2024 Sponsorship Activation RFP FINAL.pdf

Request for Proposals for

Sponsorship Activation Support Services

Date Issued: June 21, 2024

Response Deadline: August 5, 2024 – 12:00 PM

Contact:

Andrew Lindley Sr. Manager, Corporate Partnerships Denver Arts & Venues 1345 Champa Street Denver, CO 80202 720-865-4325 andrew.lindley@denvergov.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction…………………………………………………………………3

II. RFP Conditions and Provisions…………………………………………4

III. Scope of Work………………………………………………………………6

IV. RFP Instructions……………………………………………………………8

V. Diversity and Inclusiveness Requirement

INTRODUCTION

Denver Arts & Venues (A&V) is seeking an independent contractor to provide sponsor and event logistical support for concerts and other events scheduled at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

The eventual contract, if any, will be for a maximum of three years and will be between the City and County of Denver (the “City”) and the selected proposer.

Denver Arts & Venues is a division of the City & County of Denver's Department of General Services. A&V’s mission is to amplify Denver’s quality of life and economic vitality through our premier public venues, public art collection, and free entertainment events and programs. A&V is responsible for the maintenance, repair, management and operation of the City's theatre, concert, auditorium or arena venues, which include Red Rocks Amphitheatre & Visitor Center, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Denver Coliseum, the McNichols Civic Center Building, and the Colorado Convention Center.

A&V also supports a variety of free and paid programming and events including the Five Points Jazz Festival, select film series, city festivals, athletic events, arts programs and more. Additionally, A&V oversees the City’s public art program and the City’s creative sector business development initiatives.

Further Information For more information on Denver Arts & Venues facilities and programs, visit our website at www.artsandvenuesdenver.com.

If you require further clarification on the process or completion of your response, please contact Andrew Lindley up to July 15, 2024 using the details provided below.

Andrew Lindley Sr. Manager, Corporate Partnerships Denver Arts & Venues O: (720) 865-4325 E: Andrew.Lindley@denvergov.org

RFP CONDITIONS AND PROVISIONS

All participating proposers, by their signature hereunder, shall agree to comply with all of the conditions, requirements and instructions of this RFP as stated or implied herein.

Any alteration, erasure or interlineation by a proposer in this proposal shall constitute cause for rejection by A&V. Proposers may not include exceptions or deviations to the requirements set forth in this RFP in its proposal pages; rather, any proposed exceptions or deviations must be made separately on proposer’s letterhead and accompany its proposal. Any exceptions or deviations to the requirements of this RFP proposed by a proposer will be taken into consideration when evaluating proposals submitted; however, any such exceptions or deviations are offered for discussion purposes only and the City reserves the right to accept, reject, or further negotiate any or all proposed modifications.

All proposers are required to complete all information requested in this RFP. Failure to do so may result in the disqualification of a proposal.

The City reserves the right to postpone or cancel this RFP, or reject all proposals, if in its judgment it deems it to be in the interest of the City to do so.

The City reserves the right to award portions of the scope of work to differing proposers.

The City reserves the right to waive any technical or formal errors or omissions and to reject any and all proposal(s), or to award a contract for the items herein, either in part or whole, if he or she deems it to be in the interest of the City to do so.

The City shall not be liable for any costs incurred by a proposer in the preparation of proposals or for any work performed in connection therewith.

Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Defined Pool Participation

Article V, of Chapter 28 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code (D.R.M.C.) grants authority to the Division of Small Business Opportunity (DSBO) to establish participation requirements under the Small Business Enterprise (SBE) defined pool program as related to expenditures and related contracts by and through the City and County of Denver. The participation requirement for this project is:

Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Defined Pool

Award will be strictly limited to SBE firms certified with the City and County of Denver on or before the proposal due date. § 28-141(d) D.R.M.C. The SBE consultant self-performance requirement is 30%. § 28-142 D.R.M.C.

Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Defined Pool Guidelines

The Division of Small Business Opportunity (DSBO) has designated a Small Business Enterprise (SBE) requirement for this project, proposal requirements for which are set forth herein. This procurement and resulting contract are governed by Article V, of Chapter 28 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code (D.R.M.C.) (the “DSBO Ordinance”) and accompanying rules and regulations (collectively, the “SBE Program”). Throughout the life of the contract, the awarded Consultant (the “Consultant”) will be required to comply with the SBE Program. Failure by the Consultant to comply therewith during the performance of the contract is a material breach of the contract, which may result in the imposition of sanctions on the Consultant, as deemed appropriate by DSBO.

Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Defined Pool Program

The City and County of Denver (“City”) is committed to advancing its vision of equity, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability through growing the capacity of historically underutilized businesses, which include SBE firms, providing significant contracting opportunities, and ensuring they benefit from said contracts.

Counting SBE Participation

During performance, accounting of SBE participation will be maintained for all purchase orders, task orders, and work orders, which participation will collectively be applied to the contract’s overall SBE self-performance attainment.

