Doing business on behalf of the U.S. federal
government is a lesson in logistics as much as civics. And nowhere
is this more evident than in the world of meeting planning, where
requests for proposal vary from state to state, agency to agency
and, often, even within agencies, where individual departments
determine their own specific needs and design their own RFPs using
anything from a simple three-page form to a tedious 30-page
screed.
But along with their individual ways of doing things,
government meeting planners must follow the Federal Acquisition
Regulation, a code of uniform rules pertaining to the acquisition
of supplies and services for the executive branch.
FAR policy and regulations can seem daunting, and for good
reason. Whether it’s the Department of Education soliciting bids
for a three-day training program in Atlanta or the Department of
Defense looking to house 500 personnel in Alaska, the same rules
and processes apply.
Choosing a competitive acquisition is a matter of collecting
information from all bidders, assessing each alternative on the
basis of specified criteria, comparing each alternative to the
others and then ranking them to determine which best meets the
needs of the RFP.
Still, say seasoned federal planners, the complex RFP process
can be mastered without sacrificing adherence to general
regulations, individual agency preferences or ethics.
By the Budget
The rules vary based on the budget for a particular meeting or
event.
" Up to $2,500. According to FAR, planners can
place a single piece of business worth up to $2,500 directly with a
hotel or supplier of their choice without going through the process
of soliciting competing bids, comparing them and then formally
awarding the business.
" $2,501 to $25,000. For each single piece of
business with costs falling within this range, meeting planners are
required to get a minimum of three competing bids from three
similar vendors before they award the business.
“All prudent planners, even if they are using a third party,
should make sure they get three bids,” says meeting planner Ruth
Harris, CMP, with the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control
& Prevention, Office of Workforce & Career Development,
Strategic Workforce Activity, “because they are the ones in charge
of assigning that government business, not the third party. And if
at any time you are asked if you got the three bids, you can answer
‘yes’ and show them.”
" More than $25,000. For each piece of
business in this budget category, planners still can use their
agency’s individually designed RFP form, but the RFP must be posted
at FedBizOpps (www.fedbizopps.gov), an online portal that is the
single point of entry for federal procurement opportunities. It
features RFPs from all agencies soliciting bids for products and
services, as well as the bids awarded. In other words, it offers
vendors looking to do business with the government complete
transparency of the process.
Once the meeting or event is listed on FedBizOpps, planners
also can send the RFP directly to national hotel sales contacts or
invite them to check the site and offer a bid.
THE CASE FOR A STANDARD RFP
For the Alexandria, Va.-based Society of Government Meeting Professionals, creating a standardized government request for proposal was a top priority this year. Charles S. Sadler, SGMP’s deputy director, explains the reasoning for that goal and the plan for getting there.
M&C: Why a standardized RFP?
Sadler: There always are questions among suppliers on how to best handle government RFPs. They differ from federal to state and among departments, because the head of each agency has license to put in what they want. Right now you have RFPs that are three pages and RFPs that are 22 pages or more. Often a supplier will try to bid on something and won’t be able to find the information, like F&B requirements, because it is buried somewhere in the paperwork.
M&C: How will you create one document for all?
Sadler: We are getting samples from state agencies and federal departments to come up with something that will work for everyone. The next step is to pull some ideas from these and present them to three internal parties: our national board, our advisory supplier leadership panel and our chapter presidents roundtable. We’ll get their input, come up with a consensus and go forward from there.
M&C: What’s your ultimate goal?
Sadler: By January 2006, we would like to have the RFP on our website, where we have a toolbox for members. Also, we would like it to be a part of the Convention Industry Council’s Accepted Practices Exchange initiative, which is creating best practices for every facet of the industry. -- C.A.S.
The Specifics
How in-depth a planner chooses to make the RFP is an individual
decision. However, cautions Rob Coffman, planner for the
Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of
Conference, Event & Meeting Services, the focus of the creation
process always should be on spelling out your group’s specific
needs.
“You need to make sure all the hotels competing for your
business know what your exact requirements are,” emphasizes
Coffman.
" Provide the basics. Right up front, not
buried on page 23, should be the dates of the meeting, including
move-in and move-out dates if necessary; meeting space and guest
rooms required; food and beverage; audiovisual; VIP-specific needs,
and parking.
" Give an overview. Provide a profile of the
group and the meeting’s objectives. Is it a mandatory training
session? An annual conference? A closed-door board meeting during
which key decisions will be made?
" Outline the history. Provide a simple
breakdown of the group’s meeting history. Include room pickups by
the day, catering counts, prior dates and locations, and the
no-show record.
