LTC 31-2003 CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No.
To:
From:
Subject:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Uorge U. Gonzalez ~ ~p~e~
City Manager
ECONOMICS RESEARCH ASSOCIATES (ERA) - CONSULTANT TO
EVALUATE STRUCTURE OF GMCVB
Date: January 31,2003
The purpose of this LTC is to advise the Mayor and City Commission that a contract has
been executed with ERA (see attached) to evaluate the structure and governance of the
Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) and make recommendations to
the City of Miami Beach.
ERA will commence its study on February 3, 2003 at which time they will meet with City
staff and then spend a good portion of the week meeting with the GMCVB and other
stakeholders. We invite you to meet with the consultant during the week to discuss your
views and concerns. Please contact Rocio Rodriguez or Christina Cuervo to schedule
convenient meeting times.
ERA has also been contracted by the GMCVB to perform a Market Assessment. The
Scope of Services for the Market Assessment is also attached.
As part of the City's commitment to assure participation by City stakeholders, I am
organizing a steering committee to help guide the consultant's work plan and provide input
throughout the deliverables. The steering committee will be comprised of City staff and:
· Elsie Howard, Visitors and Convention Authority
· Stu Blumberg, Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association
· Michael Milberg, Chair of Miami Beach Convention Center
· David Kelsey, South Beach Hotel and Restaurant Association
· GMCVB Liaison - to be appointed by GMCVB
· Doug Tober, SMG
The consultants and the Steering Committee will begin meeting on February 3, 2003 from
10:00 a.m. - noon.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
JMG\CMC\rar
F :\cmgr~ L L\LTC-O3~E RA GMCVB.CMC,rar.doc
c: Christina M. Cuervo, Assistant City Manager
EXHIBIT "A"
SCOPE OF SERVICES FOR MARKET ASSESSMENT:
The Scope of Services presented below is designed to produce a Market
Assessment as requested of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau
(GMCVB or Bureau) by the City of Miami Beach (City).
Task 1: INITIAL TRIP TO MIAMI AND MIAMI BEACH
To begin this assignment, the three key ERA Team staff would spend a day or
two in Miami and Miami Beach. We would begin with meetings with City staff
and then meet with Bureau staff. The primary mission of this trip will be to
gain an understanding of what data is already available regarding visitation to
the area, and to collect as much information as possible while there in person.
DELIVERABLE 1: Inventory of Data Available
Upon returning from our meetings in Miami Beach and the
greater Miami area, the ERA team will submit Memorandum #1
to GMCVB and City staff documenting who the consultant met
with and a bibliography of the materials collected.
Task 2: ANALYSIS OF DATA
ERA, with assistance and review from TDA, would analyze the data collected
during the initial trip, and would continue to correspond with the Bureau and
other agencies in the Miami region to compile a data base of the information
known at this time about visitation to the region. We understand that data are
available in electronic form, and that the ERA Team could specify additional
cross-tab analyses of existing data bases to isolate the characteristics of
visitation to Miami Beach as distinct from the remainder of the region. We
further understand the Bureau can arrange for analyses of this type from
Strategy Research Corporation, the current primary research provider for the
Bureau, at a cost of approximately $200 per run.. The ERA/TDA team will also
collect existing data on the tourism industry as needed to provide a national
context for assessing market factors in the Greater Miami region.
Task 3: MARKET ASSESSMENT REPORT
The ERA Team will then prepare a written report to the GMCVB and the City
of Miami Beach attempting to answer as many of the questions in the City's
Market Assessment request as possible using the existing data base and
other existing data collected by the consultants. We envision this report to
include summary tables and graphics as well as brief narrative.
DELIVERABLE 2: Market Assessment
A written report will be presented to the GMCVB and the City
presenting tourism market characteristics for Miami Beach to the
degree that they can be determined from existing data sources.
Task 4: IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL RESEARCH NEEDS
To the extent that desirable data are not available, ERA will identify these and
prepare an internal memorandum to the GMCVB and City pointing out what
information could be collected for inclusion in future market assessments.
DELIVERABLE 3: Internal Memorandum
The third defiverable would be a brief memorandum intended for
intemal use by the GMCVB and the City presenting any need for
additional data (e.g., through primary research) or new analyses.
