Rodger Manning, you probably think this post is about you #apmp

At the recent Bid & Proposal Con for the Association of Proposal Management Professionals, Dr. Rodger Manning of Bid Write gave a presentation on bid losses. Specifically, he told us of an analysis that he had conducted on the reasons for various bid losses at a particular company, Desire. Because we were benefiting from the knowledge gained from these losses (Manning's opening quote: "When you lose, don't lose the lesson"), Dr. Manning entitled his presentation "Reasons to Be Cheerful."

Some of you can already see where this is going, and why I'd write about this presentation in my music blog.

After briefly discussing some general reasons why proposals win, Dr. Manning began discussing eight of Desire's bid losses, and the specific reasons (according to the customers) why Desire lost each bid. The eight bid losses were identified by the following titles:

"Don't Stand So Close To Me"
"When Will I See You Again?"
"Return to Sender"
"We Used to Be Friends"
"Things Are Seldom What They Seem"
"Totally Wired"
"Another Brick in the Wall"
"Someday (I Will Understand)"

Frankly, the whole idea of basing a technical presentation on song titles is pretty silly. Who would do something like that?

P.S. Sadly, because last.fm has changed its rules, I can no longer play my own biometric/public safety-related playlist that I created for the Oracle OpenWorld Unconference in 2008. But maybe I can re-create some of this in Spotify.

1 The Police – Wrapped Around Your Finger 5:14
2 Billy Idol – Eyes Without a Face 4:09
3 Junior Murvin – Police and Thieves 3:58
4 Bob Marley & The Wailers – I Shot The Sheriff 7:14
5 Eminem – My Name Is 4:29
6 Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Welfare Mothers 3:49
7 spamtron – voter registration phone call 3:57
8 The Who – Who Are You 5:07
9 ABBA – Knowing Me, Knowing You 4:03
10 Arcadia – Election Day Loved track 4:29
11 Harry Chapin – Taxi 6:41
12 Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal 5:35
13 Randy Newman – Little Criminals 3:02
14 Bruce Springsteen – State Trooper 3:11
15 Stevie Wonder – Living For The City 3:39
16 The Human League – I Am the Law 4:08
17 Goo Goo Dolls – Iris 4:50
18 blink-182 – What's My Age Again? 2:29
19 Audioslave – Be Yourself 4:39
20 Bad Religion – I Love My Computer 3:03
21 Eminem – Lose Yourself Loved track 4:24
22 Finger Eleven – Paralyzer 3:27
23 Journey – Be Good to Yourself 3:51
24 Metallica – Am I Evil? 5:41
25 Nickelback – Savin' Me 3:38
26 Optimus Rhyme – Obey the Moderator 2:57
27 Evanescence – Bring Me to Life 3:58
28 Phil Collins – Don't Lose My Number 4:47
29 Survivor – Eye of the Tiger 6:12
30 Hall & Oates – Private Eyes 3:26
31 Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes 3:39
32 Royal Trux – Lunch Money 2:41
33 Patsy Cline – Fingerprints 2:46
34 Leonard Cohen – Fingerprints 2:55
35 The Beatles – I Want to Hold Your Hand 2:37
36 Talking Heads – Puzzlin' Evidence 5:24
37 Supertramp – Crime Of The Century 5:34
38 Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal 3:29
39 Ricky Nelson – Travelin' Man 2:20
40 Madonna – Borderline 5:21
41 Elton John – Border Song 3:22
42 Al Stewart – On the Border 3:23
43 Devo – Secret Agent Man 3:36
44 Owls – For Nate's Brother Whose Name I Never Knew Or Can't Remember 2:57
45 TRUSTcompany – Retina 3:13
46 Janis Joplin – Trust Me 3:15
47 The Shadows – F.B.I. 2:21
48 The Police – Every Breath You Take 4:14
49 The Doors – Touch Me 3:12
50 The Who – See Me, Feel Me 3:23
51 Øystein Sevåg – The Old Man 6:01
52 Frankie Valli – You're Just Too Good To Be True
53 They Might Be Giants – Fingertips 5:26
54 Filter – Take a Picture 6:02
55 Soundgarden – Face Pollution 2:23
56 Fiona Apple – Criminal 5:44
57 Ministry – Thieves 5:32
58 Thompson Twins – Lay Your Hands On Me 4:21
59 Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes 5:28
60 The Guess Who – These Eyes 4:11
61 Daft Punk – Face to Face 3:18
62 Jane's Addiction – Been Caught Stealing 6:06
63 Seal – Touch 5:19
64 Elvis Costello & The Imposters – No Hiding Place 4:00
65 Alan Jackson – Listen To Your Senses 3:09
66 UB40 – Tell Me Is It True 3:25
67 Sly & The Family Stone – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) 4:36
68 Failure – Stuck On You

P.P.S. In addition to obviously having a love of music, Manning is a former rocket scientist - so if he says something isn't rocket science, believe him.