R -- Conference facilitation and logistical support services

Modification 2: The issue date for the solicitation has been postponed until further notice. 1. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Office (DITCO) Scott Air Force Base requires a professional and creative conference planning organization to assist in designing and planning the DISA Annual Customer Partnership Conference to be held during the April/May 2008 timeframe. A Request for Quotation (RFQ) will be issued for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6. This requirement will be a 100% Small Business Set-aside. 2. The period of performance is one base year (12 months) with three one month options. Period of performance is anticipated 1 May 07 - 30 Apr 08. The estimated budget for this effort is not to exceed $500,000. 3. Conference facilitation and logistical support activities include, but are not limited to, conference planning, website support, graphic design, site selection and analysis, facility contract negotiations, meeting coordination, complete registration services, negotiation of sufficient exhibit space for 150-200 exhibits, marketing/sales of exhibit space, administrative support services and other conference-related support as required. 4. This acquisition requires one contractor to provide all conference services including choosing a site, coordination of all contractors and support activities in coordination with DISA Strategic Planning and Information Directorate (SPI). The 2007 DISA Customer Partnership Conference will be held in Nashville, TN on April 30 - May 3 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. The 2006 DISA Customer Partnership Conference was held at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel on 1 - 4 May, 2006. There were approximately 3,000 government and industry participants. The contractor shall provide a location, price, schedule, and technical proposal for the 2008 Customer Conference based on a similar audience size (3,000-3,500 attendees) and similar timeframes in accordance with requirements stated in the Performance Work Statement. 5. General: The contractor shall be able to: Design conference activity programs for attendees; Negotiate and secure appropriate hotel venue with full conferencing facilities for 3,000-3,500 attendees; Provide creative support including theme development and slogan design, formation of an appropriate marketing strategy, video script/treatment development and subsequent production, and staging elements; Provide online and onsite registration support and badge printing; Provide funds management to include conference fee collection, database and query design, and creation of a tapered registration fee structure, funds disbursement and sufficient knowledge to generate ongoing financial reports; Provide audiovisual/technical support and facilitation of equipment rental; and coordinate support for agenda creation, guest speaker coordination, room layout plans for main ballroom sessions, meal and break planning, exhibits/demonstrations, security, interactive sub-conferences and other miscellaneous conference activities. In addition, the contractor shall have sufficient professional staff to handle conference related questions and issues, provide briefings and be experienced in and familiar with: Project management tenets, generating project progress reports, and facilitating subcontractor input/resources related to a major event; Performing market surveys to poll a sufficient number of different locations to host a conference and provide the selection criteria analysis to select the top candidates to handle the specified meeting space, lodging, and parking requirements; Managing business transactions with major hotel/convention organizations; Assisting with Performance Work Statement / Statement of Work documents used by the government in creating contractual arrangements; Creating meeting space graphics/drawings to facilitate conference activity planning and to have these prodctivity planning and to have these products available for use in MS PowerPoint XP format as necessary. These products shall be generated using a graphics software package that will allow printing in a large blueprint format. A solicitation is anticipated to be issued within 15 days from this posting, with an anticipated 15 days for proposal response. This will be a best value with trade-off source selection with technical/management, past performance and price factors for evaluation. Offerors must be CCR registered. Offerors are encouraged to use On-Line Representations and Certifications (ORCA) https://orca.bpn.gov to rep and certs. Numbered Note 1 Applies.