Is It Time To Rethink RFPs?

A new report from the World PCO Alliance, a group of 19 professional congress organizers, calls for a fundamental rethink of the bidding process for international association events — including a clear understanding of what the events are for.

"It's going to make associations rethink why they even exist," said Juan José García, global chief sales and marketing officer at BCO Congresos, one of the report’s contributors.

The report sets out to provide a blueprint to solve request for proposal (RFP) waste. According to the report, associations send exhaustive RFPs to a wide field of destinations, many of which invest weeks preparing proposals, only to lose with minimal explanation. Smaller destinations, without the staff or budgets to compete, are often priced out entirely.

The core premise of the report is that current bidding processes were designed before climate urgency, environmental, social, and governance accountability, and digital participation reshaped events. Ksenija Polla, a managing director at Talley Management Group, who also contributed to the report, said, "The processes are outdated."

To combat this wasteful approach, the report proposes a two- to three-page request for information (RFI) phase before a full RFP is issued. The RFI would confirm basic feasibility — capacity, dates, governance — before either side commits significant resources.

The report argues that the process should streamline the workload for the associations publishing the RFP. García said it "will save a lot of time and money for everyone." For example, ten 25-page bids amount to 250 pages for an association to evaluate. Ten two-page RFI responses, narrowed to three full submissions, cut that to around 85.

The proposed RFI process uses a defined response format designed to give associations comparable information allowing them to evaluate destinations on a like-for-like basis. "You can put them side by side and compare apples with apples," Polla said.

The lighter front-end (RFI) process is designed to open the field. Rather than requiring a polished, resource-intensive bid upfront, smaller or emerging destinations can signal interest and self-select based on genuine fit.

Part of the proposal focuses on associations needing to clearly articulate the expected role of a host destination upfront. That means explaining what the event is for and what success looks like. "I think it will make associations think a little bit more in depth about what they want from this event," said Polla.

Should associations push back, Polla sees this as a red flag. "If you can't explain that in a very short paragraph, then you have a problem as an association," she said.

The report, developed from open working sessions at the ICCA Congress in Porto last year, acknowledges the timeline implications. Clarification calls and alignment phases will require associations to plan further ahead.

Whether associations will actually embrace that level of introspection — or just treat the RFI as another hoop to clear — remains to be seen. The report's impact may ultimately depend on whether early adopters — presumably destinations working with World PCO Alliance members — can demonstrate that the process delivers what it promises.

The report's recommendations focus on international association meetings, but they could also apply to other types of events.