NEARFP16-11_Convening_Consultant_Future_Arts_ _Creativity_in_America.pdf

March 10, 2016

Reference: Convening Consultant for the Future of the Arts & Creativity in America

Subject: Request for Proposal

Solicitation Number NEARFP16-11

Dear Offeror:

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) invites contractors to submit proposals for the services described in the attached statement of work, under the authority of Part 12 of the Federal Acquisition

Regulation.

Enclosed you will find a Statement of Work that requests proposals for a Consultant with extensive experience in shaping large conferences (for approximately 200 people) to help the NEA and the John F.

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) produce a convening by developing and managing 1) the agenda, 2) the participant/attendee list, and 3) the convening deliverables. The Consultant will work closely with the Chairman’s Office at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and production staff at the Kennedy Center.

Questions concerning this proposal shall be submitted via email to HARRISL@ARTS.GOV by 6:00 p.m.

(EST) March 24, 2016. Please submit your proposals by April 6, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. (EST). This RFP in no way obligates the U.S. Government to award a contract, nor does it commit the U.S. Government to pay any cost incurred in preparing and submitting your proposal.

The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation and is most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. In order to select the winning offeror, NEA will rank offerors from best to worst. In addition to the narrative assessments prepared by the Evaluation Team for each evaluation factor, a point scoring system will be used to rank all technical proposals. The point scoring system uses a rating scale of 100%.

NEA, however, will not select an offeror for award on the basis of a superior capability without consideration of price. NEA intends to make one award under this solicitation.

This procurement is a small business set-aside. The North American Industry Classification Systems

(NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541611 with a small business size standard of $15.0M. The actual period of performance will be determined at the time of award through December 1, 2016.

Proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be delivered via email.

Proposals that are mailed, hand-carried, or faxed will not be accepted. Proposals must be received by the closing date and time stated above. Please refer any questions concerning this request to Latonca M.

Harris at (202) 682-5476 or by email at HARRISL@ARTS.GOV.

Sincerely, Latonca M. Harris

Latonca M. Harris

Contracting Officer

Grants & Contracts Office mailto:harrisl@arts.gov mailto:harrisl@arts.gov

Enclosures:

Section B, Supplies/Service and Prices

Section C, Description/Specifications/Statement of Work

Section D, Preservation, Packaging and Marking

Section E, Inspection and Acceptance

Section F, Deliveries or Performance

Section G, Contract Administration Data

Section H, Special Contract Requirements

Section I, Contract Clauses

Section J, List of Attachments

Section K, Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors

Section L, Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors

Section M, Evaluation Factors for Award

SECTION B

SUPPLIES/SERVICES AND PRICES

B.1 General

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is seeking a contractor with the creative and critical thinking skills and experience to help shape and produce a thought-provoking and inspiring conference in

Washington, DC for approximately 200 people. The contractor will work with the NEA and the John F.

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) to develop and manage the agenda, produce all aspects of the day so that there is an effective flow, identify and manage the participant/attendee list, and provide counsel on potential convening deliverables.

B.2 Contract Term

Period of Performance: Date of award through January 1, 2016 (the convening will take place on Friday, November 18, 2016 at the Kennedy Center).

*The contractor must have all major deliverables completed and submitted in accordance with the delivery schedule.

B.3 Pricing

(a) All unit prices are firm fixed prices that include all costs, including but not limited to labor, fringe benefits, overhead, G&A, and profit necessary to provide the planning phase and pilot study required in the solicitation.

ITEM

No.

SUPPLIES OR SERVICES QTY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

Convening Consultant for

The Future of the Arts &

Creativity in America

1 Lot

FIRM FIXED PRICE

GRAND TOTAL

AMOUNT FOR

PROJECT:

NTE $

SECTION C

DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 INTRODUCTION

Over the past 50 years, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has helped to build the arts and cultural sector across America. Thousands of artists and arts organizations of all genres have benefited from the support of the NEA. The NEA’s 50th anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate these artists and arts organizations that contribute extensively to America’s cultural landscape. The 50th anniversary milestone is also a time to look forward, to imagine and plan for the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the arts and the creative community writ large.

