Marketing RFP Issued By Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners

Palm Beach County is seeking submittals from qualified consultants to provide conference planning, implementation and marketing services for the Twelfth Annual Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Summit (Summit). The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners is hosting the Summit on behalf of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact (Compact). The Compact is a four-county partnership created to collaboratively plan and implement climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. The event will likely be held sometime between October 2021 and December 2021, with the location in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Background:

CONSULTANT will provide conference planning, implementation and marketing services for the Twelfth Annual Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Summit (Summit). The Palm Beach County (COUNTY) Board of County Commissioners is hosting the Summit on behalf of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact (Compact). The Compact is a four-county partnership created to collaboratively plan and implement climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. The event will likely be held sometime between October 2021 and December 2021, with the location in Palm Beach County, Florida. COUNTY expects the event to be in person. However, given social distancing and public health requirements that could occur, COUNTY might need to shift from an in-person event to a virtual event. CONSULTANT should be prepared for and experienced in managing both types of events. For an in-person event, the Compact expects that three hundred (300) to six hundred (600) persons will attend the Summit. Excluding event CONSULTANT fees, the estimated budget for Summit expenses is approximately $100,000 to $200,000 depending on number of attendees, venue, and miscellaneous expenses. For a virtual event, the attendees and Summit expenses will likely be reduced. Whether in person or virtual, COUNTY expects this Summit to be revenue neutral, where revenue from registration fees and sponsorships will cover expenses including CONSULTANT’s fees. The Summit should incorporate best practices in sustainable event management. By hosting this Summit, COUNTY hopes to continue to educate various agency staff, stakeholders, elected officials and media representatives about potential climate change impacts and adaptation strategies and share regional innovation in climate mitigation and adaptation. COUNTY will also use the Summit to continue to advance Compact goals and projects. CONSULTANT shall be responsible for Summit planning, marketing, execution, event support and coordination of all aspects of a two-day conference event as outlined in the Scope of Work/Services. For purposes of this Scope of Work/Services, the terms “conference” and “summit” shall have the same meaning.

Scope of Work:

CONSULTANT will work under the direction of COUNTY’s Office of Resilience and the Compact Summit Planning Team (Summit Planning Team). CONSULTANT shall ensure that any direct costs for Summit expenses paid for by COUNTY are reasonable and costeffective. The basic requirements for the provision of conference planning, implementation and marketing services consist of, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: COUNTY Responsibilities:

4.2.1 COUNTY will retain responsibility of the following tasks, and direct CONSULTANT accordingly:

4.2.1.1 Arrange Summit Planning Team participants and provide a main point of contact from the Office of Resilience (OOR POC).

4.2.1.2 Develop program theme, panel topics and speaker suggestions.

4.2.1.3 Reserve the right to conduct all coordination with the venue except for operational matters on the days of the event and where noted here within. CONSULTANT Responsibilities:

TASK: Program / Content Design 

4.2.2 Coordinate and participate in scheduled planning calls and meetings with Summit Planning Team.

4.2.2.1 Attend and deliver updates for Summit Planning Team calls and coordinate appropriate follow-up tasks and activities asassigned (weekly, or as needed).

4.2.2.2 Manage timeline and clear communication with Summit Planning Team on relevant deadlines for speaker confirmations, sponsorship deadlines, early bird pricing deadlines, etc.

4.2.3 Collaborate with Summit Planning Team to provide guidance on agenda design/show flow.

4.2.3.1 Provide expert advice on best practices for agenda design and session timing/structure/format to the Summit Planning Team.

4.2.3.2 Provide guidance on innovative/interactive program design, activities and engagement techniques for Summit.

4.2.3.3 Develop template for session descriptions to be used by Summit Planning Team to populate with session info.

4.2.4 Support Summit speaker recruitment/logistics. 

4.2.4.1 Develop a template speaker request letter with all relevant details for the event.

4.2.4.2 Support Summit Planning Team on identifying speakers and securing speaker commitments.

4.2.4.3 Serve as primary contact with all speakers after commitments to participate are confirmed. Assist with speaker and special guest travel arrangements as necessary. Provide all relevant information to speakers on hotel, travel, show flow/logistics, etc., and obtain all required information from speakers including, but not limited to, bios, headshots, travel reimbursement needs and PowerPoint presentations.

