National Library of Medicine, Office of Acquisitions Management, Building 38A, Room B1N17, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20894

R -- CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT SERVICES SOL NLM 99-048/UHP DUE 031299 POC Uyen H. Phuong (301) 496-6127 E-MAIL: karen_riggs@nlm.nih.gov, uyen_phuong@nlm.nih.gov. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Extramural Research (OER), intends to procure on a sole source basis specialized conference management services from Faith Travel Network (FTN), 12221 Brandywine Road, Brandywine, MD, to assist with planning and conducting the NIH Extramural Associates (EA) Program Regional Technical Assistance (TA) Workshop to be held in Texas in May 1999. The Extramural Associates (EA) Program conducts annual regional workshops for scientific faculty and administrators at Extramural Associate eligible Institutions (EAIs). EAIs are defined primarily as institutions of higher education with a significant minority enrollment including selected Community Colleges, Tribal Colleges and women's institutions. This workshop is held for the purpose of educating these participants/institutions about the Extramural Associates Research Development Award (EARDA) as well as other Federal funding opportunities targeted for these particular institutions. The overall goal of the EA Program is to increase its pool of competitive applicants applying for the EARDA and subsequently for other external funding. FTN has been selected to provide logistical support for the EA Program Regional Workshop based on the following unique capabilities which has been amply demonstrated during the past two workshops conducted: 1) provide the EA Program with an accurate roster of EAIs in any region of the U.S. which the EA Program selects with little if any input from the EA Program Office, based on EA Program's eligibility criteria; 2) respond directly to inquiries (programmatic and administrative) from EAIs regarding the EARDA, the Faculty Research Enhancement Support Program (FRESP) or the Sponsored Research Infrastructure Program (SRIP) in depth and independent of EA program staff; 3) provide the Director of the EA Program suggestions for names of workshop speakers and workshop agenda topics germane to the objectives of the workshop; and 4) provide the desired experience in working with faculty and administrators from EAIs which combines a unique and in depth degree of knowledge and understanding of the EA Program with accuracy, diplomacy, sensitivity and commitment necessary to further the goals of the EA Program. Faith Travel Network (FTN) by virtue of its in depth knowledge of the history, philosophy and progress of the EA Program, particularly, the EARDA from its early inception until the present time is uniquely capable and qualified to provide the services being sought by the EA Program. By virtue of its unique experience gained in assisting with the previous workshops, expertise, and staff resources, FTN is the only source that can successfully provide the required specialized conference management support services within the time constraints. This notice of intent is not a Request for Quotations (RFQ) nor is an RFQ available. Posted 02/23/99 (W-SN301375). (0054)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0086 19990225\R-0016.SOL)