National Institutes of Health, Office of Procurement Management, 6011 Executive Blvd., Rockville, Maryland 20892-7260

R -- CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT SERVICES SOL 263-00-P(BN)-0015 DUE 013100 POC Foteni T. Tiffany, Contracting Officer, 301-402-3079 The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Research Services (ORS), is conducting a market survey to determine the availability and potential technical capability of 8(a) businesses and small businesses to manage all conference facilities that ORS provides the twenty-four NIH Institutes and Centers (IC) and the support services associated with them. The intended procurement will be classified under SIC Code 8741 with a size standard of $5 million. The NIH intends to enter into a contract to operate the ORS provided conference facilities in which meetings and events take place that support the mission of the NIH as the premier bio-medical research facility of the US Government. The services required in operating the conference facilities will consist of the following: A) Scheduling use of facilities and event support resources based on ORS provided guidelines on a centralized electronic scheduling system provided by the Government; insuring capturing of all information pertinent to the event such as room setup, security and parking, beverage and food requirements, applicable fees for services from the inception of the planning process to the conclusion of the event; and generating analysis reports of monthly utilization data and make recommendations of how to improve utilization of space and services. B) Meet, greet and coordinate events consists of insuring that the meeting planners and conferees at the specific facility/room find all the services and support as scheduled and feel welcomed and supported directly or indirectly throughout the event. As a central visible and personal contact to the ORS conference services, a concierge desk is to be staffed and operated from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the lobby of Building 45, the Natcher Conference Center, the largest and most comprehensive ORS conference facility, 1,800 person capacity. C) Operating audiovisual and media presentation equipment and systems to accommodate panel discussions, voice reinforcement, video and audio recording and playback, narrow and broadcasting to sites within and outside NIH, computer and video projections; testing and operating computer controlled lighting systems, front and rear projection equipment; instructing speakers and meeting coordinators in use of audiovisual and environmental functions control panels; monitoring equipment and systems while meetings are in progress, performing routine maintenance of systems; maintaining usage logs on equipment to aid in assessing replacement parts or total replacement; and conducting market surveys to replace and upgrade equipment/systems in order to incorporate new recording and narrow casting technologies. D) Providing housekeeping and labor support for all campus facilities and limited to setup and furniture maintenance in the off campus facilities. In addition to the duties normally considered housekeeping, the contract will include room setups according to meeting planner requirement; turning the large auditorium from open mode to four independent rooms, which consists of removing/installing theatre seats and platforms (8 to 12 times a year); providing fresh ice water for each meeting; and performing simple repairs on conference tables, chairs and carts. E) Offering meeting planning and registration support services, which is envisioned as an optional service for fee (in addition to other commercial sources to which NIH meeting planners have access); services also would include receiving and shipping of meeting material, registration desk staffing, other event-related services may be offered with approval of the Government representative. Even though this will be a follow-on contract, the requirements have expanded, especially in the area of managing the conference facilities, related support services and electronic information management such as event and resource scheduler, e-mail, spreadsheet, database, and word processing applications as well as the need to include new technology in the audiovisual field such as audio streaming and videocasting. The integration and operation ofsuch advances requires a contractor staff that has the ability to constantly absorb and apply new knowledge as well as have excellent communication skills to work with other NIH and contractor employees in the Center of Information Technology and the ORS Video Section. In addition, the ORS is in the process of converting the provision of conference services from a centrally funded function to a fee-for-services with a fee structure similar to the commercial one. The Government will look for expertise in evaluating and improving a reasonable fee structure for conference and audiovisual services. The contractor will not be responsible for the collection of the fees from within the Government; however the contractor will collect fees from all non-US Government entities who have been authorized to use the ORS conference facilities and services. The Government will provide adequate office and storage space for the contractor's onsite staff and functions. In light of this project summary, interested 8(a) businesses and small businesses are invited to submit tailored capability statements addressing organizational and staff experience and expertise in the following areas: 1) Conference services and/or logistics management and 2) audiovisual and information technology support services. Firms responding to this market survey should keep in mind that only focused and pertinent information is requested. Responding firms should provide two (2) copies of their capability statement to Foteni T. Tiffany, Room 529W, at the above noted address by January 31, 2000. (NOTE: If you are using delivery services other than the U. S. Postal Services, use ZIP Code 20852.) This market survey is being conducted through the CBD to reach the widest possible audience and to gather current market information. The Government reserves the right to setaside this procurement for exclusive 8(a) participation or small business participation based on the response to this market survey. Posted 01/11/00 (W-SN414851). (0011)

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