Procedure for Applying to Host the WBU/ICEVI Joint General Assembly Events in 2020

Bid Submission Deadline: December 31, 2017

Bids to be submitted to: and

Introduction

As members of the WBU and ICEVI are aware, in 2012 and 2016, the organizations held joint General Assembly events in Bangkok, Thailand and Orlando, USA respectively. While suggestions were of course made to improve the event, the general consensus from both organizations was that the joint implementation of our respective General Assemblies proved successful. Consequently, the leadership of both organizations have agreed to hold a joint General Assembly event again in 2020. The event will be jointly organized by WBU and ICEVI with the assistance of member organizations from the host country. The following document lays out the process for the 2020 joint General Assembly bids.

The joint General Assembly events of the World Blind Union and the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment are to be held in the year 2020 and National and International members of both organizations are invited to forward proposals to host this event to the attention of the Chief Executive Officers of the WBU and ICEVI. All proposals must be forwarded in electronic MS Word format and in English to the office of the World Blind Union and the office of ICEVI on or before December 31, 2017.

Assembly Event Structure

The joint General Assembly event is planned to take place in the year 2020, within the period August through to the end of November. The event has been shorted somewhat compared to the 2016 event in response to general consensus that the 2016 event was a little too long for many participants.

The tentative schedule of the joint General Assembly event will be as follows:

Full event, 6 days with one day prior to the opening for WBU Pre-Assembly meetings. There is flexibility with respect to the actual days of the event (the event does not need to be held Monday to Saturday for example, but rather the local host has flexibility to propose the dates that are most convenient to them, so long as the six days of the event are consecutive)

Day prior to the opening of the Assembly events: Meetings of the WBU Executive and Assembly committees

Day 1: WBU General Assembly

Day 2: WBU General Assembly

Day 3: Joint WBU/ ICEVI Program Day (concurrent sessions)

Day 4:

-  Morning: Joint WBU/ICEVI Program Day (concurrent sessions)

-  Afternoon: WBU closing Ceremonies and joint Awards Ceremony with ICEVI)

o  WBU Executive meeting

o  WBU corporation AGM

o  ICEVI Regional meetings

Day 5: ICEVI Papers Day

Day 6:

-  Morning: ICEVI Papers

-  Afternoon: ICEVI General Assembly and Executive Meeting

In summary, those attending WBU events only would attend from Days 1 to 4. Those attending ICEVI events only would attend Days 3 to 6. We will of course encourage participants from both WBU and ICEVI to attend both events but in the past a relatively small percentage attended both.

NOTE: Provision must also be made to host the international technology exhibition and a number of small meetings which will take place during the week of the general assembly event.

For the purposes of planning the event, there are three principal committees that are engaged in the process, some of which will have subcommittees. The International Organizing Committee is responsible for the overall organization and oversight of the event and will include members from each of the WBU, ICEVI and the local host. The Event program is the responsibility of WBU and ICEVI and will have subcommittees dealing with the WBU GA, the joint program days and the ICEVI GA. The local host is responsible for the local organization and event logistics, many of which are outlined below and will also have a number of subcommittees to carry out its work.

The Bid Proposal

The bid proposal submitted will be used to assess the suitability of the bid and, unless its content is altered and these alterations are mutually agreed, then the content of the bid proposal will be the basis of the understanding between the WBU and ICEVI and the bidding organization.

While we encourage members to consult with their local convention bureaus for information that might be helpful in preparing their bids, and to avail themselves of some of the benefits that convention bureaus can arrange for local conference organizers, we caution our members to ensure that you take responsibility for the bid preparation yourself as the bid content will form the basis of any agreement between our local organizer and the WBU and ICEVI. While you will no doubt wish to engage conference organizer expertise for assistance with the technical aspects of the event, because the organization of this event requires special expertise related to services and accommodations for blind and partially sighted persons, it is our experience that Convention services, event planners and so forth do not have this knowledge and so the local host organization is much more involved in the planning and implementation of the WBU/ICEVI event than is the case for many conferences.

The Decision Process

Following the submission of the bids to the WBU and ICEVI CEO’s by the deadline date of December 31, 2017, they will be reviewed for their completeness and bid presenters will be contacted for any missing information. A small team will conduct onsite visits with those organizations that have submitted complete and viable bids in the first quarter of 2018. Based on the bid submission and the results of the on-site visits, a report will be generated for discussion with WBU and ICEVI leadership. The report and recommendation will be taken to the ICEVI Principal Officers and the WBU Executive Committee (meeting to be held in May 2018). The successful bidder will be informed of the decision by June 30, 2018 and the planning agreements and processes will get underway shortly thereafter.

The proposal must address in detail each of the following:

§  Delegate Support and Volunteer Management

§  Information Access

§  Marketing and Promotions

§  Subsidised Travel Co-Ordination

§  Technical Services

§  Venue Management

§  International Technology Exhibition

Delegate Support and Volunteer Management

·  Accommodation for up to 1200 participants close to or as part of the assembly venue. (Note that this is a projected number for the joint days – not all participants stay for all events, but many do. In Bangkok, we had a total of 1100, but about 250 were local Thai participants; we understand that about 500 rooms were booked). In Orlando in 2016 there were a total of 850 participants and close to 500 hotel rooms were occupied during the heaviest occupancy days (those of the joint events)

