RFQ_SOW_PR_Newwire_Press_Distribution.pdf

August 18, 2017

Re: Request for Quotation (RFQ) ID14170224

Dear Vendor:

The General Services Administration Office of Products and Program (OPP), USAGov’s Content and Outreach Branch (TABA), has a “Brand Name” requirement for PR Newswire Press Distribution Service Annual Subscription Renewal. This request is conducted under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures and FAR 6.302-1 Other Than Full and Open Competition. You are hereby invited to submit a quotation in response to this notice.

You are hereby invited to submit a price proposal in response to this RFQ request. Proposed pricing is to be offered against contractor’s current commercial list price. If you are interested in this acquisition, you may participate by submitting your RFQ response in accordance with the instructions that follow.

In responding to this RFQ, it is the contractor’s responsibility to provide current, relevant, complete and accurate information in their quotation. Please submit a quote, no later than August 25, 2017.

Proposals must be received by 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Questions concerning this requirement should be directed to me via email at Vivian.Fields@gsa.gov no later than August 22, 2017 at 12:00 pm EST. On behalf of the U.S. Government, I thank you for your participation.

Vivian Fields Contract Specialist Office of Internal Acquisition U.S. General Services Administration 1800 F St, NW Washington, DC 20407

(202) 501-1741 Vivian.fields@gsa.gov mailto:Vivian.Fields@gsa.gov mailto:Vivian.fields@gsa.gov

U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

(GSA), Office of Products and Programs (OPP) USAGov’s Content and Outreach Branch (TABA)

Statement of Work (SOW)

PR Newswire Press Distribution Service Annual Subscription Renewal

1.0 Identification

The source of this requirement is the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Products and Programs (OPP), USAGov’s Content and Outreach Branch that is located at 1800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20405.

2.0 Purpose

The purpose of this Request for Quote (RFQ) is to solicit a quote from PR Newswire to provide a renewal subscription for Press Release Distribution Service to distribute press releases to comprehensive and targeted English and Spanish audiences via print and broadcast outlets, journalists, bloggers, financial portals, social media networks, websites, and content syndication channels.

Distribution will be accomplished using:

(1) National Hispanic Newsline Government & Politics that includes distribution to Hispanic media including national and regional newspapers, magazines, blogs, radio/TV stations, trade publications, Hispanic media websites and portals that is posted and archived on the PR Newswire for Journalist website and HispanicPRWire.com. Also included are exclusive Media Content Partners for Hispanic PRWire distribution.

(2) US 1 National Newsline that provides nationwide distribution including magazines, news services, newspapers, online, radio/television services.

(3) DC Public Interest Newsline that focus its distribution to magazine, new services, newspapers, radio/TV stations located in the Washington DC metro area. Target audience also includes some international contacts.

(4) Multimedia Asset Attachment (video, infographic, audio file, etc.).

3.0 Description of Services

The contractor shall provide PR Newswire Press Distribution Services annual, renewal subscription for a base year from date of award to 1 year thereafter with four (4) one-year option periods. Functionality and features shall duplicate, at a minimum, the current licensing specifications. The Government requires a total solution to meet our requirements.

Additional features also provided under this subscription include:

Distribution Services o Extensive and proven electronic nationwide distribution system for news releases, media advisories, statements and fact sheets, and other information to outlets via print, broadcast, and online media in English and Spanish o Targeted distribution capabilities (English and Spanish) o Hispanic distribution capabilities to include but not limited to: Hispanic PR Newswire, TV station/cable/satellite sites, radio stations, magazines , newspapers, and blogs o News releases to all Associated Press Alerts & Topic Reports o Extensive (at least 4,500) online distribution points in public and media-only websites including major online portals such as AOL New, Yahoo News, etc.

o Archive of press releases accessible from a public website 24/7/365 days a year o Extensive statistical reports including, but not limited to: total online views, search engine indexes, journalist views, views via global geography, and social media interaction o List of links where press releases appear online o User-accessible media database o Repository of all USAGov’s press releases

Editorial Support o Editorial assistance to proofread releases for consistency, grammatical and typographical errors before transmission o Content review for inconsistency in format, source verification, headline, links and alignment to

AP style o Assistance with customize coding on releases to improve media identification of content by industry, subject, etc.

