Fourth_set_of_Qs.docx

AFRC Yellow Ribbon Event Planning Services

FA6643-14 R-0027

Questions Set 4.

Q. The General Session AV equipment for a 250 person meeting is significantly less expensive than the equipment for a 1,000 person meeting. Can you modify the excel spreadsheet so we can put in the correct AV costs based on the size of the meeting requested? It would look similar to what is proposed for meals 250-350, 350-450, 450-550, 550-650 etc.

A. No only one general session room is required per event with same equipment required for each one.

Q. Is there any chance you can modify the excel price sheet with the expected number of meetings to be held in specific locations? Example: One in Guam, Saipan and Alaska, two in Hawaii and thirty five in the continental US.

A. There is a CLIN to price each location individually so expectation is for pricing for location not a number of events.

Q. Are you requesting three skilled individuals to manage the meeting or does the number include the licensed and bonded child care provider and A/V technician?

A. Three is the minimum number required to accomplish what is spelled out in paragraphs 3.2 and 3.3 which does not include child care personnel.

Q. If rooms are available at the venue after the block is released, the Contractor shall ensure that late notice participants rooms are priced at the room block contracted rate. If the room block is released the hotel will determine the market rate they can charge which may be below or above the contracted rate, please advise.

A. Government attendees will not be able to attend if paying more than a per diem rate, contractor is asked to help with acquiring the per diem rate, if that is not possible those late participants will not be allowed to attend.

Q. The food menu requirements were difficult during the recession when the hotels were struggling to fill their rooms. Now many of the hotels are so booked they are turning away pharma clients whose price points on food is 2x-3x higher. Is there any flexibility in reducing the F&B requirements (Most critical the breakfasts and box lunches)?

A. No. Offerors should price accordingly.

Q. Between the large space requirements and the F&B needs vs budget it would seem that most revenue managers would decline this business 6 months out. Has there been any consideration given to a shorter booking time-frame?

A. The task order is submitted 6 months out and the venue proposals due within 30 days. In order for AFR to market the event in a timely manner to insure that event is full it requires this time frame.

Q. What hotels have you booked during 2014 and 2015?

A. Verna, not sure that is something we would release – shouldn’t it come from current contractor since we don’t actually “book” the hotel?

Q. Does the General Session have internet for all attendees or just a hard line/wireless connection for the speakers laptop?

A. Internet is for speaker podium but may be more than one laptop.

Q. 10 high speed internet connections with multiple codes (wireless or wired) for use by the resource providers. How many codes three or more?

A. Three codes with 10 high speed connections is good for resource providers.

Q. Regarding the per diem in Conus, since they vary (and widely) from state to state how would that be priced out accordingly. Is the suggestion to price at the highest per diem rate for a city like New York. Per Diems vary from 46 to 90 per day??

A. Yes.

Q. With regards to the page count, could you please advise if the following items are to be included in the 20 page limit: 1. Letters for verification of credit and credit worthiness 2. Resumes of key personnel.

A. That is provided in the L&M section of proposal.

Q. Are attachments allowed to demonstrate process, planning guide samples etc? Are they excluded from the page limit?

A. Yes they are included in page limit.

Q. CLIN’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 for the most part are controlled by our company or our Teaming Partner. I am willing to forecast our costs 5 years into the future and live with the results and perform the contract. CLIN’s 9 thru 24 are controlled by the venues and the GSA per diem rates. If I estimate a 2% increase and inflation picks up and there is a 5% increase I will have an extremely difficult time finding any properties that would be acceptable. If that happened twice no contractor could perform. If there is deflation than you will be paying too much. It seems like a good solution would be to use whatever Per Diem % the individual contractors are using and apply it to the actual per diem rates in effect for that FY.

A. If performance is acceptable, each year of continuation those things can be addressed.

Q. Do you have data on the programs in 2014 for the amount of attendees/sleeping rooms in the initial requests to PPL and the amount of attendees/sleeping rooms that attended the meetings?

A. PPL can answer if they desire to. We do not have that information.

Q. My question was in regards to the 4 types of meeting breakout rooms, not the childcare rooms. Per 3.15.2.1 the solicitation states 4 types of breakout rooms and their Audio Visual requirements. Was question was to determine how much A/V was historically required, for accuracy in pricing the Meeting Rooms CLIN 0007 for the following: a) Both Audio and Visual b) Visual only c) Audio only d) None A. I’m guessing that we required both A/V in 50%, Audio only in 50%. That is an estimate only.

Q. Would the Government consider removing the copy of the Bank Letter and any copies of Certifications from the 20-page allocation?

A. Please refer to the Proposal Organization Table for page limits. No exceptions.

Q. Would the Government consider removing Past Performance from the 20 page Technical Page Allocation and counting it separately.

A. Please refer to the Proposal Organization Table for page limits. No exceptions.

Q. Would the Government specify what additional material will NOT count toward the 20 page limit, such as Cover, Cover Letter, Table of Contents, Acronym List, Other.

