S01 Attachment 1 Statement of Work.pdf

Statement of Work Farm Production and Conservation

(FPAC)

Communications Conference

Palm Springs, CA July 30 – August 4, 2023

1. Background The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), FPAC Business Center’s External Affairs Division (EAD) for FPAC communicators with Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) is conducting an employee meeting and requires lodging, meeting space, and related services within a specific geographic area within a single facility in Palm Springs, California.

The Communications Conference has two parts:

1. The first part is the Ag Media Summit, which is led by a separate entity. The Ag Media Summit offers a wide variety of training for ag communicators to further development writing, social media, marketing, and other skills.

2. The second part is led by EAD with sessions designed for FPAC communicators. Meeting space is only needed for this part of the meeting, therefore lodging is required July 30-August 4, 2023, however the conference space is not required until August 1, 2023 for full participants and a reduced number of participants beginning August 3, 2023.

2. Hotel/Facility Requirements The hotel and meeting facility shall meet the following requirements:

• Be in a secure location and have 24-hours onsite security. All guest rooms shall have interior entry. Entrance doors that are not manned by hotel personnel (doorman, valet or bellman) are locked for security.

• Be on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) List of Approved Hotels and Motels for Federal Travelers (https://apps.usfa.fema.gov/hotel/) or provide certification that it offers the minimum level of fire safety by 1) having at least one, single-station, hard-wired smoke alarm in each guest room and 2) each room having additional protection provided by an automatic fire sprinkler system, if the building is four or more stories tall.

• Compliant with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).

3. Lodging The hotel shall block 125 sleeping rooms for the nights listed in Appendix A and hold the block for a minimum of 15 calendar days after award of the contract. The hotel will provide a room block name. The hotel is free to release the remaining rooms not reserved by the hold end date. If fewer than 125 rooms are reserved by the hold end date, no additional fees will be assessed to USDA.

Each employee will make their own lodging reservations using the room block name and pay for lodging rate using their government issued travel card or private credit card. The card will not be charged until the day of checkout. Lodging will not be paid for through the purchase order payment process.

Once a reservation is made by an employee, the hotel’s cancellation policy applicable for that reservation applies, should the individual not be able to travel and needs to cancel the reservation. If the employee does not cancel within the cancellation period, the employee is responsible for paying any cancellation fee and it will not be paid by USDA through a resultant contract for the services defined in this Statement of Work. The cancellation period shall not exceed three calendar days prior to arrival.

All sleeping rooms must be provided at the Federal government per diem rate published at https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates for the relevant location and time, which is currently $126.00. If the Federal government is not exempt from state and local sales tax, these are the only additional amounts that can be added to the nightly rate, if applicable.

If possible, the hotel should offer maximum flexibility on an earlier check-in time to accommodate early arrivals. The check-in and check-out times must be provided. Additionally, some employees may check out on Thursday instead of Friday. These employees will only reserve a room for three nights instead of four at the time they make their reservation. This potential reduction in the number of nights shall not impact the pricing for the other services required in this Statement of Work.

USDA is not authorized to pay for and is not liable for any additional lodging related costs (e.g., in-room movies, alcohol, or food and beverage). Any such costs must be paid for directly by the room occupant using a payment method other than a travel card issued by USDA.

4. Dates of Training The Training dates for the required conference space are August 1, 2023 – August 4, 2023 (125 participants August 1st and 2nd / 75 participants August 3rd and 4th) Lodging requirements are as follows:

Check-in on Sunday July 30, 2023 (125 rooms) Check-out on Friday August 4, 2023 (125 rooms)

5. Audio Visual (AV) Equipment Needs The hotel shall provide the AV equipment defined in Appendix A for the dates specified. Hotel provided equipment must be in good working order for the duration of the meeting. If the equipment fails, the hotel is responsible for immediately resolving the issue and providing working equipment (e.g., fix or replace).

The equipment must be set up, tested, and ready for use the evening before the meeting days to ensure it is ready.

A USDA representative will be given access to the meeting space(s) the evening before the meeting, so they can ensure it is ready for the meeting and become familiar with its use. The equipment will be available from 7:30AM to 5:00 PM each meeting day.

USDA is permitted to use its own government-issued AV equipment at its discretion in the meeting space (e.g., external PC camera and microphone) at no additional cost.

The Federal government is exempt from sales and other taxes on the goods and services is acquires through contract and these taxes shall not be included in the cost for audio visual services.

6. Food and Beverage A sufficient supply of drinking water with ice available and cups/glasses must be provided for up to 125 people for the duration of the meeting time each day, as identified in Appendix A.

