Before We Start
What We're Building
Today, we're going to build an event with a basic Request For Proposal (RFP). If you like, you can check out the final RFP here: Basic RFP, don't worry if it doesn't make sense yet, we'll be learning how to build this RFP step by step throughout this tutorial.
Prerequisites
Before you can start the tutorial, you'll need to have a site ID set up. You can do so by submitting the site ID request form found here.
Help, I'm Stuck
If you ever get stuck, let us know, and we'll be glad to help you out. The best way to contact us with any questions is to log in to the GPS application and click the red circle with a white question mark, in the bottom right of a GPS page.
Today, we're going to build an event with a basic Request For Proposal (RFP). If you like, you can check out the final RFP here: Basic RFP, don't worry if it doesn't make sense yet, we'll be learning how to build this RFP step by step throughout this tutorial.
Prerequisites
Before you can start the tutorial, you'll need to have a site ID set up. You can do so by submitting the site ID request form found here.
Help, I'm Stuck
If you ever get stuck, let us know, and we'll be glad to help you out. The best way to contact us with any questions is to log in to the GPS application and click the red circle with a white question mark, in the bottom right of a GPS page.
Sourcing
What Is Sourcing?
GPS makes it easy for event planners to efficiently source hotels based on an event venue. It allows you to submit RFPs, compare bids, and contract room blocks within a single integrated application.
What Is An RFP?
An RFP lists your event's details and room requirements for a selected property. The property fills in the request and submits the RFP, which includes room rates for you to review. If both parties agree to rates, compensation, and other stipulations, then the RFP becomes a bid with a bookable room block.
Getting Started
To get started you will need to click the Create New RFP link. You can find this link on the Dashboard under the Quick Links section, or on any page in the left navigation bar.
Creating An RFP
To start, we require some general information about your event. The required fields are represented by a red asterisk (*). The following is the required information that you'll need to complete the RFP:
- General Information (Name of Event, Type of Event, History of Event)
- Room Information (Preferred bedding type, Typical Number of Guests in Each Room)
- Site ID (Basically the Account Number for your event. Each event will have its own Unique Site ID. If a Site ID is used for multiple events it can cause issues, as all contracted hotels will show on one site.)
- Rooming List Access
- Method of Payment
- Check-In Details
- Close To Bids Date
- Primary Venue
Event Overview
We're going to fill in the Event Overview section of the RFP. It gathers some necessary information about your event.
General Information
We start off the Event Overview by providing some general information about your event. The first thing that we need to provide is the name of our event, this is one of the primary ways to identify an event, so when you create your event's name keep this in mind and make it as descriptive as possible. You may want to include the year or location if your event is going to take place annually or in different areas throughout the year.
Our event name will be 2018 Off The Wall Basketball
General Information
We start off the Event Overview by providing some general information about your event. The first thing that we need to provide is the name of our event, this is one of the primary ways to identify an event, so when you create your event's name keep this in mind and make it as descriptive as possible. You may want to include the year or location if your event is going to take place annually or in different areas throughout the year.
Our event name will be 2018 Off The Wall Basketball
Our client's name will be John Doe.
For the type of event, we're going to select Sports Team - Youth
We've got a pretty big event, so we're going to contract with multiple properties.
Here is what our General Information looks like now that we've filled it in:
Event History
The next section that we need to fill in is the history of our event, this is the first time we've put on this event, so we'll be selecting the "Inaugural" option. If this event occurs next year, we'll select the "Repeat" option.
The next section that we need to fill in is the history of our event, this is the first time we've put on this event, so we'll be selecting the "Inaugural" option. If this event occurs next year, we'll select the "Repeat" option.
Here's our History of our event:
"The tournament will feature 32 teams (16 boy’s teams and 16 girl’s teams) competing in a single elimination game format. Although teams will be eliminated from a championship after one loss, a consolation bracket will be established guaranteeing that all teams will play three games. Off the wall is returning to Orlando for its 9th consecutive year.
The National Championship Division will consist of teams invited from all over the country to play in a very competitive bracket with, hopefully, some of the best teams in the country."
"The tournament will feature 32 teams (16 boy’s teams and 16 girl’s teams) competing in a single elimination game format. Although teams will be eliminated from a championship after one loss, a consolation bracket will be established guaranteeing that all teams will play three games. Off the wall is returning to Orlando for its 9th consecutive year.
The National Championship Division will consist of teams invited from all over the country to play in a very competitive bracket with, hopefully, some of the best teams in the country."
Group Hotel Arrival
We will now provide the group hotel arrival information.The arrival information will include the primary date our group arrives and the length of their stay. Our event is Friday through Sunday, so our check-in date will be Friday, December 7, 2018. Our guests plan to fly out on Monday, so we'll need rooms for three nights in total.
We will now provide the group hotel arrival information.The arrival information will include the primary date our group arrives and the length of their stay. Our event is Friday through Sunday, so our check-in date will be Friday, December 7, 2018. Our guests plan to fly out on Monday, so we'll need rooms for three nights in total.
Adding Details And Compensation
Next, we'll be adding some necessary event details and providing our compensation requirements.
Event Daily Room Block Requested
Our event is a relatively large and we expect about 3000 team members per night, and three team members in each room, so let's request 1000 rooms.
Event Daily Room Block Requested
Our event is a relatively large and we expect about 3000 team members per night, and three team members in each room, so let's request 1000 rooms.