Additional services
The key staff on the ERA Team will remain available for other services on a time and
expenses basis as requested by the GMCVB.
SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS:
Payments to the Contractor would be tied to submission of deliverables as follows:
Milestone:
Deliverable #1
Deliverables #2 and #3
Market Assessment Totals
Amount:
$15,000 + any expenses to date
$171000 -I- any remaininq expenses
$32,000 + expenses
Expenses would not exceed 15 pement of the total budget amount without prior
authorization from the GMCVB.
The cost of services provided by Strategy Research Corporation would be in addition
to these amounts, but we believe they are unlikely to exceed $1,000.
Economics Research Associates
January 15, 2003
Christina Cuervo
Assistant City Manager
City o f Miami Beach
City Hall
1700 Convention Center Drive, Fourth Floor
Miami Beach, FL 33139
ERA No. 14932
Re: Supplemental Letter to City and GMCVB Contracts
Dear Ms. Cuervo:
It is the understanding of the parties that by virtue of ERA conducting both the Market
Assessment and the Evaluation of the GMCVB governance structure concurrently, that
certain savings in the cost of professional services may be realized of $2000 to the not
to exceed $34,000 contract and approximately $7,500 to the not to exceed $100,000
contract, respectively. As a result of entering into 2 different contracts, one with the
City and one with the GMCVB, those savings may no longer mater/alize. However, if
the consultant deems that the savings can attained, he will pass these on to the City and
GMCVB, upon conclusion of its services.
R ~espec. t~<lly submitted,
:: ,,~ .' / :.
~-~ , ? / .: ....
/S/teven E. Spick~d
Senior Vice President
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
AND ECONOMICS RESEARCH ASSOCIATES (ERA)
THIS AGREEMENT made and entered into this :) L/ th day of ~"~'4'1' 2003, by
and between the CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA (hereinafter referred to as City),
having its principal offices at 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida, 33139,
and ECONOMICS RESEARCH ASSOCIATES (ERA) (hereinafter referred to as
Consultant), whose address is 388 Market Street, San Francisco, California, 94111.
SECTION 1
DEFINITIONS
Agreement: This Agreement between the City and Contractor.
City Manager: The Chief Administrative Officer of the City.
Contractor: For the purposes of this Agreement, Contractor shall be deemed to
be an independent contractor, and not an agent or employee of the
City.
Services: All services, work and actions by the Contractor performed pursuant
to or undertaken under this Agreement, as described in Section 2.
Fee: Amount paid to the Contractor to cover the costs of the Services.
Risk Manager: The Risk Manager of the City, with offices at 1700 Convention Center
Drive, Third Floor, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, telephone number
(305) 673-7000, Ext. 6435, and fax number (305) 673-7023.
SECTION 2
SCOPE OF WORK
The scope of work to be performed by Contractor is set forth in Exhibit "A," entitled
"Scope of Services." (Services).
SECTION 3
COMPENSATION
3.1 FEE
Consultant shall be compensated by the City for the Services to be provided
herein, pursuant to the Schedule of Payments set forth in Exhibit "A", attached hereto.
The City's contribution fee for Services satisfactorily performed by Consultant
shall not exceed the total sum of One Hundred Thousand and 00/100 Dollars
($100,000). Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, the City may reimburse Consultant
for additional expenses incurred by Consultant, in an amount equal to 15% of the City's
portion of the total Agreement cost ($100,000). However, any such reimbursable
expenses must be approved in writing by the City prior to Consultant incurring costs for
same. The City shall have no duty or responsibility to reimburse Consultant for any
unapproved expenses.
3.2 INVOICING
Contractor shall submit an invoice, which includes the purchase order number
and a detailed description of the Services provided.
3.3 METHOD OF PAYMENT
Payments shall be made within thirty (30) days of the date of invoice, in a manner
satisfactory to and as approved and received by, the City. Contractor shall mail all
invoices to:
City of Miami Beach
Accounts Payable
1700 Convention Center Drive
3rd Floor
Miami, Florida 33139
SECTION 4
GENERAL PROVISIONS
4.1 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CITY
The City in requesting advertisement services should provide to Contractor a
"camera ready" advertisement by the deadline specified in Exhibit "A."
