Held annually, EEMAGINE is a great platform for the events fraternity to learn best practices, understand global trends, discover new technology and network with instrumental industry stakeholders.
From being called glorified ‘tentwala’s’ back in the day to finally evolving into a legitimate industry drawing attention and support from the government, the events industry has grown leaps and bounds over the past few years. This year the event was themed ‘India Unimagined’ and saw heavy discussions on the way forward for the industry to reach pinnacles that have until now seemed impossible.
In the past, EEMA’s dialogues with government officials on the subject of inaccessibility of state venues and the longwinded process of event licensing have resulted in achieving single-window licensing and pre-approved event venues in New Delhi and parts of Maharashtra. This year too discussions were picked up on several subjects that resulted in Mr Kapil Mishra, Minister for Tourism in New Delhi, promising elimination of corruption and other hindrances towards organizing events and also assuring support for event planners in their endeavors. Furthermore Ms Malvika Singh, Advisor to CM of Rajasthan for Arts and Culture said “In case you have any ideas for hosting an event in Rajasthan I invite you to share it with me and if it has any substance I will personally ensure that it is implemented”. She also suggested EEMA to dialogue with state governments to categorize state owned venues into different grades. She said, “The state could perhaps let-out Grade –C level venues as cafes or for independent events so a city’s architecture, art and culture can be showcased better.”
Other discussions on copyright laws and rights licensing also busted several myths including the fact that one is not required to secure a license for a wedding or associated functions and will not be infringing the copyright Act in doing so. This clause listed as section 52 (za) of the Indian Copyright Act of 1987 left the audience dumbfounded as there were many who had been victimized by licensing bodies such as PPL and Novex. Other issues on the subject were also debated that brought several procedural concerns to the fore.
Health and safety at events was another subject that was taken up very seriously by the congregation given the increasing accidents at events. Recalling the fatal incident at Mumbai’s Chowpatty during ‘Make in India’ week, Mr Viraf Sarkari, Co-founder, Wizcraft commented, “India is light years behind when it comes to health and safety compliance at events. We need to change our attitude and collectively ensure we maintain the highest standards at events”. Mr Sabbas Joseph, President EEMA and Co-founder Wizcraft, conducted a pledge where event planners guaranteed diligence towards health and safety in all events they organize in the future.
The three-day affair saw close to 30 speakers. Some of the notable speakers at the event included Bollywood Actor Sanjay Dutt; Director Kabir Khan; Producer Mukesh Bhatt; Sumit Sawhney, Managing Director and CEO, Renault India; Deep Kalra, Chairman and Group CEO, Makemytrip; Arvind Vohra, MD, Gionee; Rajan Anandan, Vice President & MD of Google, SE Asia & India; Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister of State for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Malvika Singh, Advisor to CM of Rajasthan for Arts and Culture; Valsa Nair Singh, Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Govt of Maharashtra and others.
The audience included event agencies from across the country including top wedding planners, activation experts; organizers of large format events and suchlike. Ever since EEMA opened its membership to the artist community several emcees and artists are actively engaging with the industry through EEMA’s platforms. “In a disorganized sector it is important for voices to come together in order to be heard”, says Swati Sharma, an emcee and Star category member of EEMA. She adds, “I would love to see more representation by artists and emcees in forums such as these so the needs of our community can also be heard and met. For artists, simple interests such as timely payments and better treatment seems to be better secured with EEMA. The events industry is evolving into a thriving ecosystem and platforms such as EEMAGINE are great to learn, connect and build relationships”.
Entertainment during the three-day convention included performances by Sajid-Wajid, Usha Uthup, Raftar, Urvashi Rautela, Sonali Sehgal, Divya Kumar, Mame Khan and others. The event emcee was Gitikka Ganju Dhar. Kubra Sait hosted the Spotlight Awards held at Veda on 3 May.
