SUBMITTAL DEADLINE:
May 9, 2023, 3:00 PM local time in Seattle, Washington
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. PURPOSE & BACKGROUND
The Washington State Convention Center, a King County public facilities district DBA Seattle Convention Center (SCC), in accordance with its authority under Chapter 36.100 RCW and its procurement policy and procedures, has issued this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to contractors interested in and qualified to provide social media services to the SCC. The SCC intends to enter into contract negotiations with the submitting contractor considered to have the highest level of qualification for
the SCC engagement.
The SCC initiated social media activities in 2018 with the support an independent contractor. Due to
the impacts of the pandemic, the SCC allowed the contract to lapse at the end of 2020 and have
since done the minimum to maintain our social media presence. SCC now has the financial and supervisory resources to restart the social media program.
The SCC participation in social media is in support of its mission and the annual goals established by
the SCC’s Board of Directors, particularly in the areas of communications, public relations, and outreach. As a public entity, the SCC cannot be involved in partisan or political matters.
The SCC social media interactions are geared toward: (a) community and business organizations,
(b) neighbors living or working in the vicinity of the SCC, and
(c) other meetings and convention venues. The SCC will be a generous social media partner to encourage support and collaboration through regular content sharing and engagement with partner
content.
1.2. OBJECTIVE & SCOPE
The objective of the SCC’s social media presence is to:
- Shed light on the experience of living, working, or being in and around the SCC facility, including sharing positive aspects of the facility, staff, and service.
- Showcase events utilizing the facility and highlight their positive impacts to the community.
- Listen for online posts related to issues regarding the SCC that warrant a response and/or monitoring.
- Listen for issues in the downtown area that may impact SCC operations.
- Listen for issues in the downtown area that may impact SCC operations.
- Be proactive in initiating and maintaining conversations with organizations that impact SCC.
- Highlight local partners, rotating art installations, permanent SCC installations, retailers, and donation beneficiaries.
- Be proactive with social media managers of relevant organizations to stay on top of trends,
issues, and best practices.
- Look for alignment with Visit Seattle to find shared opportunities.
The SCC is seeking to engage with a Contractor to render services as follows:
- Post regularly on weekdays; SCC is currently active on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
- With the support of SCC staff and contract graphic designers, write, design, capture, and produce all social content, including social post copy and graphics in accordance with SCC’s tone and guidelines, and in alignment with SCC’s Mission, Vision and Service Promise.
- Weekly engagement to draw visitors to SCC pages to generate awareness, create goodwill or increase sales.
- Engagement with clients, before, during and after their events at SCC.
- Ongoing surveillance to protect the SCC brand.
- Monthly call or meeting with Communications team to review upcoming posts and track strategy, plus check-ins as appropriate.
- Quarterly reports on social media presence for inclusion in the SCC Outreach Report.
- Deliver reports to review campaign performance, provide analytics and insights based on mutually determined Key Performance Indicators.
- Participate in the consideration of additional social media outlets.
- Inform organization stakeholders of social media best practices.
- On occasion, specific client events may warrant all-day monitoring and engagement. This will be arranged two (2) months in advance and would be an add-on at a daily rate. This includes monitoring social media throughout the day for any updated news and providing consistent engagement with client/participant content. A daily rate for this additional support will be jointly determined.
- Additionally, Contractor will participate in the review of protocol for crisis management for such events.