With this in mind, the NEA launched a 50th Anniversary initiative, Creativity Connects. The goal of this initiative is to integrate the arts into non-arts sectors, giving organizations and communities a deeper understanding of how creativity can benefit them, as well as deepen our understanding about the infrastructure needed to support the arts and creative sectors of the future.

Learnings from this initiative will lay the groundwork for the NEA and the John F. Kennedy Center for the

Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) to produce a national convening on Friday, November 18, 2016. The convening will bring together creative thought leaders and practitioners, from the arts and non-arts sectors, to contribute to a national conversation about how we can support the arts and creativity in the future, and to utilize the arts and creative resources to imagine, build, and secure the future of our communities.

C2. SCOPE OF WORK

The National Endowment for the Arts is hiring a Convening Consultant (Contractor) that will work with the

NEA Project Director and the Kennedy Center producer (or designee) to assist with the production elements as well as shape the agenda and invite lists for speakers and participants

Production:

1. Assist Kennedy Center and NEA in producing the day-long convening, as well as all necessary advance preparation.

2. Manage the invite lists for the participants and speakers through an established electronic system mutually agreed upon by NEA and offeror.

Content:

3. Design and implement an effective convening agenda that meets the goals of the involved parties.

4. In collaboration with NEA and the Kennedy Center, develop a list of diverse invited participants – attendees, speakers, and artists. Some of the participants will be from the arts field, many from other sectors. Some of the speakers will be high profile.

5. Report to the NEA Project Director and work with the NEA Project Director and Kennedy Center producer/production team to create and manage the design and flow of the convening.

6. Develop a final summary report of ideas, questions, and recommendations that arise from the day.

C3. REQUIRED CONVENING COMPONENTS

1. Incorporate concepts from the Creativity Connects overall initiative as well as recommendations from the Creativity Connects report.

2. Engage a plurality of voices. Invite a diverse list of participants and speakers: diverse in age, race, gender, geography, expertise, industries, and abilities. The invitation list must be a combination of people from the arts and non-arts sectors, both emerging and established artists, arts leaders, and other creative thinkers and leaders.

3. Engage innovative methodology to balance energy level, content, and overall movement of convening. Have excellent flow and energy.

4. Incorporate interactive and non-traditional components as well as multiple engagement and discussion opportunities among all participants – speakers, audience, and artists.

5. Include art and artists’ performances and/or presentations into the agenda.

C3. CONVENING GOALS

1. Introduce high level insights and recommendations from the Creativity Connects initiative

(including, primarily, those contained in a report due from the cooperator in June) in order to:

a. Collect constructive feedback;

b. Ground-truth the findings; and

c. Develop new ideas to support arts and creativity at the local level.

2. Announce how the NEA is going to utilize the Creativity Connects recommendations building on the work that has already begun throughout the agency.

3. Highlight work already in progress inspired by Creativity Connects (e.g., RAO/Mellon grants, creativ.us, and others).

4. Offer new thinking and insights from speakers, artists, and audience members who are diverse in race, gender, age, geography, discipline, and industry, and also reflect a combination of “usual and unusual suspects” from the arts, sciences, health, education, food, and business sectors.

5. Provide speakers and participants opportunities throughout the day to engage each other in meaningful conversation that may lead to new ideas about infrastructure, as well as new potential partnerships.

6. Unveil the NEA technology portal that will allow participants to continue the conversation during the next several years about building the creative infrastructure of the future, involving the arts and non-arts sectors.

SECTION D

PRESERVATION, PACKAGING AND MARKING

PACKAGING AND MARKING

Not Applicable.

SECTION E

INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.1 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this address: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/

(End of clause)

E.2 52.246-4 Inspection of Services—Fixed-Price (AUG 1996)

E.3 Inspection and Acceptance

FAR Clause 52.246-4 Inspection of Services – Fixed Price, will govern inspection and acceptance of all services performed by the Contractor. The Contractor is responsible for carrying out its obligations under this contract by controlling the quality of all services rendered and ensuring https://www.acquisition.gov/far/ performance of all contract requirements.