4.2 PUBLIC ENTITY CRIMES
A State of Florida Form PUR 7068, Sworn Statement under Section
287.133(3)(a) Florida Statute on Public Entity Crimes shall be filed with the City's
Procurement Division, prior to commencement of the Services herein.
4.3 DURATION AND EXTENT OF AGREEMENT
The term of this Agreement shall commence upon execution of this
Agreement, by all parties hereto, and shall terminate on
4.4 TIME OF COMPLETION
The Services to be rendered by the Contractor shall be commenced upon
receipt of a written Notice to Proceed from the City subsequent to the execution
of the Agreement, and Contractor shall adhere to the schedule as referenced by
Exhibit "A" hereto.
A reasonable extension of time shall be granted in the event the work of
the Contractor is delayed or prevented by the City of by any circumstances
beyond the reasonable control of the Consultant, including weather conditions
or acts of Cod render performance of the Consultant's duties impracticable.
4.5 INDEMNIFICATION
Contractor agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City of Miami
Beach and its officers, employees and agents, from and against any and all
actions, claims, liabilities, losses, and expenses, including, but not limited to,
attorneys' fees, for personal, economic or bodily injury, wrongful death, loss of
or damage to property, at law or in equity, which may arise or be alleged to have
arisen from the negligent acts, errors, omissions or other wrongful conduct of the
Contractor, its employees, agents, sub-consultants, or any other person or entity
acting under Consultant's control, in connection with the Contractor's
perfo~'f~3ance of the Services pursuant to this Agreement; and to that extent, the
Contractor shall pay all such claims and losses and shall pay all such costs and
judgements which may issue from any lawsuit arising from such claims and
losses, and shall pay all costs and attorneys' fees expended by the City in the
defense of such claims and losses, including appeals. The parties agree that one
percent (1%) of the total compensation to the Contractor for performance of the
Services under this Agreement is the specific consideration from the City to the
Contractor for the Contractor's Indemnity Agreement.
The Contractor's obligation under this Subsection shall not include the
obligation to indemnify the City of Miami Beach and its officers, employees and
agents, from and against any actions or claims which arise or are alleged to have
arisen from negligent acts or omissions or other wrongful conduct of the City and
its officers, employees and agents. The parties each agree to give the other
party prompt notice of any claim coming to its knowledge that in any way directly
or indirectly affects the other party.
4.6
TERMINATION~ SUSPENSION AND SANCTIONS
4.6.1
Termination for Cause
If the Contractor shall fail to fulfill in a timely manner, or otherwise violate
any of the covenants, agreements, or stipulations material to this Agreement, the City
shall thereupon have the right to terminate the Services then remaining to be
perfo,~ed. Pdor to exercising its option to terminate for cause, the City shall notify the
Contractor of its violation of the particular terms of this Agreement and shall grant
Contractor seven (7) days to cure such default. If such default remains uncured after
seven (7) days, the City, upon three (3) days' notice to Contractor, may terminate this
Agreement and the City shall be fully discharged from any and all liabilities, duties and
terms arising out of/or by virtue of this Agreement.
Notwithstanding the above, the Contractor shall not be relieved of liability
to the City for damages sustained by the City by any breach of the Agreement by the
Consultant. The City, at its sole option and discretion, shall additionally be entitled to
bring any and all legal/equitable actions that it deems to be in its best interest in order
to enforce the City's right and remedies against the defaulting party. The City shall be
entitled to recover all costs of such actions, including reasonable attorneys' fees. To
the extent allowed by law, the defaulting party waives its right to jury trial and its right
to bring permissive counter claims against the City in any such action.
