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= BIDDER CONFERENCE = Bidder conferences are common for major projects and programs that are intended to be performed as cross-corporate project business. They are used once the owner of the project has decided to buy work items from sellers, who may be product vendors and service providers. A bidders conference reflects the project owners’ intention that all vendors have an equal understanding of the project’s requirements and the procurement processes in place before they submit their offers. This ensures the bidding process is fair to all involved.

Typically, before requests for quotes, such RfPs (Requests for Proposal) or ItB (Invitations to Bid) or similar, are sent out to potential bidders, a Bidder Conference is organized as a key part of the bidding process by the owner of the project, who now becomes a buyer. Often, participation in the Bidder Conference is a prerequisite to being allowed to join the bidding process, and therefore, in most cases, the Bidder Conference is held in the early stages of the bidding procedure.

Common Stages of a Bidder Conference
Invitations to Bidder Conferences often implement strict rules that are communicated to the invited sellers.[i]

A common key element of the Bidder Conference is a presentation of the project. Bidders are also introduced to the procurement process including the buyer’s Terms and Conditions of purchasing and any compliance requirements that apply to the bidding process and later to the execution of the project. Sellers are also familiarised with the contact partners to whom they will have to submit their offers and with the timeline of their expected contribution to the project, particularly the submission date for the offer.

Then, the conference enters a Question & Answer session, during which bidders raise questions and are given the opportunity to discuss any factors or matters they have identified upon reviewing the project that they wish to be clarified or adjusted. An important aspect here is that while one seller asks a question, all sellers have equal access to the question and the answer given in response.[ii]

Purpose of Bidder Conferences
The Bidder Conference is an invaluable opportunity for both parties to exchange views and ideas as well as to get to know one another at an early stage.

An intention of a Bidder Conference is to ensure that equal information is available to all sellers and that no discrimination takes place. In industrial project business, this is considered a matter of fairness and good governance. In Government projects, this is often a legal requirement, and there, a well-documented Bidder Conference can help make a project “protest-proof”.

The conference is more often than not open to all prospective bidders, either collectively or independently. The conference is often compulsory and forms a significant part of the Bidding process.

Next steps after the Bidder Conference
During the Bidder Conference, minutes are taken and distributed to the participants after the event.

Following the conference, sellers will either formulate their intentions to offer their products and services and become bidders or elect to withdraw from the process.

A common next step is that the sellers will respond to an RfI, a Request for Information, introducing themselves and revealing information about their business to the buyer. If they are accepted as bidders and potential contractors, they will then contact the person named for their business area, obtain RfPs, IfBs, or similar procurement documents and submit their offers in the form of bids, proposals, or other kind of offers.

Bidders whose offers will be accepted by the owner will become contractors, and the owner becomes the customer in a project business relationship.

Virtual Bidder Conferences
In today’s business world the Bidder Conference is more often held remotely using modern communication technology such as video conferencing systems. Enabling virtual Bidder Conferences is also a feature in many purchasing portals. Virtual Bidder Conferences permit bidding contenders the opportunity to engage wherever they are globally, thus making the whole process more competitive and cost efficient.

Synonyms
A number of terms are used interchangeably, among them:

-        Bidder conference[iii]

-        Bidder’s conference[iv]

-        Bidder’s conference[v]

-        Pre-bid conference[vi]