SECTION F

DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

F.1 Timeline for Performing Contract Requirements

Delivery Schedule (Subject to change based on award date as well as new variables and suggestions from offeror. If offeror would like to suggest an alternate timeline, please include an explanation)

Project

Task/Phase

Deliverable Due Date

(post-award)

Meeting Attend kick-off meeting with NEA and Kennedy Center staff. Recommend invitation management system.

Schedule site visit to Kennedy Center with KC and NEA staff.

4-Apr

Agenda Finalize driving convening question or concept & deliver draft agenda #1.

22-Apr

Participants Working invitation management system in place. 22-Apr

Participants Finalize invitation language, as well as speaker and audience invitation list.

27-Apr

Participants Send invitation letter to speakers, artists & audience. 4-May

Participants Follow-up with potential speakers & artists May 5-24

Meeting Monthly update meeting. Present draft design and flow for NEA and Kennedy Center staff.

2-May

Production Finalize design and flow to hand off to Kennedy Center, so they can determine tech-specs.

18-May

Agenda Draft agenda #2 (based on speaker responses and feedback).

25-May

Participants Deadline for Speakers and Participants to RSVP. 25-May

Meeting Monthly update meeting. Finalize agenda. Present list of potential printed materials.

8-Jun

Production Lock down technical requirements with Kennedy Center staff.

20-Jun

Participants Communicate with audience to confirm commitment to attending and pre-convening work in community.

22-Jun

Participants Finalize confirmed speakers. 29-Jun

Meeting Monthly update meeting. Finalize printed materials list.

Make design recommendations.

12-Jul

Meeting Monthly update meeting. 2-Aug

Participants Ongoing maintenance of audience RSVPs. May –

November

Production 2nd Walk-Thru. September

Meeting Monthly update meeting. 12-Sep

Production Finalize all production elements. September

Production Manage check-in and flow of event with KC staff. 18-Nov

Report Deliver summary report of convening content

F.2 Term of Contract

The contract term is from the date of award as shown in Section B.

F.3 Notice to the Government of Delays

Required services shall begin at time of award in accordance with the Statement of Work. The Contractor is responsible for carrying out its obligations under this contract by controlling the quality of all services rendered and ensuring performance of all contract requirements. To this end, the Contractor shall establish, maintain, and manage quality control throughout the life of this contract. In the event the Contractor encounters difficulty in meeting performance requirements, or when the contractor anticipates difficulty in complying with the contract delivery schedule or completion date, or whenever the Contractor has knowledge that any actual or potential situation is delaying or threatens to delay the timely performance of this contract, the Contractor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer and the Project Director, via telephone and follow-up in writing, giving pertinent details. The contractor shall provide these services within 24 hours of written notification. However, this data shall be informational only in character, and this provision shall not be construed as a waiver by the Government of any delivery schedule or date, or any rights or remedies provided by law or under this contract.

F.4 Deliverables

The contractor shall provide information regarding the content and format for each deliverable. Acceptance of all written documents will be based upon the NEA Project Director’s review and approval. The

Contractor shall provide any additional reports that may be requested by the NEA Project Director.

SECTION G

CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

G.1 NEA Project Director

G.1.1 Upon award, an NEA Project Director will be designated to coordinate the technical aspects of this contract and inspect items/services furnished hereunder; however, he/she shall not be authorized to change any terms and conditions of the resultant contract, including price.

G.1.2 The NEA Project Director is authorized to certify (but not to reject or deny) invoices for payment in accordance with enclosed payment terms. The authority to reject or deny performance and associated invoice payment is expressly reserved for the Contracting Officer.

G.1.3 The NEA Project Director for this contract is:

To be determined at time of award

National Endowment for the Arts

400 7th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20506

(202) 682-XXXX

G.1.4 The Contracting Officer for this contract is:

Latonca M. Harris

400 7th Street, SW

(202) 682-5476

Written communications shall make reference to the award contract number and shall be mailed to the above address.

G.2 Invoice Requirements

G.2.1 Written communications shall reference the contract number and shall be e-mailed to the Contracting

Officer/Project Director as necessary. Project-related questions may be directed to the Project Director while contract/cost related questions must be directed to the Contracting Officer. Questions regarding any changes to the contract whatsoever must be directed to the Contracting Officer.

