APEC Hawaii Seeks Virtual Exhibit Designer

By Sonia Isotov

The APEC 2011 Hawaii Host Committee issued a Request for Proposal yesterday for a qualified vendor to design and produce a virtual exhibit for Hawaii business.

The vendor is asked to provide a virtual medium whereby Hawaii businesses will be able to make connections and showcase their products and service during APEC 2011 Leaders’ Week from November 7-13 in Honolulu. The Leaders’ Meeting is expected to attract approximately 20,000 attendees including the leaders of the 21 APEC economies, ministers, business leaders and news media.

“When we first began the effort of planning for APEC 2011, one of the key goals of the Hawaii Host Committee was to showcase Hawaii businesses and products to the 20,000 APEC attendees and the world,” said Peter Ho, Hawaii Host Committee Chair, said in a written statement issued by the committee.  “Through the creation of multi-lingual, interactive virtual mediums, Hawaii businesses will have the opportunity to gain invaluable exposure to a worldwide audience and position the state as a center of innovation.  In addition, creating this online forum as part of the APEC conference will demonstrate Hawaii’s capabilities as a premier global meetings destination and a place to do business.”

The scope of work for the virtual exhibit includes meeting a brand image determined the the U.S. State Department: providing and recommending a virtual strategy for APEC 2011 Hawaii; working with the APEC 2011 Hawaii Host Committee graphic design vendor; creating a virtual exhibit venue customized to specific locations; creating virtual booths and customizable templates; providing the event organizer with complete and real-time control over the virtual environment creation; and the ability to support languages represented by the 21 member nations.

Interested companies can obtain a copy of the RFP by emailing the APEC 2011 Hawaii Host Committee at [email protected]. Requestors are asked to indicate the company name, contact name, contact phone, facsimile, address and email address. The deadline for RFP submissions is June 30, 2011 at 4:00 p.m., with the contractor selection being announced on or around July 11, 2011.