Technical Support o Customer/Technical Support 7/24/365 o Secure (password protected and multi-factor authentication) online portal for press release submission o Secure (password protected and multi-factor authentication) Online Member Center account that provides comprehensive release & media monitoring metrics for each press release to track distribution, traffic, audiences and engagement. Metrics and reports are downloadable in either Excel or PDF format o Capability to embed keywords and/or keyword link into releases for downloadable video, audio, graphics, tables, or maps o Search Engine Optimization for each press release o Federally-negotiated Terms of Service

4.0 CLIN Numbers, Description, Contract Type and Yearly Not-to-Exceed Limits for Base

Year and Option Year One (1) – Option Year Four (4)

Mandatory CLIN Base Year & Option Years 1 - 4

CLIN Description Contract Type* Yearly NTE Limit

0001, 1001, 2001, 3001 &

National Hispanic Newsline Government & Politics/Exclusive Media Content Partners for Hispanic PR Wire Distribution that includes distribution to Hispanic media websites, portals, TV and radio stations, blogs, trade publications, magazines, newspapers and state portals Unlimited Word Count & Free Logos

FFP - Unit Price 24

Optional CLINs Base Year & Option Years 1- 4

0002. 1002, 2002, 3002 &

US 1-National Newsline Unlimited Word Count & Free Logos

FFP- Unit Price 12

0003, 1003, 2003, 3003, &

DC Public Interest Newline Unlimited Word Count & Free Logos

FFP- Unit Price 24

0004, 1004, 2004, 3004 &

Multimedia Asset Attachment (video, infographic, audio file, etc.

FFP - Unit Price Per Release

See Attached Vendor Pricing Tool for the Base Year Order Amounts

5.0 Period of Performance

The term of this contract is for the period of one year beginning from date of award to 1 year thereafter with four (4) one-year option periods. The Government reserves the right not to exercise any optional services or option year period of performance.

6.0 Contact Information

Contracting Officer:

Vivian Fields Contracting Officer GSA, Office of Internal Acquisition (OIA) Office of Administrative Services 1800 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20405 Telephone: 202-501-1741 (office) Email: vivian.fields.gsa.gov

Contracting Officer’s Representative:

Cynthia Gilbert GSA Office of Products and Programs (OPP) USAGov’s Delivery and Channel Operations Division (TABC) 1800 F Street, NW, Fourth Floor Washington, DC 20405 Telephone: (202) 208-0138 (office) Email: cynthia.gilbert@gsa.gov

7.0 Procedures for Payment

Invoices:

Billing and payment shall be accomplished as follows:

The Contractor shall submit an original invoice(s) for payment to GSA Finance Center.

- Duplicate invoice(s) shall be sent to the Contracting Officer’s Representative

(COR).supporting documentation is required, it will be attached to the COR’s duplicate copy.

The COR’s invoice(s) shall be submitted before or at the same time as the invoice submitted to the GSA Finance Center.

tel:202-501-2867 mailto:cynthia.gilbert@gsa.gov

- Invoices are authorized for payment upon GSA’s receipt and acceptance of deliverables specified in the contract and the receipt of a proper invoice. Invoices must include the following:

1. Name and address of the Contractor;

2. Invoice date and invoice number;

3. Order Number and/or Contract Number , PDN Number (also known as GP number) and any contract line item numbers, if applicable;

4. Description of the services provided including quantity, unit of measure, unit price and extended price of the item(s) delivered; period of service and/or dates that services were provided, etc.;

5. Terms of any discount for prompt payment offered;

6. Name and address of contractor’s official to whom payment is to be sent;

7. Name, title, phone number and mailing address of the person to be notified in the event of a defective invoice, when available; and

8. Contractor’s Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).

9. Invoices will be submitted through GSA’s Vendor and Customer Self Service (VCSS) System, Please Note: Failure to send both the original invoice through GSA’s Vendor and Customer Self Service (VCSS) and the duplicate invoice with supporting documents to the COR, could delay your payment.

1. The Contractor shall submit an original invoice for payment to GSA’s Finance Center at:

Pegasys Financial Services (KCAP)

USDA - OCFO

Financial Information & Operations Division PO Box 419279 Kansas City, MO 64141 Telephone Number: 1-800-676-3690

2. A duplicate invoice with supporting documentation is sent to the COR, who will confirm deliveries or performance made against the invoiced line items to ensure that the correct amounts have been billed and to identify any price deductions. The COR will then sign the invoice(s) and complete the receiving report to authorize the GSA’s payment office to process payment of the invoice(s).

Duplicate invoice(s) must be submitted to the COR via email at cynthia.gilbert@gsa.gov.

FORMAT FOR PRICE PROPOSAL

The General Services Administration (GSA) is issuing this Request for Quote (RFQ) on behalf of the USAGov’s Content and Outreach Branch (TABA).

Offeror may not submit marketing materials (brochures, glossies, etc.) as a substitute for submission of a prepared technical proposal.