4.6.2 Termination for Convenience of City
THE CITY MAY ALSO, FOR ITS CONVENIENCE AND WITHOUT
CAUSE, TERMINATE THE SERVICES THEN REMAINING TO BE PERFORMED AT
ANY TIME DURING THE TERM HEREOF BY GIVING WRITTEN NOTICE TO
CONTRACTOR OF SUCH TERMINATION, WHICH SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE
FORTY-FIVE (45) DAYS FOLLOWING RECEIPT BY THE CONTRACTOR OF THE
WRITTEN TERMINATION NOTICE. IN THAT EVENT, ALL FINISHED OR
UNFINISHED DOCUMENTS AND OTHER MATERIALS, AS DESCRIBED IN
SECTION 2 AND IN EXHIBIT "A" SHALL BE PROPERLY ASSEMBLED AND
DELIVERED TO THE CITY AT CONTRACTOR'S SOLE COST AND EXPENSE. IF
THE AGREEMENT IS TERMINATED BY THE CITY AS PROVIDED IN THIS
SUBSECTION, CONTRACTOR SHALL BE PAID FOR ANY SERVICES
SATISFACTORILY PERFORMED, AS DETERMINED BY THE CITY AT ITS
DISCERTION, UP TO THE DATE OF TERMINATION.
4
4.6.3 Termination for Insolvency
The City also reserves the right to terminate the remaining Services to
be performed in the event the Contractor is placed either in voluntary or involuntary
bankruptcy or makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors. In such event, the
right and obligations for the parties shall be the same as provided for in Section 4.6.2.
4.6.4 Sanctions for Noncompliance with Nondiscrimination Provisions
In the event of the Contractor's noncompliance with the
nondiscrimination provisions of this Agreement, the City shall impose such sanctions
as the City or the State of Florida may determine to be appropriate, including but not
limited to, withholding of payments to the Contractor under the Agreement until the
Contractor complies and/or cancellation, termination or suspension of the Services.
In the event the City cancels or terminates the Services pursuant to this Subsection
the rights and obligations of the parties shall be the same as provided in Section
4.6.2.
4.7
Changes and Additions
Changes and additions to the Agreement shall be directed by a written
amendment signed by the duly authorized representatives of the City and Consultant. No
alteration, change, or modification of the terms of this Agreement shall be valid unless
amended in writing, signed by both parties hereto, and approved by the City Commission
of the City.
4.8
AUDIT AND INSPECTIONS
At any time during normal business hours and as often as the City may
deem necessary, there shall be made available to the City and/or such
representatives as the City may deem to act on its behalf, to audit, examine and
make audits of all contracts, invoices, materials, payrolls, records of personnel,
conditions of employment and other data relating to all matters covered by this
Agreement. Contractor shall maintain any and all records necessary to document
compliance with the provisions of this Agreement.
4.9
ACCESS TO RECORDS
Contractor agrees to allow access during normal business hours to all
financial records to the City and/or such authorized representatives as it may deem
to act on its behalf, and agrees to provide such assistance as may be necessary to
facilitate financial audit by the City or its representatives when deemed necessary to
insure compliance with applicable accounting and financial standards. Contractor
shall allow access during normal business hours to all other records, forms, files, and
documents which have been generated in performance of this Agreement, to those
personnel as may be designated by the City.
4.10
ASSIGNMENT~ TRANSFER OR SUBCONTRACTING
The Contractor shall not subcontract, assign, or transfer any work under
this Agreement without the prior written consent of the City.
4.11
SUB-CONTRACTORS
The Contractor shall be liable for the Consultant's services,
responsibilities and liabilities under this Agreement and the services, responsibilities
and liabilities of sub-contractors, and any other person or entity acting under the
direction or controls of the Contractor. When the term "Contractor" is used in this
Agreement, it shall be deemed to include any sub-contractors and any other person
or entity acting under the direction or control of Contractor. All sub-contractors must
be approved of in writing prior to their engagement by Contractor.
4.12
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
In connection with the performance of this Agreement, the Contractor
shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of
race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, age, and national origin, place of birth, marital
status, or physical handicap. The Contractor shall take affirmative action to ensure
that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during their
employment without regard to their race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, age, national
origin, place of birth, marital status, disability, or sexual orientation. Such action shall
include, but not be limited to the following: employment, upgrading, demotion, or
termination; recruitment or recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rates of pay,
or other forms of compensation; and selection for training, including apprenticeship.
4.13
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The Contractor agrees to adhere to and be governed by the Metropolitan
Miami-Dade County Conflict of Interest Ordinance (No. 72-82), as amended; and by
the City of Miami Beach Charter and Code, which are incorporated by reference
herein as if fully set forth herein, in connection with the Agreement conditions
hereunder.
