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Summary and Background
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) seeks competitive proposals from U.S. companies and consultants to provide full lifecycle support for webinars and other virtual events, including planning and support.
The IAFC represents the leadership of firefighters and emergency responders worldwide; our members are the foremost experts in firefighting, emergency medical services, terrorism response, hazardous materials spills, natural disasters, search and rescue, and public safety policy.
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Proposal Guidelines & Timeline
The response period will be open until March 21, 2025. Submissions will be reviewed and evaluated upon receipt. Final selections will be made, and applicants will be notified by March 26, 2025.
The selected contractor will be provided with a contract and must agree to the terms and conditions set forth by the IAFC.
Proposal Timeline:
- March 18, 2025 – Questions due regarding the RFP (may be emailed to Dave Dobis, ddobis@iafc.org). Please allow two business days for a response.
- March 21, 2025 - Proposals due no later than 5 PM (Eastern) to IAFC (email to ddobis@iafc.org)
- March 26, 2025 - Vendors will be notified of the acceptance/rejection of their proposal.
- March 31, 2025 - Contract finalization with accepted vendor.
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Vendor Duties and Responsibilities
The vendor will manage the full lifecycle of IAFC webinars and other virtual events, including planning and production. Supported organizations may include IAFC Sections, Divisions, and partner-sponsored webinars. IAFC staff must approve each webinar before planning starts. Vendor responsibilities include:
- Coordination with IAFC staff throughout all phases of event planning and execution
- Webinar scheduling
- Coordinate with instructors to gather bios and content for event marketing
- Provide quarterly reports to include student name, years of services, rank, department staffing (volunteer, combination, career), state, country. Include digital map to visually indicate student location
- Manage the event registration platform
- Conduct a rehearsal session for each event
- Develop and manage timelines and deliverables for each event while communicating with stakeholders
- Maintain a master webinar calendar for all events.
- Arrange planning calls with staff and stakeholders as necessary
- Collaborate with staff and stakeholders to evaluate the technical requirements necessary for each event
- Collaborate with staff and stakeholders to arrange and perform rehearsals and technical checks with speakers, panelists, and moderators hosts
- Serve as a liaison to the IAFC Marketing department to facilitate the transfer of information for webinar marketing
- Troubleshoot the webinar platform as needed
- Share pre-event registration lists with stakeholders as requested
- Manage live and pre-recorded events
- Provide post-event follow-up reports to stakeholders
- Work with IAFC staff to identify areas of opportunity and improvement regarding all IAFC virtual educational offerings
- Manage the distribution of event recordings and applicable continuing education certificates to event attendees
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Qualifications & Expectations
Webinar and Virtual Event Expertise:
- Experience in planning, producing, editing, and delivering webinars: The contractor should have a proven track record of successfully planning, producing, editing, and delivering webinars and other virtual events (e.g., Virtual Town Hall Meetings).
Project Management Expertise:
- Proven ability to manage multiple events
- Strong communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with the IAFC staff and stakeholders
Preferred Qualifications:
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Experience with Similar Projects:
- A history of developing virtual events in a government or non-profit setting is a plus
- Experience related to public safety or emergency response would be highly advantageous
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Understanding of Fire Department Needs:
- It is beneficial to be familiar with the challenges and considerations related to the fire and EMS service, including volunteer and career departments.
Expectations of Contractor:
- Collaboration with IAFC staff and stakeholders: The contractor will work closely with IAFC staff and appropriate stakeholders, especially during each event's planning and production phases.
- Communication Responsiveness: The contractor is expected to respond to inquiries from IAFC staff in a timely manner. This includes responding to emails within two business days and promptly addressing phone messages.
- Project Documentation: Maintain clear and concise documentation, including meeting minutes, action items, and progress reports. Submit these documents to the IAFC project manager at designated intervals.
- Invoicing: Submit invoices in accordance with the IAFC's invoicing policy, which will be provided to the selected contractor upon contract finalization. Invoices should be detailed, and charges should be clearly linked to completed project deliverables.
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Proposal Requirements
Please provide answers to the following questions in as efficient a manner as possible.
Organization Profile and Experience Information
- Provide a brief history of your organization, including experience providing webinar and virtual event services.
- Provide a summary of at least one past performance example.
- Describe your company’s experience with similar projects and the course topics in this RFP.
- Include short bios for key personnel working on this project.
Project Information
- Provide a detailed, proposed work plan for the planning, producing, and delivering a typical webinar.
- Describe how the project would be managed and your process and response times for responding to project status updates.
Cost Information
Webinars are generally scheduled at least once weekly, with multiple webinars occasionally required. The typical webinar is one and occasionally up to two hours.
- Provide detailed cost information, including labor category/personnel, fully burdened labor rates, hours, estimated travel costs, and other direct charges (ODCs).
- This contract is expected not to exceed a value of $40,000.
- Provide an itemized breakdown of the project fees. Feel free to include optional add-ons.
Other
- Provide any additional information you believe is pertinent to this RFP.
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Proposal Evaluation Criteria
- History of the company
- Credentials of vendor backed by applicable references
- Experience of vendors performing similar services
- Proposed cost
- Developer’s availability during Eastern Standard Time working hours of 9 AM to 5 PM
By submitting a proposal, contractors acknowledge that they and their affiliates have no undisclosed conflicts of interest.
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Payment Terms
The contractor will submit invoices monthly and be paid for work completed. This contract is expected not to exceed a value of $40,000.
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Submission Process
Proposals Due: March 21, 2025
Please email proposals in response to this RFP to Dave Dobis (ddobis@iafc.org).