REQUEST FOR QUOTE
Event Services Provider for the 2022 Greensboro Bound Literary Festival
The Greensboro Literary Organization/Greensboro Bound seeks an Event Services Provider who will aid us in preparing for and executing the 2022 Greensboro Bound Literary Festival, May 19-22, 2022..
The Event Services Provider will be managed by the Greensboro Bound Logistics Coordinator and will be part of a larger team that aids in planning and executing the Festival.
Primary services we seek: Turnkey location/venue management, including determining and acquiring necessary resources (staging, A/V, signage, staffing) and all set-up and strike. Other services as detailed in full RFQ.
Interested organizations should contact:
Steve Colyer, Board Treasurer
steve(at)greensborobound.com
305-790-9127
Please detail your ability to meet our needs as provided in the Full RFQ below. Please provide two references with whom you have worked in a similar capacity.
Application deadline: October 29, 2021
First review of applicants: October 15, 2021
Overview
The Greensboro Bound Literary Festival was created in 2017 as a project of the 501(c)3 non-profit Greensboro Literary Organization. The idea was to create a festival that would bring together readers, writers, students, academics, authors, and volunteers who are passionate about books and literature
Over the past four and half years, that’s exactly what we’ve done! Greensboro Bound is the result of more than 500 volunteers, writers, sponsors, and funders coming together to bring the joy of meeting authors, learning, and reading to our community.
The role and responsibilities of the Event Services Provider, in partnership with the Operations Team, are key to the success of the Greensboro Bound Literary Festival.
The Operations Team begins preparing in earnest no later than January 2022, concluding in June with a final report that is provided to the Greensboro Literary Organization (GLO) Board of Directors which includes successes and areas for improvement.
The core Operations Team is composed of the Event Services Provider, Logistics Coordinator (to-be hired), board members Steve Colyer and Andrew Saulters, Jessica Beamon (Program Manager); and other Festival team leads such as Volunteer Coordinator and Authors Committee.
Requested Services
The Event Services Provider is asked to quote on providing the following services:
- Identifying the required room set and associated equipment for up to 9 performance venues and 10 non-performance venues. This includes inventorying existing resources and complementing as necessary, including especially for performance venues:
- AV
- Staging (risers for example)
- Furniture
- In-venue signage
- Aiding with special event permits not related to venue contracts (such as road closures, use of parking lots, alleyways, etc.)
- Subcontractor contracts and communications
- All venue set up, staging and strike, including spaces not used for the public such as hospitality and Green Room(s), and marketplace. This includes developing and executing pre-determined set-up and strike schedules.
- Planning for set-up and strike of various types of signage and physical labor for these tasks
- Transport, distribution, and maintenance (keeping up with) of materials (Festival brochure, lanyards/badges, t-shirts, etc.)
- Aid with volunteer training as it relates to any logistics positions
- Communication and transportation (radios and golf carts) at Festival
- A/V requirements at all venues
- Operational walk-through (mandatory) and punch list on Friday, May 20. Punch list items must be resolved on May 20.
- Full testing of all A/V equipment as part of the operational walk through, and prior to each to event; communicate with venues about what is available on-site v/s what needs to be rented
- A/V contingency plan in case of failure
- Adequate and necessary staffing for all above listed tasks
- Greensboro Bound may want assistance with airport transportation
- During planning Greensboro Bound may discover the need for additional areas of service and will discuss these needs with the Event Services Provider as they become apparent.
While Greensboro Literary Organization will have a special events insurance policy, it is also required that the Logistics Services Provider have $1,000,000+ in liability insurance for their operations and personnel.
Prospective Timeline
(Note: Location scouting and reservations are already underway. Timeline may also include items that ESP is not directly responsible for.)
- December/January
- Venue research
- Special event permit applications (if needed)
- Discussions with other Festivals/events taking place amidst our footprint at the same time as our Festival. (In practice, this is a conversation with Atiba Berkley who leads the Piedmont Blues Festival).
- Research needs of festival coordinator and author committee (A/V, furniture)
- Finalize event planning contract with logistics provider
- Reserve venues
- February
- Contact City about space usage around Cultural Center (CC)
- Contact City about parking allocation
- Reserve volunteer training meeting spaces
- Confirm outdoor signage needs
- March
- Determine radio needs
- Finalize site plan
- Confirm programming needs in each venue: furniture, sets, A/V
- Confirm reservation of necessary equipment
- Confer with police department/parks & recreation as needed
- NOTE: By mid – March we should know all authors, author AV requirements, and how we want to stage specific presentations, and our overall footprint.
- April
- Schedule load-in/load-out for equipment
- Proof and order event signage/banners/lanyards
- Confer with VDPS staff on stage logistics
- May
- Days of event operations planning
- Install signage/banners
- Walk-through to check operational status
- Strike and inventory
- Walk-through to check complete removal
- Thank vendor stakeholders and partners
- June
- Post-event report
- Event Services Provider debrief
Prospective Venues
- Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNCG – Auditorium and foyer
- Scuppernong Books
- Triad Stage – Upstage Cabaret (possible main stage Pearl Theatre)
- International Civil Rights Center and Museum (ICRCM) – Auditorium and foyer
- History Museum – Auditorium, Seminar Room, and Foyer – book sales and signing table
- GSO Public Library – Tannenbaum-Sternberger and Nussbaum Rooms, Lobby – book sales and signing table
- Greensboro Cultural Center
- Performing
- Van Dyke Performance Space (VDPS), Room 203, and City Arts Heyer’s Theater
- Non-Performing
- City Arts Board Room – Author’s Green Room
- VDPS Board Room
- 1st Floor Lobby (Scuppernong Books sales table and signing table)
- 2nd Floor Lobby (Scuppernong Books Sales and Volunteer Center and Literary Marketplace and author greeting area)
- 4th Floor Volunteer hospitality
- Performing
- NCA&T – Harrison Auditorium and Foyer
- UNCG – Elliot University Center (EUC) Auditorium and pre-convene area