It All Starts With an Good RFP

What’s the recipe for a great meeting or convention? Well, the first ingredient is always a clearly written request for proposal (RFP). The RFP is a detailed, written description of your event. The RFP allows vendors to make a proposal to you for how much they would charge you to perform the services and provide necessary food, equipment, space and materials you need for your meeting or convention.

Within your RFP, you need to be very clear about the details of your meeting or convention. To begin with, the RFP should include some basic information:

• Your organization’s name and contact information
• The name of the meeting or convention
• Site and dates of the meeting or convention
• Expected attendance and profile of attendants (average age, gender, interests, etc.)
• Information on past events
• Deadlines

More specific information detailed in your RFP includes:

• facility needs—spaces for general and breakout sessions and times of these sessions, A-V equipment needs, tables, chairs, table settings, attendee registration tables, banners and decorations, signage
• transportation needs—buses, shuttles, times of arrival and departure, special needs
• personnel needs—set-up and take-down workers
• entertainment—tours, live entertainment, recreational activities
• food and beverage—breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, beverages, coffee service
• taxes and tips—indicate how you want these items handled
• complimentary items—indicate things you would like to receive for free from certain vendors based on your volume of business
• references—ask your vendors to provide you with their references

You should also be very clear about how you would like the information from each of your vendors to be given to you. By helping each of your vendors to present their information to you in a consistent way, you’ll have a much easier time comparing the different vendors’ proposals. Many convention planners use their own form that includes each item they would like their prospective vendors to include in their proposal.

Be specific, and do not assume. As you move ahead with the RFP process, be sure to ask questions of your vendors. For example, if your meeting or convention is going to have exhibitors, be sure to understand exactly what they will provide for exhibitor booths (i.e., is carpet included, chairs, a small table, internet access, etc.) and any additional fees associated with those items.

Click here to download a sample RFP (Word Document)