Virtual Event Webcasting SOW.docx

Virtual Event Webcasting Statement of Work

Base Requirements:

The U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office of Communications and Outreach (OCO), Conference and Events Management Services (CEMS) division requires virtual event platform and production support for Department-hosted events for a 12-month period of performance. The expected attendance for each event is 500 to 10,000 attendees and events may include videos, graphic presentations, and panel discussions with some presenters onsite and others remote. Virtual events will typically be no more than three (3) hours each.

For any event, ED may require any number of the services identified below. The events and programs may be produced within ED facilities in Washington, DC. or at off-site venues as deemed appropriate by ED. ED will handle pre-planning with its internal constituents, run of show, and project management requirements for each event.

For each event, ED will provide a task order request for proposal that includes desired date(s), event times, and event location at least 21 days prior to the event start date. The contractor shall provide all personnel, materials, services, and facilities necessary to perform the requirements set forth in this SOW to provide virtual event webcasting.

Specific services required include:

Event Webcasting Platform

· Webcasting stream delivery must be up to 1080p 1.5mbps and no less than 720p 1.5mbps.

· The platform must include a customizable landing/streaming page.

· Q&A, chat functionality, and polling capabilities.

· Vendor shall have the ability to encrypt access to the site, when requested.

· Site builds shall be completed no later than five business days before the event start date.

Production Support Services

· On-site (or as deemed appropriate by ED, remote) production staff support to aid ED’s virtual production staff.

· Support will include pre-event planning meetings (not to exceed 5), pre-event setup & testing, on-site day-of-event technical streaming support services, and coordination/setup day-of event.

· Vendor shall be able to produce the event broadcast with at least a three-shot view in which 3 video feeds appear concurrently in the frame within its video player e.g., ED-provided American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, moderator, and panelist simultaneously.

· Vendor shall have the capacity to deliver and incorporate teleprompter services onsite or remotely as necessary.

· The contractor is required to provide all virtual production equipment such as switchers, laptops/computers, encoders and all necessary audio/visual needs to facilitate the primary requirements of the event.

· Currently, the Department is unable to ‘interact’ with Zoom. Therefore, ED government-furnished equipment cannot be used to HOST a Zoom conference. If a Zoom platform is proposed, ED cannot provide any equipment that will interface with Zoom service/ network/ equipment. Instead, the government will provide only supplemental equipment such as lighting, webcams, microphones, audio, etc. as appropriate to facilitate other event requirements and the contractor will be required to use its equipment for event production and HOSTING.

Accessibility Services

· Computer generated (AI) live captioning coverage (including testing).

· Live captioning coverage with Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) service.

· Event transcript provided to ED within 24 hours of event ending.

· Files types must be SubRip Subtitle file (.SRT), Web Video Text Tracks Format (.VTT), and Microsoft Word Document (.DOC).

· Vendor shall be able to produce the event broadcast with a dedicated and concurrent video feed of an ED provided American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter.

Post-event reporting

· Reporting must include attendance, Geo data, Q&A, and polling data.

Broadcast Channels

· Simul-Stream to social media e.g., Facebook Live and YouTube Live (Vendor provided)

· Simul-Stream to social media – YouTube or Facebook Live (ED provided channel)

Recording and Archiving

· The contractor shall record each event and provide the Department with an unedited, high-resolution copy within 24 hours after the event ends. ED will provide instructions on how to provide the video within the Federal firewall restrictions, e.g., using a file transfer protocol (FTP) over the internet.

· The contractor shall archive each event for video-on-demand (VOD) access for a minimum of 6 months.

Additional Capacity When necessary, the contractor shall provide the ability to add additional capacity on the day of the event should it be required if the event 1) extends beyond the planned timeframe or 2) exceeds the expected attendance. Therefore, for any single event, when necessary and at the Department’s discretion, the contractor shall be able to add:

· Additional Streaming hours

· Additional Streaming capacity - the contractor shall be able to scale streaming capacity in increments of 2.5K viewers.

Connectivity When requested, the contractor shall have the capacity to provide its own internet or cellular connectivity for the purpose of broadcasting the event. In the event the event is broadcasted from an ED facility, only wireless access that requires all devices to authenticate on the network shall be made available. The Task Order statement of work shall indicate if internet or connectivity is needed.

The contractor’s solution shall have the capacity to allow ED virtual production staff access to produce the event on the contractor’s platform.