Event professionals rise in the east for EEMA East Conclave 2018

Organized as a conference cum exhibition, EEMA East Conclave was held at Hotel Westin and JW Marriott in Kolkata across 4- 5 April 2018 and was hosted by emcee Gunjan Utreja.

EEMA, India's apex association body for events and entertainment industry, has been leading the conversation around inclusivity since a decade. The east chapter of EEMA's annual convention EEMAGINE has been conceived as an annual conference to engage with the vast event community in the region and to ensure more participation from agencies and service providers alike. The EEMA East conclave has displayed a marked growth in scale and attendance since its debut last year, witnessing close to 300 event professionals from across the country for two days of networking and thought provoking exchange of ideas relevant to India's thriving event and entertainment industry. 

Some of the speakers at the event included Sabbas Joseph, founder, Wizcraft and President of EEMA; Sanjoy Roy, founder, Teamwork Arts and President-elect EEMA; Venky Mysore, CEO, Red Chillies Entertainment and Kolkata Knight Riders; Sushma Gaikwad, director, Ice Global; Tabassum Modi, founder, Victor Tang; Reema Sanghvi, MD, Maximus Mice; Rakhee Jain, founder, Rakhee Jain Design; Sharad Dewan, regional director- food production, The Park Hotel; Virender Handa, founder, Creative Cuisine Inc; Warren D Souza, founder, Sound.com; Siddharth Ganeriwala, director, Aura Integrated Services; Vivek Singh, MD, Procam International; Boria Majumdar, sports journalist; Dhruba Mukherjee, VP, The Telegraph; Jaikishan Chaproo, Head Media and PR, ITC; Bashab Sarkar, Senior VP- media buying and planning, Emami; Tarsame Mittal, founder, TM Talent Management; Samit Garg, founder, E Factor Entertainment; Vijay Arora, founder, Touchwood Entertainment and Rajeev Jain, founder, Rashi Entertainment. 

Padmashree Ustad Rashid Khan kicked off the event with a spirited rendition of the national anthem which was followed through by EEMA President Sabbas Joseph who set the note with an encouraging address to the event fraternity. The two days delivered a luxurious gastronomic experience with a range of gourmet dining options and excellent presentation- all to entice the event planners scouting for the best in culinary trends. The event also saw encouraging participation from service providers who exhibited a range of unique and innovative event solutions. Evenings presented a heavy dose of entertainment with a generous line-up of talented performers. 

Vijay Bokadia, VP EEMA East and founder Moksh Events, Rishab Bapna, secretary EEMA East and founder Cherry Tree Events, along with Nidhi Poddar, secretary EEMA Bengal and founder Emerald Events, were lauded for the exceptional execution and playing a key role in scaling up the convention in a short period of two years. 

The ecstatic trio stated, "This year we scaled the event up to a two day convention and its been very encouraging to see the hike in attendance. Professionals from the region got a chance to engage with and learn from the national leadership, and we see tremendous value in that. The east is known for its warmth and hospitality and the EEMA East Conclave is a translation of this culture. We thank all the delegates who took the time to support this endeavour and make it such a huge success."