G.2.2 Payment for actual work and services rendered under this contract will be made by the National

Endowment for the Arts via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and in accordance with the contract clause

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items (SEPT 2013), and 52.232-33 Payment by

Electronic Funds Transfer— System For Award Management (JUL 2013), upon submission of commercial invoices to the Endowment Finance Office, Second Floor.

The office that will make the payments due under this contract (i.e., the designated payment office) is shown below. Invoices shall be emailed to the email address below:

NEAINVOICES@ARTS.GOV

Finance Office

400 7th Street, SW

To constitute a proper invoice, the following information and/or attached documentation shall be included with the invoice.

(1) Name and address of the Contractor.

(2) Invoice date.

(3) Contract number.

mailto:NEAINVOICES@ARTS.GOV

(4) Period covered by the invoice.

(5) Number and description, quantity, unit price and extended total for the period covered applicable to Section B, Supplies/Services and Prices.

(6) Cumulative amounts billed by to date.

(7) Name and address of Contractor official to whom payment is to be sent (must be the same as that in the contract or in a proper notice of assignment).

(8) Taxpayer Identification Number.

(9) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number.

Please note:

The successful contractor is required to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at:

https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. (This was previously known as CCR - the Central Contractor

Registration.)

Assistance with creating/registering a SAM account may be found here:

https://www.fsd.gov/app/answers/list.

SECTION H

SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

H.1 Contract Type

This is a Firm Fixed Price Commercial Item Contract.

H.2 Special Contract Requirements

Private Use of Contract Information and Data

Except as specifically authorized by this contract, or as otherwise approved by the Contracting Officer, information and other data developed or acquired by or furnished by the Contractor in the performance of this contract, shall be used by the Contractor only in connection with the work under this contract. The contractor must obtain permission through a written request to the Contracting Officer and approval from the NEA’s General Counsel Office prior to releasing any data for use outside of the performance of this

NEA contract.

In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.227-14(b) Rights in Data-General, the

Contractor shall guarantee strict confidentiality of the information and data that is provided by the

Government during the performance of the contract. The Government has determined that some of the information and data that the Contractor will be providing during the performance of the contract is of a sensitive nature and cannot be disclosed in any manner.

H.3 Prohibition against Soliciting and Performing Personal Services

1. The performance of personal services under this contract is strictly prohibited.

2. Personal service contracting is described in Section 37.104 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation

(FAR). There are a number of factors, when taken individually or collectively, which may constitute personal services. Each contract arrangement must be judged in light of its own facts and circumstances, but the question relative to personal services is: Will the Government exercise relatively continuous supervision and control over the contractor personnel performing this contract?

https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ https://www.fsd.gov/app/answers/list

3. The government and the Contractor understand and agree that the support services to be delivered under this contract are nonpersonal services in nature; that is, no employer-employee relationships exist or will exist under the contract between the government and the contractor or between the Government and the contractor’s employees.

4. Contractor personnel under this contract shall not:

1. Be placed in a position where they are appointed or employed by a Federal employee, or are under the supervision, direction, or evaluation of a Federal employee.

2. Be placed in a Federal staff or policy making position.

3. Be placed in a position of supervision, direction, or evaluation over NEA personnel, or personnel of other contractors, or become a part of a government organization.

Employee Relationship

1. The services to be performed under this contract do not require the contractor or its employees to exercise personal judgment and discretion on behalf of the government.

2. Rules, regulations, direction, and requirements which are issued by NEA management under their responsibility for good order, administration, and security are applicable to all personnel who enter a Government installation. This is not to be construed or interpreted to establish any degree of Government control which is inconsistent with a non-personal services contract.

3. The Contractor shall immediately advise the Contracting Officer if the contractor or its employees are directed by any Government employee to perform work that the Contractor believes constitutes personal services.

SECTION I

CONTRACT CLAUSES

52.204-9 Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel.