The Contractor covenants that it presently has no interest and shall not
acquire any interest, direct or indirectly which should conflict in any manner or degree
with the performance of the Services. The Contractor further covenants that in the
perfo..ance of this Agreement, no person having any such interest shall knowingly
be employed by the Consultant. No member of or delegate to the Congress of the
United States shall be admitted to any share or part of this Agreement or to any
benefits arising therefrom.
4.14
PATENT RIGHTS; COPYRIGHTS; CONFIDENTIAL FINDINGS
Any patentable result arising out of this Agreement, as well as all
information, design specifications, processes, data and findings, shall be made
available to the City for public use.
No reports, other documents, articles or devices produced in whole or in
part under this Agreement shall be the subject of any application for copyright or
patent by or on behalf of the Contractor or its employees or subcontractors.
4.15 NOTICES
All notices and communications in writing required or permitted
hereunder may be delivered personally to the representatives of the Contractor and
the City listed below or may be mailed by registered mail, postage prepaid (or
airmailed if addressed to an address outside of the city of dispatch).
Until changed by notice in writing, all such notices and communications
shall be addressed as follows:
TO CONSULTANT:
Economics Research Associates
Attn: Steven E. Spickard
388 Market Street, Suite 1580
San Francisco, California 94111
TO CITY:
City of Miami Beach
Attn: City Clerk
1700 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
(305) 673-7411
WITH COPIES TO:
Office of the City Attorney
Attn: Murray H. Dubbin
City of Miami Beach
1700 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Notices hereunder shall be effective:
If delivered personally, on delivery; if mailed to an address in the city of dispatch,
on the day following the date mailed; and if mailed to an address outside the city of
dispatch on the seventh day following the date mailed.
4.16
LITIGATION JURISDICTION/VENUE
This Agreement shall be enforceable in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and
if legal action is necessary by either party with respect to the enforcement of any or all
of the terms or conditions herein, exclusive venue for the enforcement of same shall
lie in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
4.17
ENTIRETY OF AGREEMENT
This writing and the Services embody the entire Agreement and
understanding between the parties hereto, and there are no other agreements and
understandings, oral or written with reference to the subject matter hereof that are not
merged herein and superceded hereby. The Services and the Proposal Documents
are hereby incorporated by reference into this Agreement.
4.18
LIMITATION OF CITY'S LIABILITY
The City desires to enter into this Agreement only if in so doing the City can place
a limit on the City's liability for any cause of action for money damages due to an
alleged breach by the City of this Agreement, so that its liability for any such breach
never exceeds the sum of $1,000. Contractor hereby expresses its willingness to enter
into this Agreement with Consultant's recovery from the City for any damage action for
breach of contract to be limited to a maximum amount of $1,000.
Accordingly, and notwithstanding any other term or condition of this Agreement,
Contractor hereby agrees that the City shall not be liable to the Contractor for damages
in an amount in excess of $1,000 for any action or claim for breach of contract arising
out of the performance or non-performance of any obligations imposed upon the City
by this Agreement. Nothing contained in this paragraph or elsewhere in this
Agreement is in any way intended to be a waiver of the limitation placed upon the City's
liability as set forth in Section 768.28, Florida Statutes.
[REMAINDER OF PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be
executed by their appropriate officials, as of the date first entered above.
FOR CITY:
ATTEST:
City Clerk
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA
~iity Manager
FOR CONSULTANT:
ATTEST:
(TITLE)
Corporate Seal
APPROVED AS TO
FORM & LANGUAGE
& FOR EXECUTION
EXHIBIT "A"
SCOPE OF SERVICES:
The Scope of Services presented below in eight steps describes the sequence of tasks
the Contractor will perform in order to produce all the desired study outputs.
Task 1: Project Orientation
At the outset of the consulting assignment, and in preparation for the initial trip
to Miami Beach, the ERA Team will request and review a variety of written
documents, plans, statistics and websites. ERA staff will also work with the City
to identify potential stakeholders and schedule a week's worth of interviews.
Base Information Needed
The ERA Team will solicit help from CMB Staff, GMCVB Staff, and
others throughout Tasks 1 and 2 to collect an initial data base that
includes, but is not limited to:
· GMCVB Current Annual Work Plan and Goal Statement;
· GMCVB organization chart, board composition, and other
indicators of existing structure;
· Budget information from CMB and GMCVB including summary
data on key measures from the past three to five years;
· Identification of current partnership arrangements and outside
firms involved in advertising and marketing;
· Hotel inventory data for Miami Beach and the Greater Miami
area, including trends in transient occupancy tax collections;
and
· Current status and any output to date from the Market
Assessment.
