major project to select Business Process Management software (including negotiating the contract).

 

Wolf, Bock Schorr and Solis-Cohen, LLP, a Philadelphia law firm. I assisted Counsel in the preparation of its case protesting a procurement award made by the State of New Jersey.

 

Workers Compensation Board, Northwest Territories, Canada. A review of two major RFPs for compliance with best practices prior to their release.

 

Capital Health Authority, Edmonton, Canada. I performed a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Procurement Dept.

 

San Diego County Airport Authority, San Diego, CA. I assisted with the revision of their Policy & Procedure Manual for the Procurement Dept.

 

California Association of Public Procurement Officials – Workshop on Major RFP Problems and their Simple Solutions

GTC (Government Technology) East Conference – Workshop on Best RFP Practices

NIGP Conference, Tallahassee, FL – Keynote Speech on Moving Away from Scandal-Driven Procurement Reform

 

 

Orange County Sanitation District – Fairness Officer (This is Project #1 described elsewhere in this proposal.)

 

New Mexico Public Purchasing Association – Speech: Ten Best Web Sites for RFP Information

Rocky Mountain Government Purchasers Association – Workshop on Best RFP Practices from More than Sixty Jurisdictions

Community Futures Development Corp. (Kelowna, BC) – Two workshops (i) Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs; (ii) Creating Winning Proposals

 

 

San Diego Municipal Airport Authority – review of procedures

Western Washington University – assistance in developing an RFP template and related procedures

 

NIGP – New York Chapter - Workshop: Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

PMAC – Amherst, N.S. - Workshop: Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

NIGP – Virginia - Workshop: Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

Peel Region/City of Brampton - Workshop: Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

 

 

Justice Served, CA – assistance in developing an RFP for a justice system

Government of Nunavut – assistance in establishing procurement policies focusing on RFPs and training of staff. (Over a 10 month period, I visited 6 communities within Nunavut.)

 

Government of the Northwest Territories. I completed several projects during 2003 including an audit of ……. Concerning its practices for monitoring and controlling RFPs, and a review of a supplier complaint for the Minister. This is Project #2 described elsewhere in this proposal.

 

City of Philadelphia - Workshop: Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

NIGP Webcast to 200 members on Major RFP problems and their prevention

PMAC – Toronto - Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

NIGP – DC Chapter - Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

NIGP – Austin Chapter - Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

NIGP – Regina, SK Chapter - Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

City of Bellingham – Workshop on Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

NIGP Conference in Portland, OR – spoke about Major RFP Problems and their Prevention

National Association of Educational Buyers Conference in Las Vegas - spoke about Major RFP Problems and their Prevention

 

 

Government of Nunavut – assistance in establishing procurement policies focusing on RFPs and training of staff. (Over a 10 month period, I visited 6 communities within Nunavut.)

NIGP – Edmonton, AB Chapter - Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

Ontario Public Buyers Association Conference in Niagara Falls – Spoke about Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

 

 

Between 1996 – 2001, I was retained by MERX to identify value-added services for both the Buyers, who submitted procurement opportunities, and their 35000 subscribers, primarily vendors wanting to sell to government in Canada. This work took approximately 25% of my time and included the following tasks:

 

(i)                  Reviewing electronic tendering systems available in other jurisdictions and recommending additional functionality and value-added services;

(ii)                Discussions with senior procurement executives in public agencies and executives in private sector firms to determine their requirements;

(iii)               Developing a proposal for providing training via the web. Creating a prototype to demonstrate the product to MERX executives; identifying courses of interest to MERX agencies and subscribers;

(iv)              Developing proposals for providing research and reference services for public sector agencies and governments;

(v)                Identifying marketing channels for MERX in the U.S.

(vi)              Planning and development of MERX newsletter for buyers describing latest developments in best practices in public procurement in Canada

 

Government Technology Conferences in Austin, TX and Albany, NY. Spoke about RFP issues.

Government of the Northwest Territories – Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

 

Collaborated with Dr. Khi Thai, Government Studies, Florida Atlantic University in developing the new book about RFPs and best practices for NIGP to use in accrediting members as part of their new curriculum initiative.

 

Merx (see 2001)

 

Government of the Northwest Territories. I was hired to conduct a review of the procurement function. More specifically, to identify improvements in the current policies and practices which will result in a more efficient and more effective procurement function. As part of this project, I reviewed procurement files, interviewed senior executives. The project resulted in a report which was discussed in the Legislature. Since my report, I have provided advice and assistance to management concerning implementation of the recommendations. This project is background for Project #2 provided in this proposal.

Government Technology Conference in Albany, NY - Workshop on Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

Rocky Mountain Government Purchasers Association – Workshop: Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

NIGP Workshops for Oklahoma Chapter and Chicago Chapter on Bullet-Proofing Your RFPs

MERX (see 2001)

Yukon Housing Corp. – assisted in the development of an RFP for new software

 

Purchasing Management Association of Canada – workshop on best RFP practices

Canadian Association of Management Consultants, Ottawa – workshop on Selling to Government

Florida Association of Public Procurement Officers – speech at their annual conference on issues facing public procurement

 

Merx (see 2001)

Purchasing Management Association of Canada – workshops on best RFP practices for chapters in Toronto, Ottawa, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

Atlantic Public Procurement Association – speech at their annual meeting on Changes in RFP practices

Workers Compensation Board BC. I was hired to assist the project team formed to select and implement new financial software. Tasks included Familiarize with documentation, interview project team, recommend procurements strategy, run project rfp meetings, preparation of draft rfp including t&c, review of outstanding issues, complete draft rfp and recommendations to management

MERX (see 2001)

1996 BC Ministry of Transport, Photo Radar Project. Procurement Officer I was hired to assist the project team formed to select and implement new photo radar system. Tasks included Familiarize with documentation, interview project team, recommend procurements strategy, run project RFP meetings, preparation of draft RFP including construction of a draft contract, review of outstanding issues, preliminary negotiation of contract with two leading vendors.

1996 BC Motor Vehicles Branch Revised licensing project… Procurement Officer. I was hired to assist the project team formed to select and implement new software for modifying the way drivers’ licenses were issued. Tasks included initial familiarization  with documentation, interview project team, recommend procurement  strategy, run project RFP meetings, preparation of draft RFP, preparation of Evaluators Guide, running the evaluation meetings, and facilitating consensus of the project team.

Between 1984 and 1997, I offered similar services related to RFPs as those described above. I gave workshops in both the U.S. and Canada. I spoke at conferences. I wrote and published reference texts and provided consulting advice and assistance. During the period 1984 through 1997, some of my clients included:

 

Management Board of Cabinet, Ontario – development of procurement training manual

Labatt Breweries – development of RFP for new financial software

Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario – development of an RFP for a mineral classification system.

 

 

I have been writing and publishing books and articles since 1980. I have written a column for Government Reseller during the 1990s and for Summit magazine from 1998-2003. Most of my articles and books have dealt with public procurement and RFPs. Listed below are the books that I’ve published (excluding the two books identified in section 3 above:

 

(i)                  Up Your Computer, 1984, ISBN: 0-9691468-0-9.

(ii)                The Asner Directory of Software for Associations and Non-Profits, 1986, ISBN: 0-9691468-1-7.

(iii)               The M.I.S. Request For Proposal: Examples from Canada’s Best Run Companies, 1990, ISBN: 0-9691468-2-5.

(iv)              How To Create an Effective M.I.S. Request for Proposals, 1990, ISBN: 0-9691468-3-3.

(v)                How To Create a Winning Proposal, 1990, ISBN: 0-9691468-4-1.

(vi)              BC Purchasing Commission: The Request for Proposal Process, 1993, ISBN: 0-9691468-5-X.

(vii)             Computerized Maintenance Management Systems, 1994, ISBN: 0-9691468-6-8.

(viii)           Request For Proposal Handbook, 1995, ISBN: 1-890299-006.

(ix)              Selling to Government, 1997, ISBN: 1-896129-00-5.

(x)                Handling Supplier Complaints and Protests, 1997, ISBN: 1-890299-08-01.

(xi)              How to Evaluate Information Technology Proposals, 1998, ISBN: 1-896129-08-0.

(xii)             Second Edition, Handling Supplier Complaints and Protests, 1999, ISBN: 1-896129-10-2.

(xiii)           Second Edition, Request For Proposal Handbook, 2000, ISBN: 0-07-136027-1.

(xiv)           An Elected Officials Guide to Public Procurement in Canada, 2004, ISBN: 1-896129-14-5.