When this November 28 offer to bid was mentioned on the blog I thought, "Why not me" and I started working on a bid. "No solitation necessary" and a "deadline." I get on the email notification two weeks later that the deadline has changed. Did someone solicit a change? Time for more research. Another email deadline and bid change. Another email that the solicitation is cancelled. Who in their right mind would spend the time and money preparing a legitimate bid with the City that Works? Maybe the "good ol' boy" knows.

When this November 28 "offer to bid" was mentioned on the blog I thought, "Why not me" and I started working on a bid. "No solicitation necessary" and a "deadline." I got an email notification two weeks later that the deadline has changed. Did someone solicit a change? Time for more research... Another email deadline and bid change... Another email that the solicitation is cancelled. Who in their right mind would spend the time and money preparing a legitimate bid with the City that Works? Maybe the "good ol' boy" knows.

Maybe after BoJack and the Portland Tribune signed up, there was a little too much transparency in the Purchasing Department that Works?

Mister Tee,
That was good.
I think we should extend your use of "that Works" to every other city dysfunction.

I was in the tech business for over twenty years and had worked my share of government bids. My contacts tell me things haven’t changed much in the past few years.
Generally, there were only two ways to win a bid. One of them was submitting an ultra low price or money losing bid and hope. The other was the art of demand generation that required pre-selling to create demand for a particular product bundled with some unique features that most other competitors either could not provide or couldn’t figure out. Most bids were result of someone or some companies had created that demand and worked with the insiders to produce the bid specs. I rarely saw bids for tech products or services that the decision maker/enduser had not already worked with a vendor.
I have not read the keyboard bid. But my guess is the installation is the gotcha. I would be surprised if a vendor had not already done a survey and submitted an acceptable estimate on time and materials needed prior to the bid spec was prepared.