Task 2: Stakeholder Interviews
Three key staff (Steve Spickard, Trudy McNulty, and one of ERA's Associates)
will then spend a week in the greater Miami region conducting interviews with
stakeholders (approximately 15 person-days). The ERA Team will start with
CMB staff, and will include multiple interviews with key staff of the Greater Miami
Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB). Interviews will be held with other
stakeholders as well; including for example, hoteliers, staff of other cities,
convention center management, and (if appropriate) selected city commissioners
and bureau board members.
During this initial trip, the ERA Team will seek to gain a thorough understanding
of all issues, the existing structures of the GMCVB and the relationship of the
Bureau with the City, the marketing programs in place, existing partnership
arrangements in place, etc. We will expect to collect additional documents and
materials beyond those briefly reviewed in Task 1.
lO
DELIVERABLE f: Issues Identification
Upon returning from our meetings in Miami Beach and the greater
Miami area, the ERA team will submit Working Memorandum #1
to City staff describing what we heard in the stakeholder interviews.
A central focus of this memorandum will be identification of issues
to be addressed by the remainder of the study.
Task 3: Benchmarking other Bureaus
Among the many topics discussed during the ERA Team's week in the Miami
area will be the similarity of the Greater Miami situation to other metro areas with
a significant convention and tourism draw. After returning to our respective
offices, the ERA Team will initiate a "benchmarking" reseamh effort to gather and
format information describing other major metro marketing efforts to compare
with that of the GMCVB. ERA will discuss the applicability of European examples
with the tourism development staff in our London office, and may include one or
more European metropolitan areas in the mix of comparable cities for
benchmarking. The majority, however, will be other major US metro areas for
which individual city vs. metro area marketing is a potential issue.
This research effort will establish industry standards, as well as suggest
alternative structures and strategies that are currently working well in other
locations (along with lessons learned from failed experiments elsewhere),
DELIVERABLE 2: Draft Benchmarking Findings
The benchmarking data collected from other destinations will be
presented to the City in draft form as Working Memorandum #2.
A refined version of the benchmarking findings will also appear as
a section in the final report document.
Task 4: Initial Analysis of the GMCVB
All insights and material collected in the Greater Miami area in Tasks I and 2 will
be compared with the industry information gained in Task 3, and analyzed with
the goal of addressing every point requested in the RFP Scope of Services. The
ERA Team will develop initial findings on all points, but before proceeding with
preparation of a formal report, the ERA Team will again visit Miami Beach (in
Task 5).
Task 5: Initial Findings/Additional Interviews
The two senior analysts (Steve Spickard and Trudy McNulty) will meet with City
staff to present initial findings from the research and analysis conducted to date.
The ERA Team will budget for a couple days in the Miami area, presenting an
opportunity to meet with other stakeholders who could not be available during the
initial visit. If deemed appropriate by City staff, the consultants could also
present selected initial findings to the GMCVB allowing them to correct any
misperceptions or explain extenuating circumstances during this visit.
Specific Approach to Managing Conflicting Opinions
and Obtaining Consensus
One objective of this intedm trip will be to help build credibility and
acceptance for the final report. The experience of the consulting
team has taught us that in situations such as these, there is the
potential for such a divergence of interests that consensus on final
recommendations may be unobtainable. We have found the best
methodology is to conduct many individual and small group
interviews allowing specific and sensitive issues to be adequately
aired and factored into the analysis, and to stay away from
"workshops" and other open forums. The role of the consultants is
to provide the City of Miami Beach with the best objective advice
in the interests of the Miami Beach community. In the end, some
individuals in the greater Miami area may, or may not, be happy
with the ultimate findings and recommended direction of the report,
but the goal of our study process is to have consensus agreement
that the study process and report itself were fair, inclusive,
comprehensive, accurate, responsible, and reasonable.
