US Department of State SMALL BUSINESS *Virtual* Matchmaking 2020 Date: 8/20/20 Time: 12:30 PM - 4:30 PM (EDT) Registration Deadline: 8/15/20 11:59 PM (EDT) Fee: No Fee Point of Contact: Kellie Peterson (703) 277-7750 Program Format: Webinar Training Topics: A Virginia PTAC Organized or Sponsored event, Advanced Level, Government Contracting, Intermediate Level, Market Research and Business Development, Prime Vendor Program, Procurement Fair, Selling to Government, Subcontracting Description: US Department of State Subcontracting Summit 2020 Virtual Matchmaking with Small Businesses Before you participate, we recommend watching a Preparing for a Matchmaker webinar from Virginia PTAC statewide director Lisa Wood: https://virginiaptac.ecenterdirect.com/events/2710 12:30 – 4:30 PM 15 minute Virtual Matchmaking Meetings (see list of participating large business below) *5 minute break between each matchmaking session 4:30 PM Conclusion of Events *Breaks between each match appointment will faciliate a smoother transition from one meeting to the next to make sure everyone is able to utilize their full matchmaking time alloted. Note that the Eventdex system appears to cut the 15 minute meetings a few second short so try to wrap up your comments a little early to be safe. Join OSDBU Staff and Large Prime contractors of the US Department of State in a series of one-on-one virtual matchmaking sessions facilitated by Virginia PTAC through our Eventdex matchmaking platform. Individual ten-minute meetings will be conducted via Twilio and the links/access will be provided for all confirmed matches prior to the event. Small Business participants will be limited in the number of matchmaking sessions based upon the total number of large business registrants. This is a semi-open matchmaking event to optimize small/large business matches. A list of participating large primes/agencies confirmed to be participating will be made available in mid-July. Priority date to register for afternoon matchmaking (have your company profile visible to large business) is July 31, 2020 Participating large primes/agencies confirmed: click on event title if list isn't visible and review instructions section below Instructions: Registration : https://eventdex.force.com/BLN_RegistrationDym?id=a190H000008TooBQAS Participating large primes/agencies confirmed for matchmaking: TBD Note: limit 2 matchmaking participants for each small business to allow all small businesses to participate Small business vendors should be registered to attend AND complete their company profiles in the Eventdex system so large businesses can begin to fill their appointment slots on August 3, 2020. The system works best if large business and small business vendors have a clear picture of products/services sought or offered so completing profile information after registration is essential. Even if small business vendors don't make the 7/31 priority deadline, they can still register to obtain an appointment after this date. Appointment selection opens on August 10th to all small business vendors to select appointments not yet filled. Additional details and instructions on this process will be provided to registrants via email so please add
[email protected] and
[email protected] to your safe sender lists. All new registrations stop on August 15th at midnight and new appointment bookings will cut off at 10AM on August 19th. By participating in matchmaking you agree to utilize 3rd party platform (Eventdex) which requires a separate login to make and manage your afternoon match schedule (additional instructions will be provided to registrants). Virtual one-on-one matchmaking will occur using a tie in via Twilio in the Chrome browser (or Apple / Android Eventdex app) and you will be provided the meeting links by Eventdex. No software downloads required but YOU MUST BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE TO OBTAIN MEETINGS and we recommend having a secondary device available on the date of the event in case you encounter any problems. In preparation, please review the “Preparing for a Matchmaker” webinar recording from Virginia PTAC statewide director Lisa Wood: https://virginiaptac.ecenterdirect.com/events/2710 and the “Homework” articles on our Blog: https://virginiaptac.org/tag/homework/ so you can correctly position yourself for the best matchmaking experience possible.