Read what industry stakeholders have to say about EEMA's new SOPs

Event and Entertainment Management Association of India (EEMA) recently released a detailed and comprehensive guide for the industry consisting of SOPs for restarting safe events. EEMA believes that this step will lead the industry in the right direction and ensure that it is represented adequately in front of the government. 

The 300 page document is a combined effort by industry stalwarts with expertise in different kinds of events like weddings/social, corporate, government, music festivals etc and paves way for the reopening of the industry.

To get the initial reactions on the SOPs released by EEMA, BW Applause and Everything Experiential reached out to some event industry experts, here’s what they had to say:

Ankur Kalra, CEO, Vibgyor Brand Services

The newly elected NEC of EEMA took a pragmatic and positive step in the right direction by immediately forming a task force to come up with SOPs that will show our willingness to conduct safe events to the government and request for them to allow this sector to be opened up for business once again.

As we all know, the travel, tourism, entertainment, F&B and of course the events sectors have been some of the worst hit by this pandemic. Initially it seemed like a disruption for a few weeks but now over 5 months into the pandemic we still do not know when the situation will return to normal. EEMA being the representative of the Event & Experiential industry therefore has introduced these SOPs which will not only be presented to all those in the corridors of power but also implemented by all our member companies and associates to ensure that events happen in a safe and secure manner.

It took us exactly a month and about 8 teams to put together this comprehensive document which tries to establish the norms and best practices across each and every sector of our industry.

Pramod Lunawat, Founder & CEO, Millennium Event

I was part of the 15 people task force that created the SOPs. It is an exercise that has very wide ramifications on the re-start of the sector, one that was the first to shut and may well be the last to restart.

Anyone in the  business of celebrations, events and creating experiences,  can draw from this document as it were from a Gospel to safely conduct their business with respect to clients, vendors and teams.

Vijay Bokadia, Director, Moksh Events Pvt Ltd

Really an important and positive step towards rebooting of the industry in the tough times or the new normal.

We are In the process of presenting it to the various ministries and government bodies, that we are ready for conducting safe events and have full SOPs in place and adhering to government guidelines.  We have submitted to a few and our Government Engagement Team is already connecting to various concerned ministries. It is also of paramount importance that we stakeholders have to follow these SOPs in all sorts of events we do.

If these SOPs are followed the industry will reopen soon, as covid has actually brought the entire industry on a sort of a standstill. Employing more than 10M people directly and indirectly and business of more than at least  2 lac crore or more per year is affected. Surely this initiative of EEMA is a welcome step towards the Industry.

Gunjan Arya, CEO, OML Entertainment

The SOPs drafted by EEMA’s COVID Task Force is an important move in the right direction to secure both lives and livelihoods. The SOPs have been developed by EEMA representatives that are specialists in each of their spaces – eg. weddings, rural activations, corporate events, or then festivals and concerts as drafted by OML. 

The SOPs cover everything from feasibility and risk assessment to details of pre, during and post-production such as responsible waste management. These exhaustive SOPs give EEMA members guidelines to exercise all necessary functions of regulation, allowing control and intervention where necessary, to allow safe events as much as possible. This is a step towards the industry taking responsibility for its work and its patrons. We're hopeful that the Government will recognise the pressing need for these and accept our recommendations for the industry to re-start.

Khushroo Kekobad, Author – The Health and Safety Handbook and Director, Live On Stage Pvt Ltd

It is an excellent initiative lot of hard work has gone into it and its also the need of the hour. EEMA’s SOP Post Covid Health and Safety Guidelines have to be followed to the core if you want events to open up. The lifecycle of any event begins with the decision to do business in the first place. This EEMA Sop will help reopen events as fully and quickly as possible without unreasonably risking health or safety. It is very important to work closely with the Government of India and all State Government’s follow safety guidelines and impress upon the Government 

Everyone in the event and entertainment industry has a legal duty to behave as a reasonable person and abide by EEMA’s SOPs as the key circumstance is how to reopen (a) during a highly contagious global pandemic in which (b) even asymptomatic people can carry the disease, and (c) most places currently lack widespread testing, contact tracing, or a vaccine. If Events open up so will business for Hotels, Airlines and Tourism industry will start growing.