As prescribed in 4.1303, insert the following clause:

PERSONAL IDENTITY VERIFICATION OF CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL (JAN 2011)

(a) The Contractor shall comply with agency personal identity verification procedures identified in the contract that implement Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance M-05-24 and Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS

PUB) Number 201.

(b) The Contractor shall account for all forms of Government-provided identification issued to the

Contractor employees in connection with performance under this contract. The Contractor shall return such identification to the issuing agency at the earliest of any of the following, unless otherwise determined by the Government:

(1) When no longer needed for contract performance.

(2) Upon completion of the Contractor employee’s employment.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/current/html/Subpart%204_13.html#wp1074728

(3) Upon contract completion or termination.

(c) The Contracting Officer may delay final payment under a contract if the Contractor fails to comply with these requirements.

(d) The Contractor shall insert the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (d), in all subcontracts when the subcontractor’s employees are required to have routine physical access to a

Federally-controlled facility and/or routine access to a Federally-controlled information system. It shall be the responsibility of the prime Contractor to return such identification to the issuing agency in accordance with the terms set forth in paragraph (b) of this section, unless otherwise approved in writing by the

Contracting Officer. (End of clause)

52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated By Reference (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text may be accessed electronically at this Internet address: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/.

(End of clause)

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items. (MAY 2015) (Incorporated By Reference)

52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive

Orders- Commercial Items. (MAR 2016)

(a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

(1) 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (Nov 2015)

(2) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (AUG 1996) (31 U.S.C. 3553).

(3) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (OCT 2004) (Public Laws 108-77, 108-78

(19 U.S.C. 3805 note)).

(b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

[Contracting Officer check as appropriate.]

X (25) 52.222-3, Convict Labor (June 2003) (E.O. 11755).

X (50) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer— System for Award Management

(JUL 2013) (31 U.S.C. 3332).

(End of Clause)

52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (NOV 1999)

The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days.

(End of Clause)

52.227-14 Rights in Data-General. (MAY 2014) (Incorporated By Reference)

52.246-4 Inspection of Services -- Fixed-Price (AUG 1996) (Incorporated By Reference)

SECTION J

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

Wage Determinations Online - www.wdol.gov. Department of Labor Wage Determination Number: 2015-

4281 REV (2) Date of Revision: 12/29/2015 Area: Washington, DC Click on the following hyperlink.

http://www.wdol.gov/wdol/scafiles/std/15-4281.txt?v=2

SECTION K

REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS OF OFFERORS

52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Items. (FEB 2016)

The offeror shall complete only paragraphs (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) Web site accessed through http://www.acquisition.gov . If the Offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (q) of this provision.

SECTION L

52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2015)

(a) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541611 with a small business size standard of $15.0M.

(b) The proposal should be no more than 18 pages including personnel biographies, resumes, boiler plate organizational descriptions, sample agendas and budget for November 18, 2016 convening, single spaced, in 12-point font and submissions shall include at a minimum:

Understanding of the Project (40 points)

The contractor provides evidence of a clear understanding of the statement of work and specific tasks, including the characteristics of desired speakers, participants, and audience. Displays knowledge and experience developing non-traditional concepts for convenings. Past experience includes producing at least three convening of similar size and scope.

Technical Approach (30 points)

The offeror’s procedures to accomplish the activities required in the statement of work, develop and meet the government’s requirements and concerns.

Personnel Qualifications (20 points)

Discuss past performance and qualifications of your firm and proposed key personnel.

http://www.wdol.gov/wdol/scafiles/std/15-4281.txt?v=2

Proposed Pricing Data (Section B) (10 points)

Offerors shall fill out the pricing table in Section B. Pricing must be all-inclusive (travel, overhead, etc.). Offerors should provide a reasonable breakdown of their costs presented in the pricing table to allow the Government to make an assessment of the various components of the overall price.

Past Performance References

Provide name and telephone number of points of contact for at least three (3) contracts successfully performed by the contractor for a convening of similar size and scope.

Possible in-person presentation (for evaluations)

The Government may request an in-person presentation to the Technical Evaluation Team (TET) from vendors that fall within the competitive range in order for these vendors to demonstrate knowledge and experience in producing a conference similar to that required under this contract.