TASK: Conference Planning / Administration / Management

4.2.5 Develop a Scope of Work Progress Report that shows a percentage of Scope of Work completed by CONSULTANT. Update the Progress Report monthly and submit to the OOR POC.

4.2.6 Assume primary responsibility for all elements of Summit planning, execution, support and Summit coordination.

4.2.6.1 Organize, perform and manage tasks necessary to support COUNTY and its partners to hold a successful event and meet Summit requirements and objectives described in 4.1.

4.2.6.2 Develop detailed work plan and task lists for addressing all conference planning and implementation activities.

4.2.6.3 Serve as project leader accountable for timeline management and clear communication with Summit Planning Team on relevant deadlines.

4.2.6.4 Provide status updates by telephone or email on the Summit’s progress every other week to the OOR POC from the start of the Contract through up to six weeks before the Summit.

4.2.6.5 Provide weekly status updates by telephone or email on the Summit’s progress to the OOR POC beginning six weeks before the Summit and concluding the day before the Summit begins .

4.2.6.6 Make food, beverage and service recommendations to COUNTY, as required by the venue. Coordinate with venue as directed by COUNTY to ensure the venue will fulfill food, beverage and service requirements.

4.2.6.7 Coordinate and arrange for audio/visual needs. 

4.2.6.8 Be available for one (1) to three (3) in-person meetings in Palm Beach County if needed before the Summit.

4.2.7 Populate, organize, maintain and share all relevant Summit documents with COUNTY.

4.2.8 Develop and maintain Summit budget and oversee financial administration.

4.2.8.1 Assist the Summit Planning Team in evaluating the anticipated number and type of registrants. Type of registrants include government and non-profit, for-profit, and student categories.

4.2.8.2 Develop a detailed event budget that includes tiered registration fees, exhibit charges, sponsorship levels, expenses, complimentary passes and travel reimbursements for COUNTY and Summit Planning Team approval.

4.2.8.3 Recommend, set up, manage and oversee all aspects of Summit registration process for attendees, sponsors and vendors prior to the event, and collect money and issue refunds as needed. Provide regular updates to the OOR POC.

4.2.8.4 Manage payments and proof of payments by registrants, vendors and sponsors. Maintain a spreadsheet to monitor progress. Create master database for registration information, attendees, sponsors and vendors.

4.2.8.5 Manage financial transactions and maintain records of such transactions. Submit records to COUNTY every other week.

4.2.9 Develop, promote and implement sustainable event practices and policies.

4.2.9.1 Develop ideas for “greening” of Summit such as carpooling, carbon offsets, recycling of materials, use of renewable or recyclable products, use of electronic materials rather than printed, food recovery, avoiding single-use plastic, etc. 

4.2.9.2 Implement sustainable “green” practices where feasible and practicable at Summit.

4.2.10 Administer Summit evaluation and post-Summit follow-up.

4.2.10.1 Prepare and distribute an electronic conference evaluation form to attendees and provide a written, electronic summary of all survey results to OOR POC.

4.2.10.2 Prepare and provide final de-briefing report to Summit Planning Team within sixty (60) days after the final day of the Summit. The report shall be developed to support future Summit planning activities.

4.2.10.3 Prepare a complete list of individuals and organizations to receive “thank you” notes following the conference (e.g., speakers, sponsors, elected officials in attendance). Prepare a “thank you” template for the OOR POC to send out.

Due Date:

October 14, 2020, 4:00 p.m. local time.

Address:

Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners Purchasing Department 50 South Military Trail, Suite 110 West Palm Beach, Florida 33415 ATTENTION: Iriana Morales, Buyer RFS No. 200410/IM Title: Conference Planning, Implementation and Marketing Services for the Twelfth Annual Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Summit

Agencies to consider include Hunter PR and Magrino PR.