LVCVA narrows the list of ad bidders to four

Two more Las Vegas companies are expected to be eliminated from the field of bidders attempting to secure the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's lucrative ad services contract.

LVCVA Purchasing Director Craig Rowley said today he would recommend that four agencies be invited to give oral presentations next month. The LVCVA board of directors will consider the recommendation on Feb. 9 and if it is accepted as presented, the four agencies would make presentations on March 9.

Black Rose Communications and Shonkwiler/Marcoux Advertising failed to make the cut and were notified on Friday that their written bid proposals did not meet the agency's specifications. The LVCVA did not specify today why they didn't meet the specifications.

That leaves the current agency of record, R&R Advertising, and The Merica Agency as the only local firms in the running for the contract that currently is valued at $27 million for the 1998-99 fiscal year.

R&R Advertising is the state's largest ad agency with annual billings of about $100 million and has held the contract since the early 1980s.

The Merica Agency is teaming with Young & Rubicam Inc., a national agency with offices in Southern California and New York, in its bid.

Two out-of-state companies remain in the running: Colby Effler and Partners, Santa Monica, Calif.; and Dailey and Associates Advertising, West Hollywood, Calif.

Out-of-state companies who made proposals that didn't make the cut came from Masterson Marketing Inc., San Diego; Wendt Advertising and Public Relations, Great Falls, Mont.; and TBS Media Management, New York.

The next step of the process is the hour-long presentation, a 40-minute verbal proposal followed by a 20-minute question-and-answer session before the LVCVA board.

The board is expected to make a final decision after the last presentation. The new contract would begin on July 1.

Nine agencies -- four of them from Las Vegas -- submitted written proposals that were opened by Rowley on Jan. 19. A committee of LVCVA employees reviewed the proposals to determine whether the companies are capable of fulfilling the terms of the contract.

Another Las Vegas company, DSLV/Lawlor, was disqualified from bidding earlier because the company failed to meet the deadline for proposals.

The LVCVA board of directors voted in December to put the contract to bid at the recommendation of R&R executives, who said they did not want the agency tainted by accusations of favoritism.

The LVCVA will award a five-year contract with an option to renew for an additional five years.

Rowley said the written proposals would not become public record until they are accepted by the board at the March 9 meeting.

The board doesn't have to take the least expensive proposal.

"The award will be made to the best responsive and responsible proposer, judged on the basis of price, conformance to specifications, proposer's qualifications including the proposer's past performance in such matters, quality and utility of services, supplies, materials or equipment offered and their adaptability to the required purpose and in the best interest of the public, each of the factors being considered," the request for proposals says.

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