Sabbas Joseph Takes Up Mentoring The Youth Launches Global Wedding Academy by Wizcraft MIME

"My Journey has been very interesting that has taken me to uncharted territories being the pioneer in everything,the first of your kind that no one has done before,you are the first to loose, you are the first to win,you are the first to excel and go beyond...There are those challenges,there are those joys there are those moments of exhalation"....

India's Wiz man who crafts wonders making every occasion celestial talks to Everything Experiential about The Global Wedding Academy by Wizcraft MIME, another pioneering step towards mentoring the youth towards the Art of Wedding Planning...Here are some excerpts,Sabbas Joseph Co-Founder Director Wizcraft in conversation with Priyaankaa Mathur...

Q Wedding Industry today is exploding with opportunities could you elaborate more on its growth and potential?

 The Wedding Industry today is going global and has reached the $350 bn mark.India is the biggest market that is 50 bn alone and then is US 90 bn, and spreads across Europe Belgium,UK,Australia and the ofcourse Middle East.This industry is creatively exciting and is technically and aesthetically demanding that requires a very high level of personalisation.

Q What is the vision behind creating Global Wedding Academy?

Global Wedding Academy is a hub of experiential knowledge, interactive learning and holistic development, that aims to shape the future of the professionals entering the wedding planning Industry. The Academy envisions to empowering the students  by mentoring and grooming them into in- demand professionals.

Q What inspired you to take up this new venture?

I think the inspiration is of achieving the excellence and being the best in the world  and that's a  dream that I see with my two partners Andre Simmons and Viraf Sarkari.I believe one needs to find a great team to make your dreams come true.We found great partners in Sushma Gaikwad Co-founder Ice Global and Neha Seth  Arora,Founder Director Varvadhu.We have captured their experiences,what they have learnt over the years, in this learning program and in some way together we find inspiration in each other,that's the real truth!

Q Could you highlight on the facets of media and multiple electives in the wedding management course curriculum?

We are working on the electives that are broadly in 3 categories First being 'Communication' that  will include communication of trade, industry and entertainment,' Second 'Business of Entertainment' and third the 'Wedding Management' that will include insights on Decor, Environment Creation, Gifting, Content Creation, Documentation of Weddings etc. While for Corporate Events it's important to understand PR,Brands and Advertising. How to synergize them all to create a live event, is an art and a creative process. Currently we have some 50 electives, but over the years I think we will have more than 100.The combination of all the electives will make sure that the professionals of the future are specialized, they are trained and groomed in a way that they are passionate about the area, they want to choose from, enabling the Academy to shape up world class talent.

Q Does the Academy ensure any campus placements or internship opportunities?

The Global Wedding Academy carries the industry's stamp of approval by Media Entertainment Skills Council( MESC) to empower India's workforce with high standard of excellence and hone them with employment. The curriculum is very specific that inspires creativity and educates the students with right amount of theory. Adding to this are on-site and of-sight work internships opportunities from the most recognized agencies in the business wherein the students will get to face the clients in the real world.

Q Educating today's youth for Wedding Management would require inculcating traditional values and religious  rituals or 'sanskars' as part of the curriculum, do you see it  also as a way ahead to sowing the seeds towards getting the youth back to the roots?

Yes, Teaching the essential rituals in different communities is a part of the curriculum as it is necessary,since there are cultural nuances in each community, that the wedding planners need to take care of. It’s important that students understand in a broad perspective and have respect for each other’s religions. I think we are determining what our next generation and the next set of professionals is going to be and thus it is important for us to dream and plan it correctly and go on to deliver the best.

Q As the president of EEMA, What according to you were the major challenges that the Entertainment Industry faced and how did you resolve them?

One way was to see them as challenges and other that we decided to have them passed. The biggest challenge or opportunity was to believe in ourselves and work together and believe that we can change the world. Second was to build a strong Secretariat a back end that supported EETA to execute our dreams at National and Regional levels.

Q Event Industry is still targeting to get an industry status, what’s your take on it?

Yes, Industrial status is important that will help us up to a certain level in terms of getting us financial management and training skills in order. The truth is that I don't think that we are today anything lesser than an industry, we work together as  an industry and we do not work on government approvals or certifications to work, we are doing our own things and changing our world. I think we will be more of  an Industry before we are given an industry status, because our community has
 taken it very seriously and one can feel that.

Q Could you highlight on the Experiential side of wedding industry and how is it evolving over time?

I always believe that any innovation that happens in the event industry is seen first in the wedding industry than across genres. This industry is all about creating a lifetime experience for a couple and the families and involves a lot of innovation and creativity to create unique experiences as per the clients today, who are ready to innovate and explore new ideas to make a wedding unique and special.

Global Wedding Academy (GWA) is the place to learn from the masters and get quality training from the best  minds in the industry, from both India and around the globe. The Global Wedding  Academy faculty includes Wizcraft founders Andre Timmins, Viraf Sarkari & Sabbas Joseph; life trainer and event industry leader Sushma Gaikwad, wedding
 industry leaders Neha Seth Arora, Samit Garg, Thanush Joseph, Bhavnesh Sawhney, Farid Khan, Vandana Mohan, Aditya Motwane, celebrity food stylist Rakhee Jain, Aarti Mattoo, Vijay Arora, Rajeev Jain, Mohammed Morani, among others.