Integrated Marketing Services for GSA FAS Training Event

This is a Request for Information (RIF). Interested vendors should provide their responses including capabilities statement to the POCs identified on this notice by no later than 4:00pm (1600 Hrs) November 30, 2015. General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Office of Customer Accounts and Research (CAR) is issuing this RFI to solicit responses from interested vendors concurrently via FedBizOpps and GSA eBuy (Schedule SIN 541-5). GSA's Office of Customer Accounts and Research is responsible for organizing training conference and exhibition events. In years past the largest such effort was known as the GSA Training Conference and Expo (herein called GSA Expo). The GSA Expo was an annual three (3) day event attended by approximately 6,000 attendees from U.S. Government Agencies including the military along with state and local government participation and approximately 3,000 exhibitors exhibiting at 700+ event spaces. Due to overall government travel and budget restrictions, GSA Expo was cancelled in 2013 and 2014. There is renewed interest in resurrecting the former GSA Expo however not to the size and scope of former events. For the GSA Expo, GSA's objective was to educate both exhibitors (GSA contractors) and GSA's customer agencies (Federal civilian agencies, the military and State and Local Government). The education included showcasing the latest products and services available, and conducting acquisition training courses that met the criteria for continuing learning points (CLPs) required under the Clinger-Cohen and Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) for contracting officers and program managers. The management goal was to attract buyers and people who influence acquisition decisions at a GS-12/rank-equivalent and higher. The expected outcome was to enhance Agency customers' understanding of existing GSA commercial supply and service solution contracts thru extensive training sessions and achieve interaction between agency attendees and GSA vendors on the exhibit floor. From this, agency attendees would leave the GSA Expo realizing the wide availability and ease of accessibility of existing contract sources - and use these contract vehicles to meet their agency needs rather than duplicate the contracts. GSA's goal was that attendees from each event would leave with the elevated awareness of the existence of GSA/FAS contract solutions and that these solutions were the preferred source and best value for commercial products and services to the Federal Government and State and Local Governments. The GSA Expo event complied with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) requirements regarding government employee conference training as defined in 5 C.F.R. 410.404. Moving forward it is intended to completely support the intent and spirit of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) letters directed to all chief acquisition officers and senior procurement executives encouraging government interaction with industry, as well as effective training and development of the government acquisition workforce and new requirements for the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C). This guidance stresses "early, frequent, and constructive engagement with industry, [which] leads to better acquisition outcomes" and strongly supports participation in professional organizations and/or their events. The GSA Expo event also aims to meet the intent and spirit of Department of Defense guidance outlined within the Better Buying Power initiative pertaining to increasing the professionalism of the acquisition workforce. Finally, our GSA Expo event content aims to reach outside the Washington DC Metropolitan area to provide more direct field office interaction with FAS leaders of key government-wide initiatives (such as category management, strategic sourcing, Acquisition Gateway) - initiatives that have significant and beneficial impact to the federal acquisition community In general terms, the contractor will assist with the pre-event, at-event and post-event activities for a condensed version of the former GSA Expo. Activities would include planning, budget development, event production and administration, site selection, integrated marketing and communications, a/v support, logistical support, etc. Activities would not include course development or instructors - these will be developed and provided by GSA. These activities are to be provided via a combination of no-cost and firm fixed prices. As such, GSA's outcome is to provide an event with no actual cost to the U.S. Government. These no-cost services shall be paid from revenue received from the sale of exhibit booth space. The management objective is to allow the offeror the maximum flexibility to innovatively manage the full service of planning, budget development, event production and administration, site selection, integrated marketing and communications, a/v support, logistical support, etc. The one-to-two-day event in March, April or May 2016 would require a venue in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Area to accommodate 1,500 - 2,500 attendees, space for 100 to 200 tabletop and/or 10x10 exhibit booth spaces, one large meeting room with seating for up to 2,500 and 30 - 50 meeting rooms with seating for 50 - 75 to conduct training sessions. Interested vendors must submit their responses to the attention of GSA Contracting Officer, Nina Malakouti, at nina.malakouti@gsa.gov.