Politics

DNC committee requests housing services vendor

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — The Democratic National Convention Committee Friday released a request for proposal for a housing services vendor for the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The proposal can be found at the DNCC website, demconvention.com.

The housing services vendor will work closely with the DNCC housing department to manage the DNCC's hotel room blocks for convention week. The vendor will be responsible for providing support teams, including call centers, website reservation services and fax machines; building on existing housing inventory, handling contracts and assisting with housing inspections; managing housing inventory, wait-list procedures and post cut-off procedures; providing reservation services and meeting space management systems; and managing deposits and refunds, conducting audits and producing ongoing reports.

The DNCC is responsible for housing the 5,500 - 6,500 delegates who will attend the convention, as well as certain elected officials, some media, security, production staff, allied groups, campaign staff, and other special guests.

This is the third RFP the DNCC has issued. The first RFP was issued on Sept. 13 for an event architect and construction manager, and the second on Sept. 21 for an exposition services vendor.

The DNCC will evaluate the proposals based on numerous criteria, including, but not limited to: experience, reliability, relationships to Charlotte, North Carolina, and the surrounding region, participation of union labor, women, minorities and persons with disabilities, and local resources to support the endeavor.

The request for proposal is just one step in the DNCC's outreach to local businesses. On Sept. 1, the DNCC and Committee for Charlotte 2012 announced the publication of an online vendor directory that will allow vendors to search for local businesses for their convention-related needs. The vendor directory can be found at www.charlottein2012.com