Bed Type Requested
We'll want to keep as many team members in a room as possible, so we'll ask for a range of bedding types: Doubles, Kings with sleepers, and regular Kings.
We'll want to keep as many team members in a room as possible, so we'll ask for a range of bedding types: Doubles, Kings with sleepers, and regular Kings.
We expect to be able to have about three team members per room.
Method of Payment
We want our team members to pay for their rooms upfront, so we've selected Individual Pays
We want our team members to pay for their rooms upfront, so we've selected Individual Pays
Rooming List Access
We don't want the properties that we're going to contract with to have access to the rooming list until after the room blocks are released, so let's choose the "Send on block release date" radio option.
We don't want the properties that we're going to contract with to have access to the rooming list until after the room blocks are released, so let's choose the "Send on block release date" radio option.
Site ID
The next step is to select a site ID. If you're working with a lot of events, you can request multiple site IDs at one time. We've already created a site ID, so all we have to do is use the search functionality in the drop down to find the exact one we want to use.
The next step is to select a site ID. If you're working with a lot of events, you can request multiple site IDs at one time. We've already created a site ID, so all we have to do is use the search functionality in the drop down to find the exact one we want to use.
Close to Bids Date
Our event is in December, so we'll want all RFPs submitted before then. Let's set our Closed to Bids date for the end of September.
Our event is in December, so we'll want all RFPs submitted before then. Let's set our Closed to Bids date for the end of September.
Compensation Information
We're running a business, so we want to get compensated for our time and effort, but we also want to provide the best rates possible for our group. We'll require that the property offers us with the lowest public price, and set that a 10% commission be paid from the property after the event has ended.
We're running a business, so we want to get compensated for our time and effort, but we also want to provide the best rates possible for our group. We'll require that the property offers us with the lowest public price, and set that a 10% commission be paid from the property after the event has ended.
Complimentary Rooms
Our event has coaches, referees, and other staff members that need sleeping accommodations. As we have such a large event, we should be able to generate complimentary rooms from reservations to cover these accommodations, but let's require that the property provide us with a couple of rooms up front to be considered to participate.
Our event has coaches, referees, and other staff members that need sleeping accommodations. As we have such a large event, we should be able to generate complimentary rooms from reservations to cover these accommodations, but let's require that the property provide us with a couple of rooms up front to be considered to participate.
Adding Venue(s)
We're almost done filling out our details that will be sent with our RFP. The last thing that we need to do is to add where our event will be taking place. We need to add this so that we can request rooms from properties that are nearby the event's venue. Our event is going to take place at ESPN Wide World of Sports. Let's add that information and click Save Venue. The latitude and longitude will get generated for us.
Excellent, everything looks good! Let's move on to sending our first RFPs. We can click Save & Continue to be taken to the Send RFP page, or we can use the Manage Event menu to navigate to the Send RFP page.
Select/Manage Property RFP
Now that we've created the content that will populate our RFPs, we can select a couple of properties to send them to. I'll be using my contact information in this stage of the tutorial, but if you're following along and have created a real event, then you'll want to use the actual contact information for a property.
Selecting Properties
We're going to scroll down to the Select Properties section and select the three closest properties from our venue.
Selecting Properties
We're going to scroll down to the Select Properties section and select the three closest properties from our venue.
Great, all of our properties are less than a mile away from the event's primary venue, and all of our participants should be able to make it to the venue without any delays.
Now all that we need to do is hit the send button, wait for the property to fill out our RFP, and then we can negotiate the details.
We'll be able to track the status of our RFPs in the Delivered RFP section.
Now all that we need to do is hit the send button, wait for the property to fill out our RFP, and then we can negotiate the details.
We'll be able to track the status of our RFPs in the Delivered RFP section.
Comparing Bids
Now that we've sent off our RFPs to properties that we're interested in contracting with, we just sit back and wait for properties to respond. If you sent the RFP to yourself, as I did, then you'll need to fill it out before we can move on. Once the RFP is filled in and submitted, we'll receive an email notification that an RFP is Pending Review. All of our active bids will be listed on the Compare Bids page.
Review RFP Response
All right! We've got a couple of bids back. Newly submitted RFPs show in the Pending Review panel, each property row list's some general information about the response from the property, and we can click View RFP Response in the far right column to see all of the details on the RFP. We can now easily see the number of rooms available that we can block from each property and compare them.
All right! We've got a couple of bids back. Newly submitted RFPs show in the Pending Review panel, each property row list's some general information about the response from the property, and we can click View RFP Response in the far right column to see all of the details on the RFP. We can now easily see the number of rooms available that we can block from each property and compare them.
Let's look at all of the details submitted, so we don't miss anything, and accept our first property. Click the View RFP Response link, and let's accept our first bid.
Accept/Decline RFP
Everything looks good, so let's click the Accept Bid button. Once the bid is accepted the status will change to Accepted. We now have contracted blocks with this property, and we'll be able to allow our guest to place reservations in these room blocks. Great, now we can start booking reservations and managing our block. Continue to: Step 2 - Reservations/Room Block Management
Everything looks good, so let's click the Accept Bid button. Once the bid is accepted the status will change to Accepted. We now have contracted blocks with this property, and we'll be able to allow our guest to place reservations in these room blocks. Great, now we can start booking reservations and managing our block. Continue to: Step 2 - Reservations/Room Block Management