Insider knowledge

One of the primes I work with has a director that is good friends with the client.

The client feeds information about problems or issues back to the prime before it gets escalated, allowing them to prepare for or address it before hand.

Is this shady?

No. These are the informal channels of communication you can open up if you have good relationships.

I only know about this because I met with the prime program manager for drinks, so now I have my own information source.

If you establish positive relationships with key people, you can get "insider knowledge" that can help you land 1099 gigs.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.