The objective of this presentation would be to inform the TET’s evaluation of the proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in Section M.

(c) Period for acceptance of offers. The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 30 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers, unless another time period is specified in an addendum to the solicitation.

(d) NA

(e) NA

(f) NA

(g) Contract award (not applicable to Invitation for Bids). The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror's initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government, however, reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received.

(h) NA

(i) NA

(j) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number. The offeror shall enter, on the cover page of its offer with its name and address, the annotation “DUNS” followed by the DUNS number that identifies the offeror’s name and address. If the offeror does not have a DUNS number, it should contact Dun and

Bradstreet directly to obtain one. An offeror within the United States may contact Dun and Bradstreet by calling 1-866-705-5711 or via the Internet at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. The offeror should indicate that it is an offeror for a Government contract when contacting the local Dun and Bradstreet office. Also, enter your General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Service Schedule Number.

(k) System for Award Management. Unless exempted by an addendum to this solicitation, by submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the

SAM database prior to award, during performance and through final payment of any contract resulting from this solicitation. If the Offeror does not become registered in the SAM database in the time prescribed by http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform the Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer will proceed to award to the next otherwise successful registered Offeror. Offerors may obtain information on registration and annual confirmation requirements via the SAM database accessed through https://www.acquisition.gov.

(l) Debriefing. If a post-award debriefing is given to requesting offerors, the government will do so in accordance with this provision. (End of provision)

SECTION M

EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation--Commercial Items (OCT 2014)

The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price (Contractor’s Firm Fixed

Pricing) and other factors considered. In order to select the winning offeror, NEA will rank offerors from best to worst. In addition to the narrative assessments prepared by the Evaluation Team for each evaluation factor, a point scoring system will be used to rank all technical proposals. The point scoring system uses a rating scale of 100%. The evaluation will include four major areas: Understanding of the Project (40 points); Technical Approach (30 points); Personnel Qualifications (20 points); and Pricing Data (10 points).

A written notice of award, emailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party.

1. Understanding of the Project (40 points)

Demonstrates a thorough understanding of the convening, as shown through discussion of the rationale and purpose for the project. The contractor provides evidence of a clear understanding of

NEA’s requirements and does not simply repeat the statement of work, but shows an independent understanding of the context.

Has developed at least three other significant convenings of similar size, scope, and related content.

Demonstrates strong knowledge and experience developing non-traditional concepts for convenings that give participants an opportunity to make genuine connections with each other.

Demonstrates strong understanding of the arts field, as well as creativity in non-arts sectors.

Demonstrates knowledge and prior experience working with creative thinkers and leaders across many fields and industries.

Ability to design and implement an agenda for a day-long convening based on the description in the

RFP.

2. Technical Approach (30 points)

The contractor’s approach is succinct and logical in format, consistent with the tasks to be accomplished, and addresses the tasks described in the statement of work. It also includes which personnel will lead each task. The proposal presents that the contractor demonstrates:

https://www.acquisition.gov/

A clear and cost-effective plan for gathering the information needed to address the successful completion of the tasks enumerated above.

That the contractor has strong skills in organizing and producing a live convening with multiple speaking and performance components including flow and design of the convening.

The contractor’s overall work-plan for all deliverables.

3. Personnel Qualifications (20 points)

The contractor demonstrates overall competency, and specifically:

Experience in conducting events that have similar characteristics to those of this convening as outlined in the RFP (with specific examples cited).

Prior experience, within the last five years, working with the Kennedy Center is a plus.

Experience working with and/or convening leaders at different points in their careers.

Successful work experiences engaging with a range of practitioners and high-profile opinion leaders in developing a convening.

This section must also include examples of work previously completed by personnel who will be working on this project.

4. Pricing Data (10 points)

The proposed budget is appropriate to the administration of the project. The Government will evaluate the contractor’s proposed prices to make a determination that the costs are fair and reasonable in relation to the services provided. The contractor shall provide a reasonable breakdown of their costs to allow the Government to make an assessment of the various components of the overall price. Please create separate pricing for

a. managing invite list and assisting with the production of the event

b. developing the agenda and curating the speaker and participant list