A. Please refer to the Proposal Organization Table for page limits. No exceptions.

Q. Ref para 3.1.4.2: The contractor holds blocked rooms at least until 21 days before event. Hotels will only guarantee the agreed upon rate until the block is released. Para 3.18.2.1 contradicts this and requires the government rate to be provided if a room is available. By releasing the block, you are releasing the guaranteed rate. Can paragraph 3.18.2.1 be deleted or tailored to provide the government rate until the block of rooms are released?

A. Please refer to above question about per diem rates.

Q. Ref 3.4.1.2 Contractor pays attrition. Every AFRC Yellow Ribbon Event has attrition. For example; based on just one previous YR Event in which the contractor paid over $25,000.00 in attrition, we feel that in order to avoid these significant expenses, we are asking if it is possible to change the PWS to allow the release of the room block no less than 30 days prior to the event?

A. I don’t think that would be fair to the attendees and trying to fill each event.

Q. Ref 3.12.1 Room age groups: 0-5yrs, 6-8yrs, and 9-12. Putting infants in the same room as 3- 5 year olds creates potential hazards. Was this a misprint?

A. Please refer to the different child ratios and square footage requirements to determine numbers of child care rooms. No you would not put infants in the same room as 3-5 year olds.

Q. Ref 3.2.4 & 3.14.1. How far in advance will the presentations that are to be loaded on the computers be provided and who will provide the presentations for the breakout sessions?

A. The AFR member designated as the Resource Recruiter will provide presentations, we ask that they be submitted two weeks prior to event.

Q. Ref 3.16 Food & Beverage. Who is allowed to partake in the food and beverages? Ie... staff, VIPS, Resource Providers, Airmen and their guests (children)? Are they included in the Lots on the spreadsheet? Will Teenagers partake in the lunch provided in adult buffet?

A. Yes all staff etc, unless specifically excluded prior to event will participate. Teenagers generally are included in childrens meals.

Q. In the Evaluation criteria, 2.Part II - Technical Proposal, Subfactor 1 the Government requests a reference letter from the bank outlining credit history. Is the Government looking for a statement of our line of credit with the financial institution or something more?

A. Yes Q. Will the Government accept electronic submissions?

A. Yes Q. Will the selected contractor be paid in accordance with the planned number of attendees or the actual number? In other words, if a 500 person meeting is awarded but only 350 attend, will fixed price amount be modified to the 350 participant level for that meeting?

A. Yes, this has been the case historically but only when agreed upon by the Gov and contractor and only certain CLINs are reduced.

Q. Could you please confirm that resumes are included in the 20 page count for the technical approach?

A. Please see Table 1. Proposal Organization Table Q. Can you confirm whether this will be awarded as a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract or a hybrid FFP/Cost-Reimbursable contract?

A. FFP

Q. Historically, has the childcare requirement been subcontracted to a national provider?

A. yes Q. Can the proposals be submitted electronically?

A. Yes Q. Regarding light refreshments, can you please confirm that 1 lot per event for the light refreshment CLIN is equivalent to 4 breaks, 2 AM breaks and 2 PM breaks?

A. Yes Q. Will all events require these 4 light refreshment breaks?

A. Yes Q. In PWS item 3.2 Event Contractor Personnel, it indicates in line 3.2.1 “The contractor shall ensure a minimum of three skilled individuals are available and on site at all event times. One of these individuals may be the CMP.” Both our A/V and Child Care partners will bring a project manager to each of the events, each dedicated to their areas of specialty; will you consider these individuals part of the “three skilled individuals” or do we need three individuals from the agency plus the A/V and Child Care project managers?

A. Previously answered in a question.

Q. Regarding the sanitized versions of the Technical and Cost Volumes, to what extend do the documents need to be sanitized – Removal of company name? Removal of the company location? Removal of individual names in resumes?

A. Removal OF ALL PRICES is required…Absolutely no prices should be on the sanitizied copy.

Q. Could you please provide an Acceptable Credit Reference Letter for the banks to fill out. I have been to B of A and Navy Federal Credit Union and neither have a template or have done a similar letter for any of their clients.

A. This is a standard commercial practice and the government has received these credit reference letters on numerous acquisitions.

Q. What are the sizes of the monitors in the child-care and teen rooms?

A. It depends on the number of children/teens trying to view it.

Q. According to ADDENDUM Part C.2. PART II - Technical Proposal, the Technical Proposal is limited to 20 pages. This includes four sub-parts and in addition to technical and management experience and approach, includes a copy of a letter, copies of certifications, and past performance. This page allocation is extremely limited for the amount of information requested by the Government. Additionally, the number of team members (Prime and an un-specified number of subcontractors) penalizes the offeror for bidding subcontractors because it necessitates additional past performance summaries per major subcontractor which require additional pages be allocated to Past Performance and thus reduces the pages allocated to describing experience and approach.

A. This isn’t a question, I don’t have an answer, sorry.

**Please Note** The deadline to submit questions closed on 11 March. If there is additional questions that must be asked, I will try my best to get to them, however I cannot guarantee I will have an answer before the solicitation closes.