If the SBE is a supplier, the degree to which their participation counts towards satisfaction of the SBE self-performance requirement varies. If materials or supplies are obtained from a SBE manufacturer, one hundred percent (100%) of the cost of the materials or supplies counts toward the requirement. Sixty percent (60%) of the value of the commercially useful function performed by SBE regular dealers counts toward satisfaction of the requirement. Only the bona fide commissions earned by manufacturer representatives or brokers for their performance of a commercially useful function counts toward meeting the requirement. Therefore, Proposer must separate bona fide brokerage commissions from the actual cost of the supplies or materials provided to determine the actual dollar amount of participation that can be counted towards meeting the SBE self-performance requirement.

SBE Responsiveness Requirements

DSBO has designated this procurement as SBE defined pool. Accordingly, award will be strictly limited to certified SBE firms. § 28-141(d) D.R.M.C. Conditions of responsiveness are listed below; failure to submit a responsive submission constitutes cause for rejection thereof.

1. Certification Before the proposal due date, the proposer (“Proposer”) must be SBE certified by the City in the NAICS work code(s) that coincide with the scope of work they will be performing for SBE self-performance credit. DSBO maintains an SBE Directory (“Directory”), which is a current listing of SBEs that have been certified by the City.

The Directory may be accessed via the DSBO web site at https://www.denvergov.org/dsbo.

2. Joint Ventures If Bidder is a Joint Venture of SBE firms, bidder must submit the Joint Venture Agreement to DSBO at time of bid opening. A qualified Joint Venture is an https://www.denvergov.org/dsbo association of one or more City and County of Denver-certified SBE firms to carry out a single, for-profit business enterprise, for which the parties combine their property, capital efforts, skills and knowledge. DSBO will count the total dollar value of the joint venture’s collective self-performance toward the SBE self-performance requirement, equal to the distinct, clearly defined portion of the work that a Joint Venture’s member firms perform with their own forces in NAICS code(s) in which the Joint-Venture firms are SBE certified.

3. Authority The DSBO Ordinance and rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto apply to this project and are incorporated into these solicitation documents by reference. Compliance with those, and any additional requirement contained herein, are conditions of responsiveness. The DSBO Ordinance, its accompanying rules and regulations, and additional SBE guidance are available here:

https://www.denvergov.org/dsbo. Proposer is encouraged to contact the procuring agency/Buyer with specific questions related to compliance therewith, who will coordinate with DSBO to reply to Proposer’s questions.

GRATUITIES AND KICKBACKS

It shall be a breach of ethical standards for any person to offer, give, or agree to give any employee or former employee (within six months of termination from City employment), or for any employee or former employee (within six months of termination from City employment) to solicit, demand, accept, or agree to accept from another person, a gratuity or an offer of employment in connection with any decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, preparation of any part of a program requirement or a purchase request, influencing the content of any specification or procurement standard, rendering of advice, investigation, auditing, or in any other advisory capacity in any proceeding of application, request for ruling, determination, claim or controversy, or other particular matter, pertaining to any program requirement or a contract or subcontract, or to any solicitation or proposal therefore.

It shall be a breach of ethical standards for any payment, gratuity, or offer of employment to be made by or on behalf of a subcontractor under a contract to the prime vendor or higher tier subcontractor or any person associated therewith, as an inducement for the award of a subcontract or order.

In the event that any gratuities or kickbacks are offered or tendered to any City and County of Denver employee, the proposal shall be disqualified and shall not be reinstated.

NON-COLLUSIVE PROPOSER CERTIFICATION

By the submission of this proposal, the proposer certifies that:

A. The proposal has been arrived at by proposer independently and has been submitted without collusion with any other proposer.

B. The contents of the proposal have not been communicated by proposer, nor, to its best knowledge and belief, by any of its employees or agents, to any person not an employee or agent of the proposer or its surety on any bond furnished herewith, and will not be communicated to any such person prior to the official opening of the proposal.

C. No proposer shall submit more than one proposal for this RFP. It shall be the responsibility of each proposer to obtain the prior written permission of the Director of A&V before proposal opening in every situation in which the proposer, due to corporate association or other affiliation, may be found to be impermissibly associated with another vendor. Failure to observe this requirement could result in all such affiliated proposals being rejected.

DISCLOSURE OF CONTENTS OF PROPOSALS

All proposals become a matter of public record and shall be regarded as Public Records, with the exception of those specific elements in each proposal which are designated by the proposer as Business or Trade Secrets and plainly marked “Trade Secrets”, “Confidential”, “Proprietary”, or “Trade Secret”. Items so marked shall not be disclosed unless disclosure is otherwise required under the Open Records Act. If such items are requested under the Open Records Act, the City will use reasonable efforts to notify the proposer, and it will be the responsibility of the proposer to seek a court order protecting the records, and to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the City from any claim or action related to the City’s non-disclosure of such information.