DELIVERABLE 3: Initial Findings
The third deliverable in the study process will be a draft outline of
the study report along with Working Memorandum ~ which we
will bring with us when presenting our initial findings. In our
meetings in Miami Beach, the consultants will also have preliminary
drafts of specific tables, graphs, and some other written material
that will ultimately appear in the final Issues addressed in draft
outline bullet fom~ in the initial assessment will include:
· The measurement of the Bureau's performance against stated
goals and work plan.
· A comparison of the Bureau's operation against other
comparable organizations.
· An evaluation of the Bureau's strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and challenges in the context of its market
competition.
· An identification of areas where productivity can be improved.
· An assessment of the Bureau's key processes in sales,
marketing, customer service, administration and support
services.
· An evaluation of the research conducted by the Bureau,
including prioritization of initiatives and concentration of
resources.
· An assessment of the effectiveness of the Bureau's
measurement system for evaluating performance.
Task 6: Formulate Draft Report
Upon returning from the Task 5 trip, the ERA Team will formulate all draft
recommendations and prepare a formal written report. Each of the five topics in
the RFP Scope of Services will be specifically addressed. The report will be
delivered in draft form to the City for review.
DELIVERABLE 4: Draft Report
In addition to coveting the findings reported in Task 5, the report
will recommend strategic approaches to the fo/lowing:
· Targeting - the current and future markets.
· Positioning - to accentuate differentiation of destination.
· Communications - ranging from public relations and advertising
to community relations and government affairs.
The draft report will address all of the questions raised in Section
II of the RFP Scope of Services, including the fundamental issue
of continuing to market the Greater Miami area versus Miami
Beach a/one.
Task 7: Present Draft Report to Staff
The ERA Team principal analyst (Steve Spickard) will meet with City staff to
discuss the draft report. If deemed appropriate by City staff, some or all of the
draft report recommendations and conclusions could be presented to others
(e.g., the GMCVB) during the same trip.
Task 8: Finalize Report
The ERA Team will respond to comments on the draft and refine the analysis as
necessary to produce a final report. Fifteen bound copies and an electronic copy
in pdfformat will be delivered.
DELIVERABLE 5: Final Report
The final report will address all of the concems in the RFP Scope
of Services. In summary, these will include:
1. Assessment of the current GMCVB govemance, structure,
processes and operations.
2. Recommendation of an ideal governance, structure, and
operating model for the future of Miami Beach as if no
marketing organization currently existed in the region.
3. Benchmarking of the GMCVB relative to other comparable
major metro marketing organizations and industry standards.
4. Recommended strategic approaches for meeting the objectives
of the upcoming Market Assessment.
5. Assessment of whether continuing to participate in the Greater
Miami marketing effort is more or less effective than focusing on
Miami Beach alone in meeting the objectives of the Miami
Beach City and community.
Additional services
The key staff on the ERA Team will remain available for other services on a time and
expenses basis as requested by the City. For example, the key ERA staff could make
a presentation of the final report to the City Commission if needed.
SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS:
Payments to the Contractor would be tied to submission of deliverables as follows:
Milestone:
Working Memorandum #1
Working Memorandum #2
Working Memorandum #3
Upon submission of Draft Report
Upon submission of Final Report
Project Totals
Amount:
$25,000 + any expenses to date
$25,000 + any expenses to date
$20,000 + any expenses to date
$20,000 + any expenses to date
$10,000 + any expenses to date
$100,000 + expenses
14
Economics Research Associates
January 8, 2003
Christina Cuervo
Assistant City Manager
City of Miami Beach
City Hall
1700 Convention Center Drive, Fourth Floor
Miami Beach, FL 33139
ERA No. 14932
Re: Approval for use of subcontractor
Dear Ms. Cuervo:
Pursuant to Section 4.11 of the Agreement between Economics Research Associates
(ERA) and the City o f Miami Beach regarding the consultant study for Review,
Assessment and Recommended Structure of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors
Bureau, this letter seeks approval for use of a subcontractor in conducting the work. As
described in Exhibit A of the Agreement, the subconsultant Tourism Development
Associates (TDA) is an integral part of the consulting team.
City approval of the use of this subconsultant may be indicated by return of one
countersigned copy of this letter. Thank you.
Senior Vice President
Use of Subconsultant
TDA approved by:
Title:
Date: