Channel 43 in Abington Township

THE FIRST  SET OF BID SPECS  IS NOW HISTORY
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE  FIRST SET BID SPECS THEMSELVES - all 25 pages 

Here is a review of some of the details from the first set with our opinion of  how they may be used to guide the building of the second set, particularly with an eye toward eliminating things that drive up the cost and things that eliminate potential bidders unnecessarily : 

THESE ITEMS COULD BE CONSIDERED  FAIRLY STANDARD
Hold Harmless Agreement
Liability Ins
Non-Collusion Affadavit
Mandatory site visit after contract to discuss the details three weeks prior
Seamless editing
Submission of 2 products to reflect quality of the work
Bid surety
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WHAT IS THE ADDITIONAL COST ?

Errors & Omissions - ( while often requested, these are unnecessary for a task of this size & scope )
Running a 1 min introduction on every tape with name date and length ( a  scrolling bulletin point would work and save  re-editing or expensive equipment ) 
24 hours notice for some of the meetings ( make this a separate "contract" so as not to drive up the cost of the meetings - ie bid with and without it )
Own or posses adequeate equipment  (  add or  have access to .....even equip you own can break down. why should you regulate how a professional works )
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ADDITIONALLY:

Be sure there is a start or stop date
Specify guarantee of payment if Township changes the date or for weather or other conditions
No subcontractors allowed ( make provions for emergencies: ie illness, death in family etc )
Mandatory meeting before even winning contract  ( only eliminates good potential candidates)
A financial statement listing all assets & liabilities in 06 ( why?  unnecessary )
A requirement to post monies at the time of bid  (why?  unnecessary )
15 hr delivery of "seamless" product with intro & "branding" of each frame & speakers' names  ( too short a time - could at least add a clause for exceptions for problems that might come up )
Experience Record with 5 similar projects in past 18 months (why?  unnecessary  if you have asked for samples & references..?)
A 5 year history of work & what was charged for each ( why?  unnecessary.samples from last 5 years is fine)
Listing all the equipment to be used  (why?  unnecessary )
Samples submitted need to be similar projects and done in last 18 months ( why?  unnecessary - you are hiring a professional )
Notify manager of all conflicts errors or discrepancies in bid documents 10 days before opening
( they may not be discovered until later)
3 years experience for all camera operators (why?  unnecessary If he can obtain a professional product, let the videographer decide who he hires.)
Mandatory " 20 min video" 2 weeks prior to start ( why?  unnecessary ) You've hired a professional. Just let them get to work. If the first meeting has a problem they still owe you one . You can apply the same cost to a finished product if all goes well )
Requirement to make a "back-up tape " that is turned over immediately ( If editing is to be done, and a back up tape was to resolve any editing problems to make it seamless then ANOTHER back up is needed. Then you need to specify 2 back ups. )
Branding on every frame with the Township seal - (why?  unnecessary )
15 minutes to break down all equipment -  ( 30 - 40 min was determined to be more reasonable )
Correctly spelled names for each speaker -(why?  unnecessary - not being done now. )
Stipulations about how many cameras could have zoom control (why?  unnecessary )
Similar product excludes materials any produced for "home video enjoyment:"- ( (why?  unnecessary- it is the quality you are judging  )
At least 2 monitors wired & functioning in the room ( these would only serve to distract & are needless expense)
Power backups that in event of total power loss would ensure no loss of signal ((why?  unnecessary if no power & dark room the meeting would be postponed )
Not more than one tripod primary camera  ((why?  unnecessary especially with 2 back ups - one to turn over & one to fix errors  )
Not more than one non-zoom controlled primary camera (why?  unnecessary . Let the professional provide the product)

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Abington Township revamped the entire Township website at the end of 2015 and broke all the links to the information. In 2017, under Richard Manfredi, someone inexperienced was assigned to redo the entire website again. The public was not asked what problems they would like to see fixed. Their new plan was not well thought out, so everything was very hard to find and there were giant paragraphs you had to slog through in order to find the pertinent one or two lines that you needed. Or if you were lucky enough to even find the meetings and agenda page, there was (and still is) a whole page of nonsense on top, so you think you're on the wrong page. Zoom limks are burrid in a giant paragraph, so people can't find them to attend the meeting. They know about these  problems - but have just decided to ignore us.... for the whole of Richard Manfredi's time here (with Tom Hecker's consent).

 Now, in 2025, we are due to get a new Manager, and there are funds put aside to, once again, upgrade the Township website. We can only hope for a fresh chance at fixing some of these things, as our Township website is the best tool we have for communication and should be an easy, user friendly site for all.

We need volunteers willing to work together to help improve the Township site that everyone has to use,  to make it functional and accessible. 

 We will be repairing our broken links in this Abington Citizens site, too, and fixing some of our many, many typo's as much as is possible. (Yes, it's quite evident that, unlike the Township, WE don't have a paid staff of 275+ or a $93 million budget).

 So...please let us know if you find broken links or typos. Send us the URL and/or and the name of the page it is on, so we can correct it.
Thanks for the help.

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