RFP for meetings and events | What it is, when to use

Definition

RFP (request for proposal)

A structured document issued to a shortlist of suppliers, setting out a requirement and inviting each to propose how they would meet it and at what price. In meetings it is usually a venue RFP: dates, delegate numbers, space, catering, accommodation, AV and commercial terms.

Its purpose is comparability: every venue answers the same questions against the same brief, so responses can be assessed side by side rather than on who replied fastest.

When an RFP is worth running

An RFP is a procurement instrument that behaves like one: it works when the requirement is clear, the market has real alternatives and the value justifies the effort. The test is whether the outcome could plausibly differ between venues in a way that matters commercially. If it could, structure the comparison. If not, make an enquiry and get on with it.

Worth it: a residential conference where rate, inclusions and terms all move and the commitment is significant.
Worth it: a recurring series, such as monthly training, where terms agreed once apply many times.
Worth it: anything where you intend to negotiate rather than accept a standard contract.
Overkill: a meeting room for twelve at a venue you already have rates with, or a date so constrained that only one or two venues can take it.
Overkill: anything you would award on relationship regardless — a process you have already decided is corrosive internally.

What a good venue RFP contains

Most of the quality is in the brief, not the template. A venue can only propose against what you have told it.

The purpose of the meeting, briefly — it changes what a venue suggests.
Dates, and whether they are fixed or flexible. Flexibility is one of the few real levers you hold.
Delegate numbers, as a realistic range rather than an optimistic maximum.
Space and catering: main room, layout, breakouts, registration, and dietary requirements.
Accommodation: how many bedrooms, which nights, and who pays.
AV, production and accessibility: what is included, what will be brought in, and what the space and bedrooms must accommodate.
Commercial terms: pricing basis, attrition and cancellation position, room release, minimum spend and whose contract applies.
How you will evaluate, and by when.

How many venues to approach

Fewer than most people assume. Three to five genuinely suitable venues is usually right: enough for real comparison and real competitive tension, few enough that each takes the enquiry seriously.

Sending a brief to fifteen venues feels thorough and is counterproductive. Venues can tell when they are making up numbers, and price accordingly. You also generate more response than you can assess.

Where an organisation runs a preferred venue programme, many requirements need no RFP at all, because the commercial position is already agreed.

Comparing responses that are not comparable

Even against a tight brief, proposals arrive in different shapes: one quotes a day delegate rate, another itemises, a third bundles AV and excludes service charge. Comparing headline numbers compares presentation, not value.

Normalise first. Rebuild every proposal on the same basis — same numbers, same inclusions, same nights, VAT and service treated identically — then list what each excludes and what its terms are. The exclusions are usually where the difference is.

Common mistakes

A vague brief. Proposals then differ by the venues’ guesses rather than their merits.
Too many venues. It dilutes attention on both sides and produces volume, not insight.
Asking for a price before defining the requirement. “What would a conference for 150 cost?” invites a number that means nothing and then anchors everything to it.
Requesting only rates. Terms carry the risk, and leaving them to the contract stage means negotiating after the competitive tension has gone — as does leaving the decision date open.

RFP, RFI and a simple enquiry

Question asked

RFI

Who is out there and what can they do?

RFP

Here is the requirement — how would you meet it, and at what price?

When to use it

RFI

Unfamiliar market, or a requirement still taking shape.

RFP

Defined requirement, known shortlist, ready to buy.

What comes back

RFI

Capability and indicative information.

RFP

Comparable proposals, with pricing and terms.

Supplier effort

RFI

Low.

RFP

Substantial — so the shortlist should be real.

Dimension	RFI	RFP
Question asked	Who is out there and what can they do?	Here is the requirement — how would you meet it, and at what price?
When to use it	Unfamiliar market, or a requirement still taking shape.	Defined requirement, known shortlist, ready to buy.
What comes back	Capability and indicative information.	Comparable proposals, with pricing and terms.
Supplier effort	Low.	Substantial — so the shortlist should be real.

A simple enquiry sits below both: a direct approach to one or two venues for a small, routine requirement. Most meetings are handled that way, and should be.

Frequently asked questions

01What is the difference between an RFP and an RFQ?

An RFQ asks for a price against a fixed specification. An RFP asks how the supplier would meet a requirement as well as what it would cost. Most meetings exercises called RFPs are closer to RFQs once the brief is tight.

02How long should venues be given to respond?

Enough to check availability, price it properly and get commercial sign-off — several working days rather than twenty-four hours. Compressing it produces cautious pricing and rigid terms.

03Should the budget be shared in the RFP?

Sharing a realistic range usually produces better proposals, because venues stop guessing at the specification. Sharing a maximum tends to produce proposals priced at the maximum.

04Does running RFPs mean we have an SMM programme?

No. A good RFP improves one transaction. Strategic Meetings Management is about what happens across all of them — how requirements arrive, which suppliers repeat, what is visible afterwards. Organisations often do the first well and the second not at all.