WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio - Defense Acquisition University’s “Contracting Conversations” podcast series is celebrating its first year on the air.
Hosts Jim Valley and Scott Williams lead the near-weekly podcast, which features special guests from the contracting field and covers all contracting-related certification courses, major courses and credentials.
Since its debut in early 2022, the series has featured 45 prominent guests including course and credential designers and other contracting experts. The podcast team has released more than 50 recordings on YouTube, DAU Media and Apple Podcast, earning more than 4,000 combined views in the last five months alone.
“Contracting Conversations” began as an effort to provide contracting professionals, with the latest information about the contracting functional area including updates to Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act certification requirements. The conversations are also an opportunity to spotlight new credentials and courses.
“We wanted to create a way for the workforce to get informed about the updated certification framework and the new contracting construct that would go beyond our initial webcasts on the topic,” Valley said. “We focused on having a personal conversation with the people at DAU who are shaping the new curriculum.”
To learn more about the new contracting curriculum, watch some of our “must-see” episodes:
About the hosts
J. Scott Williams has 38 years of contracting experience and was appointed contracting department chair at DAU’s Midwest Region in December 2008. Scott entered civil service in 2005 after retiring from active duty in the United States Air Force.
Jim Valley has 30 years of contracting experience, from base level to logistics to major weapon systems. Since April 2008, Valley has been the intermediate contracting department chair for the Midwest Region and is responsible for delivering the CON certification courses.
Jim and Scott thank the many hands involved in the production of “Contracting Conversations,” including the DAU Midwest Region leadership team, especially Associate Dean Carl Hayden, who has championed the project from the beginning and our producer, Berni Crumb.
The team is currently seeking input from professionals in the contracting field on topics that are most valuable to them. They plan to keep recording, featuring great guests from inside and outside DAU and talking about courses and credentials. The podcast team also expects to expand into more contract-centric topic areas and even host some live events in the coming year. To send your ideas, contact either Valley at james.valley@dau.edu or Williams at joseph.williams@dau.edu.
Quick links:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dau-contractingconversatio9271
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/contracting-conversations/id1621567225
DAU Media: https://media.dau.edu/channel/Contracting+Conversations/231324903