The Offeror shall price each CLIN separately based on firm-fixed unit pricing for a PR Newswire annual renewal subscription for the base year and for each option year.

o Each CLIN has a not-to-exceed maximum order amount per year.

https://vcss.ocfo.gsa.gov/ https://vcss.ocfo.gsa.gov/ https://vcss.ocfo.gsa.gov/ o Each year (base and each option year) shall be priced separately.

o Base Year’s initial order quantities are identified in the Vendor Pricing Tool under the tab, Base

Year o Base Year pricing shall include pricing for the maximum order quantity and pricing for the initial order quantity o Summary tab will include the total maximum pricing for the Mandatory CLIN and Optional CLINs and the aggregate maximum amount by CLINs for each performance year.

o Attach a copy of your federally-negotiated Terms of Service.

The Price Proposal shall identify and fully describe the Bilingual Press Release Distribution Services provided under the PR Newswire’s annual subscription renewal. A written Price Proposal is required from the Offeror. The approach shall be simple, easy to read, and shall clearly and concisely describe any pricing or business factors that impact the requirements identified in the SOW. There is no page limit for the Price Proposal.

o Any and all discounts must be identified.

o Price quote will be firm-fixed unit price for the base year and each option year period.

o TIN, DUNS, Cage Code, NAICS code and Product Service Code (PCS) must be identified.

o Identify the yearly price escalation rate for each Option Year.

o For text section(s), the font size will not be less than 11-point; all tables inserted into the Price Proposal will not be less than 10-point. Pages will be 8.5 x 11 either single or double-sided.

o Price Proposal must be submitted as a PDF or Word file.

o Offeror must submit their proposed pricing using the Vendor Pricing Tool (RFQ Attachment A) as an Excel file in addition to a written Price Proposal. The Vendor Pricing Tool (Excel) must be submitted at the same time as the Price Proposal.

o Offeror must insert a pricing table into the written Price Proposal that captures the data elements identified in the RFQ Vendor Pricing Tool for the base year and each option year for each mandatory and optional CLIN including the NTE annual quantity limits.

o Base Year order quantities are identified in the Vendor Pricing Tool. Please provide FFP Unit Pricing for the order quantities identified for the Base Year as well as FFP Unit Pricing for the yearly NTE limits. Option Year 1 – Option Year 4 only require FFP Unit Pricing based on yearly NTE limits.

o Confirm that press releases include both an unlimited-word count and attached logos.

o Attached your federally-negotiated Terms and Conditions and Supplement for Distribution

Services.

o This SOW does not contain any auto-renewal components.

PRICE EVALUATION

The Government anticipates awarding the contract to the contractor whose quotation is the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable.

DUE DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF QUESTIONS

All questions must be submitted in writing via email to the Contracting Officer at: vivian.fields@gsa.gov by 12:00 Noon EST, August 22, 2017. No questions will be accepted by telephone or after the specified time and due date. The government intends to respond to all questions on or about August 23, 2017. All questions will be addressed in writing only.

mailto:vivian.fields@gsa.gov

DUE DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF THE PRICE PROPOSAL AND THE VENDOR PRICING TOOL

(Excel) The due date for submittal of the Price Proposal and the Vendor Pricing Tool (Excel) is 12:00 pm EST August 25, 2017. Both the Price Proposal and the Vendor Pricing Tool (Excel) are to be submitted at the same time through the GSA’ FedBizOpps.gov portal only. Any Price Proposal and/or Vendor Pricing Tool not received via FedBizOpps.gov will not be considered.

It is each Offeror’s responsibility to learn how to navigate the FedBizOpps.gov portal, find attached documents, and/or submit their quotation. If an offeror is unsure about any FedBizOpps.gov feature, the offeror is instructed to contact the FedBizOpps.gov help desk and/or search the FedBizOpps.gov portal for the appropriate assistance.

Late quotations posted after the deadline will not be considered for award.

The Government reserves the right to exercise any Optional CLIN at time of award in any quantity up to the maximum unit quantity per year. Further, the Government reserves the right to exercise addition units per performance period up to the maximum unit quantity per year. The Government reserves the right not to exercise any optional CLIN or option year. This SOW does not contain any auto-renewal components.

All vendors must have an active registration in SAM.gov and RBA

(1) All vendors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (www.sam.gov), prior to registering in RBA.

(2) Vendors also must register or have an active registration in the Regional Business Application (RBA) system at: portal.fas.gsa.gov

If you have any problem with registration, contact the Helpdesk. Contact information is listed below.

Technical Support and Registration portal.fas.gsa.gov Phone: (877) 472-4877 Email: AASBS.helpdesk@gsa.gov

ATTACHMENT A: Vendor Pricing Tool