New EEMA President and the Legacy of Rich Leadership

The Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA), will host its next big election on 26th June, 2020.

The baton of leadership of this biggest event industry association is all set to exchange hands. And new leadership will mean newer expectations. 

With the ongoing covid-19 crisis, the events industry is pinning its hopes on EEMA and expects it to save it from the economic distress that the industry is undergoing. The big question is, how soon? 

Legacy of Rich Leadership

It needs to be mentioned that EEMA is known for its rich leadership legacy, be it the founder President Michael Menezes and his successors Sabbas Joseph, Co-Founder & Director, Wizcraft International, Brian Tellis, Founder & CEO, Fountainhead MKTG or its current President Sanjoy Roy, MD Teamwork Arts, all have set a precedent where expectations are bound to rise. 

The two new contenders for the President’s position are celebrated leaders in their own ways. 

The new leadership will inevitably need to deal with this baggage of legacy and build on it. The challenge for the new leadership would be addressing the industry issues in a time framed way. Given the ongoing covid-19 crisis, the patience of industry stakeholders is running thin and a quick-relief is expected.

There is also no doubt  that EEMA exerts massive clout, any why not, after all the event industry is amongst the biggest employers and contributes significantly to the GDP. With the support of its member agencies which command almost 80 percent of the total revenue in the events & experiential sector, there is scope for this clout to be leveraged further.

While EEMA has done commendable work as far as taking forward the policy issues with the government at state and central levels is concerned, more still needs to be done. It has also done a great job as far as state chapters are concerned and set protocols in place for the new world reality in which we are operating now.

Managing Expectations

As the new leadership takes charge post 26th June, the industry is looking at a new direction and as stated expects EEMA to save it from the ongoing crisis as a top priority.

According to one industry veteran, what we are witnessing is a seminal moment for the experiential industry. Hopefully EEMA will have a leadership that understands the change and will help the industry redefine itself and come up with a road map to reviving the industry. 

There is no doubt that times will be challenging as one will need to rally internal stakeholders and also engage with the external ecosystem of partners and clients, let's hope the new leadership would deliver on all these fronts.