This request for proposals (RFP) is for planning services for a large-scale innovation conference hosted in the Richmond Region by the Greater Richmond Partnership (GRP) and regional partners.
Responses Due: August 16, 2024
Contract Execution: September 13, 2024
Interested and qualified organizations are invited to submit proposals, which will be accepted until August 16, 2024. Proposals should be addressed to:
Michael Ivey
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Greater Richmond Partnership
800 Canal Street, Suite 925
Richmond, VA 23219
An electronic copy of the proposal must be submitted by the date and time mentioned above. Please submit the electronic document, including all attachments, to: [email protected]. If submitting by mail, two hard copies of the proposal must be received by the Greater Richmond Partnership office listed above (not postmarked by the due date).
Questions may be submitted via email to Michael Ivey at the email listed above no later than August 2, by 5 p.m. A summary of questions and responses will be emailed by August 9 as well as posted to the RFP webpage.
Greater Richmond Partnership Overview
The Greater Richmond Partnership is the lead economic development organization representing the City of Richmond and surrounding counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico in Virginia.
GRP impacts the Richmond Region by recruiting companies from all over the globe, which provide employment opportunities and taxable capital investment for our local community. GRP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission “to aggressively generate economic opportunities that create quality jobs for residents in the region and increase the tax base for needed community services.”
Workforce availability is a top factor for company expansion decisions. One of the purposes of this event is to attract possible future residents to Greater Richmond to experience the region for themselves. As the region’s lead business recruitment agency, we also seek to attract company expansions and raise the perception of the region’s innovation community.
Innovation Event Overview
Dow Jones MarketWatch recently described our region as a ‘hidden gem’ and CNN Travel ranked Richmond as the Best Place to Visit. We believe there is an opportunity to showcase the region’s vibrancy to tech/creative/innovation professionals and attract them here.
GRP seeks to develop a detailed strategic plan that will assist in the planning of a large-scale innovation event modeled after similar annual conferences such as Austin’s South by Southwest, Grand Rapids’ Tech Week, Canada’s Collision conference and Charlottesville’s TomTom Festival.
The definition of target audiences will be extremely important to this project, as the development of marketing personas will be key to meeting attendance goals as well as differentiating this event apart from nationally recognized competitors.
GRP hopes to share the final document with a coalition of like-minded organizations and companies in the collaboration process to create a first of its kind conference in Greater Richmond in 2026.
Innovation Event Objectives
Despite our national designation as a Tech Hub, our annual third-party perception surveys have indicated that Greater Richmond is not viewed as an innovative community by corporate executives. The main objective of this innovation event is to raise the profile of Greater Richmond as a space for creativity, tech and innovation as well as assist in attracting executives and talented attendees to the region. An additional objective of the event is to connect local companies with the talent in attendance to continue to build Greater Richmond’s robust workforce pipeline.
GRP seeks a detailed strategic plan outlining the conference concept, marketing personas, business models, as well as next steps to success. During the initial 2-3 month process, GRP expects the strategic plan to consider the following:
- Collaborative organizations
- Marketing personas that target both talent attraction and business recruitment
- Sponsor organizations/businesses
- Potential local/regional/national speakers to attract and enthrall attendees
- Event content tracks to align with target attendee interests including logistics in having a series of events at different venues
- Liability of a large event involving several partners and locations
- Any existing lifestyle events (festivals, concerts, etc.) that could dovetail into this event
Proposal Requirements
Please include the following in your proposal response:
- Overview of your company
- Full address and contact information
- Overview of how you will meet our objectives in our timeline
- Details about your team
- Recent relevant work product in developing target audiences for large-scale events
- Three to five references
- Any key differentiating aspects of your company
- Experience working with small non-profits or economic development organizations
- Incentives or non-profit discounts
- Pricing with optional elements line-itemed
- Payment schedule
- Terms & conditions
GRP Terms
The Greater Richmond Partnership has the right to decline to engage in a proposed partnership or any part thereof for any reason. However, if awarded, GRP may option a 12-month retainer to continue development and launch of the event.