·  Bid information must include information about the accommodations, details of cost and location. Accommodation cost information must include commitments of price guarantees within a specified range. Furthermore, while it is recognized that it is sometimes difficult to arrange accommodations in one location, the maximum number of locations that will be allowed is three. Prospective hosts may consider university campuses or all-inclusive conference centres as an option in order to facilitate the mobility of delegates and to reduce costs. Information about accommodations should also include details of any arrangements for complimentary rooms that might be available for the WBU/ICEVI to use for sponsored delegates or special guest speakers

·  For the last two events, in Bangkok and Orlando, we were fortunate that the Conference hotel could also accommodate the Assembly events, plenary sessions, concurrent workshops, technology exhibition, etc., so everything was under one roof. This was extremely well received by all participants and also was much easier to manage for the local hosts

·  Assurances from the immigration authorities in the country that all delegates regardless of which country they are from will be able to enter the country and that there will be no additional health checks required for obtaining a Visa due to blindness

·  Provision of visa invitation letters and assistance with Visa arrangements for those attending from countries that do not have local consulates (note that we have many participants from African, Asian, Latin American countries that always need visas and who often don’t have the host country local consulates; they cannot afford to travel to neighbouring countries to obtain visas and so assistance with special arrangements is often required from the host country).

·  Establishment of Registration process (preferably online) and processing of registrations

·  Provision of at least 200 volunteers on most days of the event which includes volunteers who can speak languages other than English. Many participants travel without guides and guiding support is a major requirement of volunteers.

·  Details of air travel access to and from the country

·  Meeting delegates on arrival at airport, transfer arrangement support between airports to accommodation

·  If meeting venue is separate from hotel, then travel assistance will be required at least for those participants that are unaccompanied by a guide.

·  Except for an opening reception and a farewell dinner, participants will arrange their evening meals on their own. However, care must be taken that those attending the conference will receive reliable information as to available options in this respect

·  Suitable conference bags containing documents presented to participants on arrival which can hold Braille materials

·  One or two cultural events should be organised during the evenings of the Assembly week in order to acquaint the participants with aspects of the local culture.

·  Ensuring that accommodations and Assembly venues are accessible to blind, low vision and other disabled participants and that appropriate training has been provided to volunteers, accommodations and venue staff; also that accommodations and venues as well as access laws are welcoming to those who travel with guide dogs.

Information Access

·  Production of materials into Braille, large print, audio, E-Text each in English, French and Spanish prior to the assembly for collection on arrival by delegates

·  Production into Braille, large print and E-Text during the assembly of limited documents

·  Computer access including assistive technology and a printer for the WBU Resolutions Committee to undertake their tasks during the assembly

·  Provision of office space and access to a printer for WBU and ICEVI staff and Board use for two days prior to and throughout the Assembly events

·  Availability of at least one, preferably 2 small meeting room(s) for the use of WBU and ICEVI Assembly Committees that are available outside of Assembly hours (i.e. evenings)

·  Production of ballot papers for the WBU elections

·  Arrangements for qualified interpreters for interpretation into English, French and Spanish of Plenary Sessions during the WBU General Assembly and during at least one concurrent session during the joint days and during the ICEVI Paper Days. Other languages may be added if sponsored by members, but these three languages are the minimum requirement. It would also be desirable if portable interpretation systems could be made available for the WBU Executive meeting and for additional workshop coverage during the joint days and ICEVI Paper Days (we recognize that this latter request may or may not be possible depending on technical and economic factors)

Marketing and Promotions

·  Opportunities for financial support from within the host country including support from national and local governments

·  Details of type and level of support from organizations of and for the blind within the host country

·  Involvement of government officials at the assembly

·  Plans for Opening Ceremonies of the joint General Assembly event and a closing celebration, such as a Gala Dinner, (at the end of the joint days session)

·  Media involvements leading up to the Assembly and throughout

·  Formal launch of the Assembly event approximately one year prior

·  Promotion of the Assembly and attendance by residents of the host country

·  Establishment and maintenance of an accessible Assembly website with key information available in English, French and Spanish. This webpage will be linked to both the WBU and ICEVI websites.

Subsidised Travel Co-Ordination

·  Assistance with travel arrangements for delegates sponsored by WBU and ICEVI as required by the two organizations. (While approvals and arrangements for sponsored participants have been handled by WBU and ICEVI for the past few Assemblies, the assistance of a local travel services company can be extremely helpful).

·  Arrangements for medical insurance coverage for sponsored delegates during the assembly

·  Arrangements for shared room accommodation at the conference hotel.

Technical Services

·  In the Assembly Plenary Hall, a public address system consisting of four to six microphones placed on the head table, on a podium and at least four roving microphones (with volunteers to serve as microphone “runners”.

·  Arrangements for LCD projectors in the main plenary hall and in the breakout rooms for the joint concurrent sessions and ICEVI papers presentations.

·  Establishment of booths within the conference centre for simultaneous interpretation for at least three languages but up to five languages and arrangements for interpretation services in the three principal languages, the costs to be reflected in the registration fees.

·  Provision of facilities for internet coverage.

·  Proposal for the streaming of the conference over the internet

·  Information about wireless or internet services available at the Assembly Hall and any costs involved

Venue Management

·  A conference venue which will comfortably accommodate, in classroom style, up to 1000 participants

·  Provision of morning teas, afternoon teas and lunches located close to conference hall for up to 1200 participants (lower number during non-joint workshop days), costs to be included in the registration fees. If it is not practical or cost effective to include lunch in the registration fees then delegates should be informed of options available to them.

·  A registration area and help desk facility manned throughout the assembly near to the conference hall

·  A venue for participants at the WBU GA to cast their vote in privacy

·  Ten to twelve additional rooms for concurrent workshops and/or committee and regional meetings for four days of the event (Days 3 - 6).