Food and Beverage will include a modest assortment of coffee, juice, tea, and/or sodas, as well as light snacks as defined in Appendix A, sufficient for up to 125 people. The listed beverages and snacks are examples of the types of beverages and light snack assortment that shall be included by the hotel. Beverages and snacks would be provided once during an AM break (e.g., coffee, juice, nuts, fruit, muffin, and Danish) and a second time during a PM break (e.g., tea, sodas, crackers, chips, and cookies) each meeting day.

The Federal government is exempt from sales and other taxes on the goods and services is acquires through contract and these taxes shall not be included in the cost for food and beverage.

Appendix A

MEETING

NAME Communications Conference

MEETING DATES

August 1, 2023 – Aug 4, 2023

Sleeping Room Requirements Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Date 7/30/23 7/31/23 8/1/23 8/2/23 8/3/23 8/4/23

Rooms Booked/Night

125 125 125 125 125 Check Out

NOTES Room block requested may be amended slightly. If reservation comes under 125 people hotel agrees no fees will be assessed.

Function Space Requirements

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Date 7/30/2023 7/31/2023 8/1/2023 8/2/2023 8/3/2023 8/4/2023

General Session Mtg Room

None None Set for 125 Participants in classroom

7:30am – 5:00pm

Set for 125 Participants in classroom

7:30am – 5:00pm

None None

Breakout Rooms

None None 1 room for 75 people 7:30am - 5:00pm

In classroom style

1 room for 75 people 7:30am - 5:00pm

In classroom style

1 room for 75 people 7:30am 5:00pm

In classroom style

1 room for 75 people)7:30am - 1pm

In classroom style

Registration Table

3pm to 6:00pm

6:00am to 6:00pm

6:00am to 6:00pm

None None

Function Space Requirements cont.

MEETING ROOM

SETUP/ AUDIO

VISUAL

REQUIREMETNS

Registration Table 2 rectangular tables with seating for 4 people at each table

General Session Room Tuesday August 1st, 2023, 7:30am to 5:00pm and Wednesday August 2nd, 2023, 7:30am to 5:00pm Classroom style seating for 125 people 2 – Rectangular tables on elevated stage w/skirt to seat 8 people 2 – Tabletop Mics 1 – Standalone podium w/ mic 2 – Mic w/stand for middle of room 2 – LCD Projector/Screen for middle of room 11x10 w/12k 1 – Connection with Microsoft Teams and to project on screen 5-Plugs for laptops 5 – Wi-Fi Access

Breakout Room Tuesday August 1st, 2023, 7:30am to 5:00pm through Friday August 4th, 2023 7:30am to 1:00pm Classroom style seating for 75 people 1- Rectangular table on elevated stage w/skirt to seat 4 people 1-Lavailer Mic 1-Table top Mic 1-Stand-alone podium w/ mic 1-LCD Projector/Screen 11x10 w/12k 1-Connection with Microsoft Teams and to project on screen 5-Plugs for laptops 5-Wi-Fi access

Hotel will provide 2 trash cans in each meeting room.

Meeting rooms must be booked on a 24-hour hold beginning from day and time FPAC BC takes possession of function space.

FOOD AND

BEVERAGE:

Water service in both meeting rooms. AM and PM Breaks to include coffee, juice, muffins or Danish, in the a.m. and p.m. break should consist of iced tea, soft drinks, chips or cookies.

IT REQUIREMENTS Electric outlets (power strips) located at the front of the General Session and the Breakout room.

Wi-Fi and Bandwidth to support Connection with Microsoft Teams to be projected on screen

SHIPPING Meeting materials will be shipped to hotel no more than one week prior to the meeting date.

STORAGE Hold shipped materials and equipment in a secure area at the hotel and/or meeting facility up to one week prior to the start of the meeting at no additional cost. The volume to materials and equipment will be limited to 2-3 medium to large size boxes. The boxes must be made available upon arrival of the USDA representative organizing this meeting.

NOTES/ADDL

INFORMATION

Provide name of POC in charge of this requirement

APPENDIX B: QUOTE CHECKLIST

All quotes must include the following (as applicable):

☒ Description of hotel facilities/amenities (brochure) meeting the requirements in the SOW.

☒ Sleeping room block details to include number of rooms per night, applicable rate per night (Federal Government per diem or less), and reservation deadline

☒ Confirmation of pre and post rate availability

☒ Rates charged and/or offered for all requested meeting space, services, and equipment (AV)

☒ Published/Rack rates for all requested meeting space, services, and equipment (AV), as applicable, in order to identify savings being offered to the Government

☒ Applicable service charges (percentage and items to which it will apply)

☐ Nearest major airport(s) and related distance

☐ Information concerning hotel shuttle services (if applicable), including costs, service areas, and schedule

☐ Airport ground transportation options and costs (if hotel does not offer shuttle services)

☒ Parking – regular rates for self and valet (if applicable); also include any discounted rates to Government personnel.

☒ Confirm wireless Internet accessibility in guest rooms and function spaces.

Include costs (if applicable)