Requests for Proposals

ten by 10

We asked 10 exhibit managers and exhibit-house reps for their opinions and advice regarding RFPs.


"The design in the RFP could be the greatest ever known to mankind, but if it doesn't meet our objectives, it won't be considered." – Jan Aument, CTSM, trade show and event coordinator, BASF Corp. 1 "Including speculative design in an RFP is standard. But this process probably doesn't produce the best result and gives the incumbent an incredible advantage." – Patricia Coleman, director, exhibit sales, Hargrove Inc. 5	2 "Tell the exhibit house your exact budget. Otherwise it might give you too much or too little of what you're looking for." – Tim Naegelin, CME, event manager, air and trade shows, The Boeing Co. 6 "If you want to write a great RFP, don't tell me how to get there; tell me where you want to go. Then let me suggest the best way to get there." – Mark Bendickson, principal, Exhibitdesign 9 "Start with the end in mind and be certain of what you need to accomplish before purchasing components to fill that need." – Janice Breuer, CTSM, trade show specialist, FFF Enterprises Inc.	"In the spirit of entering any new relationship as a partnership, we try to negotiate mutually agreeable intellectual property rights." – Jeff Quade, chief sales officer, Global Experience Specialists Inc. 3 "I think that procurement's 'one size fits all' approach is what has gone wrong for us in the past." – Glenda Brungardt, CTSM, trade show and event manager, Hewlett-Packard Co. 7	4 "The biggest mistake is to think of an RFP as the complete source of strategic direction to inform design." – Mark Hager, vice president, CenterPoint Marketing Inc. 8 "I wish exhibitors knew what it was like to respond to clients' RFPs — the scheduling, estimating, and RFP development." – Claudia King, chief financial officer, K2 Fabrication Inc. 10 "If exhibit managers invested the same amount of time to find the right exhibit partner as they did on writing an RFP, they would be far better served." – Walter Rhoddy, president, Rhoddy Design Inc.