Grant Symposium Event Planner

The South Dakota Department of Health (SD DOH) is seeking a qualified event planning consultant to support the "Finding Dollars for Your Future: A Skill Building Workshop for Rural, Tribal, and Frontier Communities" conference scheduled for October 2024. The procurement is a Request for Proposal (RFP) targeting an experienced consultant who will manage comprehensive conference logistics, including agenda finalization, venue coordination, audiovisual requirements, speaker management, conference marketing, and on-site operational oversight. Key deliverables will involve creating a detailed event plan, managing speaker coordination, developing marketing materials, and ensuring smooth conference execution. The RFP process requires interested consultants to submit detailed proposals demonstrating their event planning capabilities, with all inquiries to be directed to Mariah Pokorny via email at mariah.pokorny@state.sd.us. The critical dates include a proposal submission deadline of May 10th, 2024, with an anticipated award decision and contract negotiation scheduled for May 13th, 2024. Evaluation criteria will likely focus on the consultant's experience with similar rural and tribal community conferences, logistical planning expertise, and proposed approach to meeting the conference's objectives.

While no specific set-aside designations or enterprise restrictions were explicitly mentioned in the documentation, the RFP appears focused on selecting a consultant with demonstrated expertise in planning conferences for rural, tribal, and frontier community stakeholders. The contract term is anticipated to be one year, though no specific budget range was disclosed in the available documents. The conference will be located in or around South Dakota, with a specific focus on Harding County (FIPS Code 46063), suggesting a potential preference for vendors familiar with rural South Dakota community dynamics. Prospective bidders should be prepared to provide comprehensive event planning services, including detailed cost proposals submitted separately from the technical proposal. The RFP includes standard contract terms and conditions covering areas such as insurance requirements, termination provisions, and intellectual property rights, which will be part of the final contract negotiation process.