[he's impressed by Bail's diplomacy with the subject: how he meets it straight on yet handles it gently]

Well ... that means before we go to them with the idea, we should know what sort of staff we need. And if they'd agree to helping. Then we could tell them "so and so is already on board for this", and I'd help with the physical aspects, and you'd do the other. I've written enough grant applications to know a solid proposal is half the work done already.