" List hot-button items. Here’s where the
playing field is leveled for all competing vendors. What details or
requirements are unique to the group? For example, specify if all
the meeting space must be on one level. If security is a top
priority, this is where you break down specifics, such as the
number of security staff and hours required, whether they must be
willing to work with a department’s internal detail, and whether a
security contingency plan must be provided as part of the bidding
process.
For Ruth Harris, audiovisual needs are a top priority. CDC
presentations typically can include simultaneous video and
teleconferencing feeds, as well as multiple PowerPoint
presentations. Very often, she says, hotels might be the right fit
in every other respect but this or they might not be able to
provide the two full-time technicians the group requires in the
meeting room throughout the day.
“Our presentations are so complex and critical to the meeting,
that I spell out everything,” says Harris. “I always ask up front
in the RFP whether I will be allowed to bring my own people on site
and whether there is a charge for doing that. Or, if they can
provide all-day technical manpower assistance, at what cost?”
" Outline attendee needs. The RFP should
address requirements special to attendee needs, such as Americans
With Disabilities Act provisions and dietary restrictions.
According to Harris, ADA compliance is growing in importance. As
such, stating related needs up front helps ensure competing hotels
will be able to effectively accommodate all participants.
“I have been in situations where I ended up needing to have
ramps built at properties to accommodate attendees with
disabilities,” says Harris. “Make sure the RFP has a line just for
ADA.”
" Insert a wish list. Include any item that
falls in the “would really like to have” category. For example,
transportation from the airport, complimentary on-site parking or
complimentary meeting rooms. If a hotel is willing to throw these
extras in, it will make their bid that much more attractive.
" Consider a site visit. If an in-person visit
with an overnight stay will be required before a decision is made,
state so in the RFP. If the property responds with an offer of a
complimentary visit, it is completely legal and ethical to accept
the offer.
“When planners put the site visit in the RFP before the bid is
awarded, they can accept the offer,” affirms Coffman. “But, if the
hotel first offers to comp the visit after the business has been
awarded, it will be considered unethical and illegal to accept, and
planners could lose their jobs if they accept.”
" Look for the FEMA label. The law requires
that federal employees traveling on government business must stay
in properties that adhere to Federal Emergency Management Agency
regulations and measures such as the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety
Act of 1990, which was passed into law by Congress to save lives
and protect property by promoting fire and life safety in hotels,
motels and other places of public accommodation. Federally funded
meetings and conferences cannot be held in properties that do not
comply with FEMA.
Bottom line: All vendors need to be FEMA-approved in order to
be awarded meetings business, so have them prove it to you.
" Get the property’s Central Contractor Registration
Number. According to FAR, all vendors looking to do
business with the federal government must be registered with the
Central Contractor Registration (www.ccr.gov) prior to being awarded business.
Once registered, the vendor’s information is shared with various
federal agencies, and CCR allows the vendor to receive electronic
payments rather than wait for a check to be cut.
" Get the CAGE Code. The Commercial and
Government Entity Code is a five-character ID number used
extensively within certain federal agencies, such as the Department
of Defense and NASA. For those agencies requiring vendors to have a
CAGE code, meeting planners should provide a line in the RFP for
vendors to demonstrate that they are in compliance.
" Give a deadline. Holding vendors to a
deadline for responding is extremely critical, says Rob Coffman.
State a precise date and time, e.g., Jan. 1, 2006, no later than 5
p.m. EST. This eliminates all ambiguity. Also, state how the bid is
to be received.
“I give directions on whether we will review hard copies only,
or whether we accept electronic proposals,” says Coffman. “This is
important to the vendor and ultimately helpful to planners, because
they will get the RFP back the way they prefer it.”
Helpful Details
Beyond the meeting’s requirements, include in the RFP line items
that pertain specifically to conditions at the hotel, which can be
an important tool in comparing and contrasting bids.
" Garner hotel facts. For example, are
renovations scheduled during the dates of the meeting? When was the
last renovation completed? Is the hotel owned or franchised? How
long has the present management been in place? When does the labor
contract expire?
" Describe the decision-making process. This
is extremely helpful to convention and visitor bureaus when the RFP
has gone to competing cities. For instance, if the contenders are
Austin, Grapevine and San Antonio in Texas, each city will attempt
to play up its strengths relative to the group’s priorities.
Will business be awarded to the lowest bidder, or the bidder
that best meets the group’s needs overall? Will the decision be
reached by one planner, a procurement official or evaluated by an
agency committee?
Perhaps most important of all, says Coffman, many vendors,
particularly those who are novices in dealing with government
meetings, are not aware of how important it is to fill out the RFP
in its entirety in order to be considered in the bidding
process.
“If a hotel fails to address only one of the requirements on
the RFP, they run the risk of their RFP being tossed in the trash,
without their entire proposal being read,” says Coffman. “This
really needs to be pointed out.