Interest high in LVCVA ad contract

Interest is running high for a lucrative advertising services contract being offered by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The contract, which had billings of $27 million this fiscal year, has been held by R&R Advertising since the early 1980s. But the LVCVA board of directors voted last month to put the contract to bid at the recommendation of R&R executives.

They said they did not want the agency tainted by accusations of favoritism.

The request for proposals is for a five-year contract with an option to renew for an additional five years.

More than 30 ad executives attended a pre-proposal conference on Wednesday at which LVCVA purchasing director Craig Rowley outlined the ground rules for submitting proposals.

Jan. 19 will be a critical deadline for agencies that want to be considered for the contract. By 3 p.m. that day, written proposals must be turned in. They'll be publicly opened right after the deadline.

Rowley said it hasn't been determined who will first review the submissions, but he said the initial examination would be to determine if the proposals were properly submitted and all information sought by the agency was supplied. Among the information sought: current billings, the names of the company's five largest accounts and a detailed billing methodology.

Some agency representatives expressed concerns about whether that information, which some consider proprietary, would be publicly disclosed. Rowley confirmed that the proposals become public records and while he said he would try to protect the information, he offered no promises that it could be withheld.

Rowley said the written proposals would be evaluated and by Jan. 26 a determination would be made on which agencies would be invited to give an oral presentation to the LVCVA board of directors.

The oral presentations, expected to be given at the board's regular March 9 meeting, will be locked into a one-hour format, with 40 minutes for the pitch and 20 minutes to answer questions.

The board is expected to make a final decision that day. The new contract would begin on July 1.

The board doesn't have to take the least expensive proposal and Rowley read the final selection criteria at Wednesday's meeting.

"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.

The emphasis on "past performance" could give an edge to R&R, which is expected to bid for the contract. Some board members said they were happy with R&R's work and wanted to extend its contract without going to bid. Board member Don Snyder said at the December meeting that with Las Vegas entering a critical phase in its efforts to attract more tourists to the city, now is not the time to switch ad agencies.

Rowley said the ad contract was advertised locally on Dec. 23 and more than 200 interest letters were sent to agencies LVCVA officials thought would consider submitting a proposal.

"Some agencies have already told us they wanted to look at it and some are putting proposals together just for the experience," Rowley said.

The LVCVA ad contract is not only financially lucrative -- the $27 million spent this fiscal year represents more than 22 percent of the total LVCVA operating budget and is more than the total annual billings of many ad agencies -- it's also very stable.

"It's definitely a high-profile account," said LVCVA spokesman Rob Powers. "Las Vegas is the big leagues and many of these agencies want to give it a try."

Rowley said companies don't have to be licensed in Clark County to submit proposals. However, the successful bidder would have to be qualified to do business here.

In addition to the concerns about confidentiality of materials submitted in bids, some agency representatives asked why the request for proposals seeks information about whether their companies qualify as a certified minority, woman or disadvantaged business enterprises.

Rowley assured the representatives that there was no allowance for companies owned by minorities, women or the disadvantaged and that the request was for statistical information only.

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