PROOF OF REGISTRATION WITH THE COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE

If the successful proposer is a corporation or limited liability company, it will be required to furnish a Certificate of Good Standing from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, as proof that it is properly registered to do business in the State of Colorado, prior to finalization of award and contracting.

SCOPE OF WORK

Denver Arts and Venues manages Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

The Contractor will be familiar with best practices for a variety of event management and logistical duties. Other duties may include oversight of event load-in, setup and breakdown for events at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. In addition, contractor may be asked to assist with all sponsors, vendors and city employees on site.

Contractor Requirements:

Excellent event planning and management skills, excellent customer service, detail oriented, and strong planning skills. Comfort with Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel and office equipment. The ability to handle multiple projects and attention to detail is also important.

SCOPE OF WORK

Beginning on the contract execution date, the Sponsorship Marketing Consultant will assist Arts & Venues with the ongoing implementation and management of the citywide sponsorship program providing sponsorship-marketing services to Denver Arts & Venues, participating City agencies, and sponsorship management agency to include the following services:

• In accordance with City policy, provide contract administration services to include collecting and submitting required vendor documentation, completing required agency contract forms, drafting scope of services and fee schedules, and acting as a liaison between Arts & Venues, participating city agencies, sponsorship management agency, sponsors, and City Attorney’s Office during the contract negotiation process.

• Provide support and education to sponsors and sponsorship management agency related to government/City and County of Denver policy and processes.

• Assistance with sponsorship fulfillment and activation oversight. • Assist in the development and provide recommendations for new sponsorship inventory, programs or events.

• Assist A&V in the development of sponsorship policies and procedures.

• Develop customized sponsorship proposals and valuations as requested by A&V.

• Develop sponsorship activations in collaboration with A&V’s partners and A&V markering.

• Run performance reports for contract deliverables (website click through/impressions, intermission slide show reports, concert alerts) to include in sponsorship management agencies post-sale analysis reports.

• Keep A&V and participating agencies up-to-date on contact renewal deadlines.

• Assist in the collection of sponsor relevant data from participating City agencies.

• Assist in the preparation and distribution of exclusive sponsorship RFPs.

• Provide citywide sponsorship activation services as requested such as requesting and distributing sponsor advertisements in City produced publications (e.g. Red Rocks concert alerts, intermission slide show, website banner ads)

• Manage recruitment and oversight of no fewer than two seasonal activation managers for Red Rocks Amphitheatre to include weekly staff calls, client and venue reporting

• Manage recruitment and oversight of seasonal activation staff as required for sponsorship activation at Red Rocks Amphitheatre

• Provide seasonal staffing services as requested by Agency to include recruitment, management, payment, preparation of necessary forms and year-end reporting for Agency purposes

• Manage recruitment and oversight of activation staff for City venues as directed by Agency

• Provide bi-weekly reports containing details of the work performed, including contracts in queue and citywide sponsorship activities.

• Provide corporate partner promotion, advertising and client management services specific to Red Rocks Amphitheatre

• Provide additional sponsorship and marketing related duties as requested.

RFP INSTRUCTIONS

1. Please submit your resume.

2. Please submit a letter of interest.

3. Please submit up to two event management projects of choice that demonstrate your ability to meet the needs of Arts & Venues as described in the SCOPE OF

WORK. Electronic files are preferred. Please include dates, location and attendance numbers for each event.

4. Please submit the name and phone number of three professional references with whom you have had a relationship with for at least one year.

5. Interview: Three final candidates may be asked to interview with select members of the Arts & Venues marketing and partnership team.

6. Complete and submit Diversity and Inclusiveness Form.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: August 5, 2024 - 12:00 PM (MST)

SUBMIT FILES TO:

Andrew Lindley Sr. Manager, Corporate Partnerships Denver Arts & Venues 1345 Champa Street http://artsandvenuesdenver.com/images/files/Diversity_and_Inclusiveness_in_City_Solicitations_Information_Request_Form.pdf

Denver, CO 80202 720-865-4325 Andrew.Lindley@denvergov.org

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVENESS REQUIREMENT

Using the attached form, entitled “Diversity and Inclusiveness in City Solicitations Information Request Form”, please state whether you have a diversity and inclusiveness program for employment and retention, procurement and supply chain actives, or customer service and provide the additional information requested on the form. The information provided on the Diversity and Inclusiveness in City Solicitations Information Request Form will provide an opportunity for City contractors/consultants to describe their own diversity and inclusiveness practices. Contractors/consultations are not expected to conduct intrusive examinations of its employees, managers, or business partners in order to describe diversity and inclusiveness measures. Rather, the City simply seeks a description of the contractor/consultant’s current practices, if any.

Diversity and Inclusiveness information provided by City contractors/consultants in response to City solicitations for services or goods will be collected, analyzed, and made available in reports consistence with City Executive Order No. 101. However, no personally identifiable information provided by or obtained from contractors/consultants will be in such reports.

mailto:brandon.tosti@denvergov.org