If small events and venues can reopen without increasing COVID-19 transmission rates, it will open the door for progressively larger spaces to implement similar measures on a larger scale in the future. If, on the other hand, the first attempt at a safe reopening is a failure, that would set back the entire event industry. 

The concept of explaining rules to patrons is not new. Many events or venues already have codes of conduct with lists of prohibited items and behaviour. Before reopening, they must add their new health procedures. With all safety messaging, you have to be positive, practical, and proportionate. 

Rajesh Varma, Founder Director, CRI Events Pvt Ltd

It is a great initiative done by EEMA and the team of stalwarts who worked on it, full kudos to them and the industry at large. 

Well the government might agree, and to that extent social events might open up, but corporate events that have international mandates- I see those not opening up. 

So while these SOPs are great and we surely need to save events and this is a step in the right direction. Great work by the new leadership team at EEMA.

Nanni Singh, Chief Executive, ShowCase Events

This is a fantastic initiative by team EEMA to revive the events industry, which had gone into slumber mode with the onset of the pandemic. Considering that most of us are aware of the basic SOPs of any activity during the pandemic, but a detailed listing like this will help ensure nothing gets missed out. 

Every aspect and every area right from the venue, to the client, to the multiple vendors, production teams and the organisers has been well covered and listed for norms to be followed. Kudos to the team that has put this together.

I feel this will help us all to re-model ourselves and our ways of working in a more structured way. Only fear is if any one of us gets careless and misses out on any aspect of safety and precaution, it may lead to further spread and more damage. Thus responsibly, we will all need to make a conscientious effort.

This is the best step forward for what we have been calling “The New Normal.” Hybrid events are here and to stay. Observing the protocols and bringing in technology wherever one can, will help bring the events industry back on its feet. Safety has to be the topmost priority, for us to move ahead. These SOPs will carve the way for all event organisers to be able to execute events with utmost care and precaution. Risk assessment, sanitization, hygiene, medical facilities will be mandatory in our protocol.

It is time for us to reboot, innovate and get into action.

Siddharth Ganeriwala, Director & CEO, Aura Integrated Solutions

Much needed and extremely comprehensive documentation presented by the apex industry body - EEMA. I do believe, this will help create confidence amongst multiple stakeholders for opening up of venues and activities as they will see - we are ready.

The SOPs are the starting point. It is time now to meet different state government bodies and explain to them the steps taken for safe conduct of events. I am certain that the industry will be given a patient hearing.

Gitikka Ganju Dhar, Anchor|Actor|Wordsmith Founder, Ministry of Talk

The Government of India is fire fighting a barrage of challenges amidst the present upheaval caused by the pandemic. It was upon us, the Indian Experiential Industry to take the first step forward, and now we have. The Apex body EEMA, it's President Roshan Abbas and the Task Force Team that worked for over a month on this exhaustive 300 page SOP document needs to be applauded. I thank them, profusely. 

Now, dialogue with the right people in the Government of India needs to be initiated, which I am sure EEMA must be already doing. With every passing month, the industrial demolition in the face of the pandemic is mounting. We will have to boost our volume and reach, which is exactly what EEMA has begun to do on the 21st of August. Everyone has to now come together and back them. Amidst this uncertainty that will continue till the vaccine is officially available to the 1.6 billion people of India, inaction may just spell doom for us. Thank you once again to EEMA. We are all with you in your efforts.

Ritika Jhanji Jagtiani - Leading TV & Live Events Anchor

I can't laud EEMA enough for this initiative. The team has so meticulously laid out every possible guideline to be followed pre, post and during the event. This will instill a huge sense of responsibility in all the stakeholders. Hopefully, the authorities will open the doors to safe and responsible events soon.

Freishia B, Actor | Anchor | Host

The event industry is known for its meticulous planning and that is clearly seen with the SOPs that was released. As long as we follow protocols and show that it is safe and doable I feel we are on our way to something good here.