County of Albemarle, Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau
Request for Quotations
RFQ# 2023-RFQ-4021701
Deadline: 1:00 pm EST on February 17, 2023
PURPOSE: The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau (CACVB) seeks a Contractor to create social media content and connect with other content creators to be the lead voice for its Discover Black Charlottesville (C’ville) effort, highlighting Black-owned businesses and attractions while attracting Black visitors and others to Charlottesville and Albemarle County. This position will need to work collaboratively with the CACVB team, the Discover Black C’ville steering committee and the Charette Agency, which is leading the Discover Black C’ville strategy.
II. BACKGROUND: On March 26, 2022, the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau (CACVB) celebrated the national launch of Discover Black C’ville, a community-led initiative that tells modern, historically accurate, and inclusive Black stories in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, to attract black visitors, while also promoting Black-owned businesses and attractions. The kick-off included a mural unveiling at Ix Art Park and anew digital passport to bring travelers to local, Black-owned businesses. With a clear goal to highlight Black stories told by Black people, instead of about Black people, now visitors and locals alike can learn, explore and connect online at Discover Black C’ville’s website.
As an organization we recognized the need for a more open dialogue, and we have taken great strides to listen and collaborate with our Black residents. The tragic events that took place in August 2017 sparked necessary dialogues about systemic racism and propelled our community to take action to support all residents and visitors. The CACVB is working toward more equitable representation in the tourism economy by putting underrepresented voices and businesses first in the narrative. We’re hopeful this work will help visitors of all backgrounds feel more welcome in
Charlottesville and Albemarle County. We are extremely proud of what we have been able to achieve in a short time while recognizing that there is certainly more work to be done.
The idea for Discover Black C’ville was born in 2020 and started with a series of collaborative listening sessions in the community. The CACVB collaborated with dozens of local Black residents throughout the process to ensure wide acceptance and input from the community. The ongoing efforts are guided and informed by a steering committee, with members representing different sectors of the local tourism economy. The CACVB held a soft launch of Discover Black C’ville’s landing page and social media channels in spring 2021, which was met with resounding positivity. Discover Black C’ville is an award-winning Marketing and Public Relations campaign that has incorporated community building as a major function of its strategy. Most recently, it won a Destiny Award for Community Building through the U.S. Travel Association’s ESTO conference and an HSMAI Adrian Award.
The CACVB has led this effort in-house to date with the assistance of a social media contractor on a minimal contract and through the advice of a steering committee of volunteers. The CACVB is looking to build on this success with the next phase of its effort. Charette Agency has been brought on to provide overall promotional strategy and continued community building. Since the social media contract to date has been limited, this RFQ expands that contract so more unique content may be developed.
III. COMPETITION INTENDED: It is the County’s intent that this Request for Quotes(RFQ) permits competition.
It shall be the Bidder’s responsibility to advise the Purchasing Agent in writing if any language requirement, specification, etc. or any combination thereof, inadvertently restricts or limits the requirements stated in this RFQ to a single source, or otherwise restrict competition. All comments, questions, or requests for clarification, including any notification regarding restrictions to competition, must be received by the Purchasing Agent not later than seven (7) days prior to the date set for bids to close. Bidders may not rely on any oral explanations, clarifications, or changes to the solicitation. All explanations, clarifications, or changes will be issued in written form as detailed below. The County will not be bound by any oral statements.
All inquiries and any changes to the requirements of this solicitation shall be answered by issue of written addenda to the solicitation. It shall be the responsibility of the Bidder to acknowledge all addenda by signing and returning a copy of all addenda with the quote submission or by separate acknowledgement of each addendum by number and date, in writing. Offerors are advised to contact this office to confirm the number of addenda before the date established
for bid opening. All addenda will be issued in a timely manner to allow sufficient time prior to due date of the quotes.
IV. TERM OF CONTRACT/DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS:
Two (2) years from date of final execution with the option to renew for three (3) additional one (1) year renewal terms. Renewal is contingent on funding and at the sole discretion of Albemarle County.
V. SCOPE OF WORK/SPECIFICATIONS: The contractor shall:
Mandatory Qualification Requirements
Proposals must demonstrate your ability to comply with each of the items identified below. Inability to demonstrate compliance with these qualifications will result in the disqualification of your proposal
• Demonstrated knowledge of how to market to Black visitors and track success
• Demonstrated accomplishments in destination marketing, especially niche markets
• Demonstrated accomplishments in refining difficult messaging to be compelling, authentic and attract visitation
• Proven experience in social media content creation, curation, and promotion
• Staff assigned to this project with relevant experience and qualifications
• Three letters of reference that can substantiate that your company has successfully conducted similar projects in the past.
