¶ … Club (XPDC) is a bidder's conference for the project of converting technology developed for NASA into civilian use, specifically rocket technology for space travel. The conference is for bidders in all of the different aspects of this project. Converting existing technology stock into private space exploration vessels is a complex task, so there will be a wide range of opportunities for vendors with a specialization in aerospace. This Request for Proposal serves the purpose of soliciting proposals from vendors who are able to meet some of the project specifications, and bid on one or more aspects of the overall project. X-Prize is an organization formed by a team of aerospace industry veterans that has been tasked by the federal government to take the lead on transitioning NASA and military technology relating to space travel into the civilian sector. The Bidder's Conference is being held in order to attract aerospace and related industry professionals, and outline some of the key aspects of the bidding process, as well as to make critical industry contacts.

Proposal Guidelines

The Request for Proposal is for a bidding process that is both competitive and open. The deadline for proposals is Monday, October 19th, 2015. No proposals will be accepted after that time. All proposals must contain the signature, stamp or other form of approval of an officer of the company, or a representative who has specifically been designated with the authority to make bids.

Regarding third parties, if the organization that is presenting the bid intends to utilize any third party in the fulfillment of the work or materials stipulated in the final contract, that information must be presented when the bid is placed. XPDC must be aware of third party arrangements in order to make an accurate assessment of the bid in question.

Contract terms will be subject to negotiation with the winning bidder. The legal teams from XPDC and the winning bidder will need to ratify the contract prior to the beginning of work.

All costs in the bid must be outlined in detail, along with the presentation of a pro forma description of the expenses. All bids must contain final prices, including taxes and other fees.

Project Purpose and Description

XPDC has been chartered to develop a pilot for the space travel privatization program. What this means is that rocket systems previously designed for government usage are being transitioned for use in civilian space travel. At this point, financing has been acquired for this project, and a timetable for the development has been outlined. The current phase of the project is to begin the bidding process by running a Bidder's Conference.

The current round of bidding is for vendors and suppliers for the Bidder's Conference itself. At the Bidder's Conference there will be representatives of XPDC and a large number of companies in the aerospace industry, and other industries that are related to the different aspects of this project. The conference is necessary because the bidders are from all over the world, and bringing them together is an efficient means of presenting the project to these individuals and allowing them the ability to state their interest in becoming part of the supply chain for the space travel project.

The Bidder's Conference is a one-day conference . The conference will consist a series of presentations as well as opportunities for meetings between companies. It is necessary to allow companies the opportunity to meet, because of the need for a high level of cooperation among chosen supply chain partners, some of whom might benefit from joint bids or collaborations. Attendees will not pay a fee to attend the conference -- XPDC is the payer for all aspects of the conference, and will be the payer on the accepted bids for provision of different supplies relating to the conference.

Project Scope

The conference is a one-day event and is not recurring in nature. This will be the only such conference. It is expected that there will be between 100-200 attendees. At this point, bids are being welcomed for catering of the conference, for presentation and promotional materials (banners, printing, presentation design), for audio/visual services, for entertainment, for security services, for marketing services, and for the provision of travel services for the conference participants.

The selected bidders will be responsible for their particular aspect of the conference. All winning bidders will have their efforts coordinated by the XPDC conference management team. There will be specific time frames for each individual task, and quality standards as well. These will need to be met by the winning bidders....

In the case of catering and security, the duties will extend beyond the hours of the conference for clean-up and securing the site until it is vacated, but for the other tasks the end of the conference will represent the end of duties as per the contract. For most winning bidders, the specific performance standards, and in many cases the nature of the service provision, will be guided by XPDC, with the bidder being able to provide some input.
It should be noted that XPDC expects to, if the project is launched, deliver future conferences, including product launches and other press conferences. Thus, while this particular conference is a one-off, there is the potential for further work in the future, should the project be successful.

Request for Proposal and Project Timeline

All proposals in response to this request for proposal are due by 5pm EST on October 19th, 2015. The proposals will be evaluated from October 20th-22nd. During this time, if further information is required of the bidders, they will be contacted. Immediate response is essential, due to the compact time frame of this project.

The winning bidders will be announced on Friday October 23rd, 2015, no later than 3pm EST. The winning bidders will be expected to start work immediately in order to be ready for the conference. Negotiations will take place immediately, and will continue over the weekend if need be. All winning bidders will immediately be put into contact with the relevance XPDC representative, who will provide further details and guidance about the bidder's role in the project. Any company that does not receive notification of winning a bid will be informed via mail.

The date for the conference is Friday, October 30th. In the case of presentation materials, and printed marketing materials, rough versions or mock-ups will need to be provided no later than 9am EST on Wednesday October 27th to allow time for changes before printing. For other winning bidders, the contract will be expected to be fulfilled on the day of the conference. All vendors will need to be on site no later than 7am, as the conference commences at 9am.

Budget

All bidders need to provide specific details about the costs in their bids. Where the task is complex, a cost breakdown is appropriate to communicate to XPDC the specific costs and assumptions that are built into the bid. A pro forma expense sheet will be required, and a high level of specificity is recommended. Proposals that do not contain budget line items will be severely disadvantaged in the bidding process. Line items need to be recorded in line with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Internal, non-GAAP accounting methods, even common managerial accounting techniques, are not acceptable for these bids. This is due to the need to compare the financials of multiple different bids; GAAP enhances comparability.

Bidder Qualifications

Bidders are strongly recommended to provide the following information in their bids:

A brief description of their business, including experience in the field

Professional or academic qualifications, if any

Examples of similar projects worked in the past, for reference

Any references from clients that may be available will be beneficial

A list of resources that will be used in this project, and attestation that the company possesses these resources

Acceptance of the XPDC's time frame, as outlined above

A point of contact for additional questions about the project

A point of contact should the bid be accepted, if different from above

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

There are several criteria that will be used to evaluate the bids. They are:

Prior track record. XPDC needs experienced teams that have a track record of producing high quality work on tight time frames

Evidence of resources. XPDC needs to be convinced that bidders possess and will be able to commit the needed resources to deliver the desired quality on short notice

Cost. XPDC has a tight budget for the conference. The ability to meet budget specs is critical.

Detail. Bids must contain sufficient detail to explain how the bidder will be successful, and the requisite financial detail must also accompany the bid.

All bids must meet the deadline of by 5pm EST on October 19th, 2015 in order to be considered. Any bid that has not arrived by this time will not be considered. The bid must be delivered by courier or in person to XPDC offices by this time. Electronic submissions will not be accepted. The delivery address is:

123 Main St.

Springfield, USA