Following the footsteps of the government in Delhi with respect to pre-approved venues for organizing events, the Maharashtra government too yesterday pledged its support in the favor of single window clearance and giving pre-approved licenses to venues in the state. The announcement for it was made by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the inauguration of the Maharashtra International Tourism Mart. “We have decided to come up with a list of designated areas in Mumbai, where if any of the event organizers hold an event, none of the permissions will be required”- said Fadnavis at the MITM event yesterday. This landmark announcement by the government of Maharastra is being seen as a major step towards promoting the business of event fraternity and its members in the state which so far were facing hassles in licensing clearance for venues and events. An insider for the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) also revealed that the list pre-approved venues may include properties like Goregaon Exhibition Ground, Film City and BKC among others. Elaborating further on the subject Devendra Fadnavis stated, “The state government is also working towards giving online permissions to the hotel industry through single window systems.” These announcements from the Chief Minister of state have been welcomed by the members of the Events and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) with a big round of applause. Speaking on the announcement, Sabbas Joseph, President EEMA said, “We have been long waiting for this day and I would like to thank Andre Timmins, Rajeev Jain, Sushma Gaikwad and Vijay Nair for their support and active involvement to make this change happen. We now look forward to having the same change happening across each of the states and cities that we operate in.”
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Trifecta Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. has recently announced its newest family-friendly experience, well timed to kick off the festive season – the 10 Heads Festival. A unique, multi-dimensional four-day festival that’s scheduled to begin October 22, at the Dhanchiri Camping Resort on NH-8 – 10 Heads seeks to revive the concept of the great family outing. 10 Heads = 10 festivals = 10 handpicked curators creating 10 extraordinary elements = 1 unique experience With 10 festivals rolled into one the ‘big daddy of festivals’ packs in 10 key interest areas ranging from Music to Food, Fashion to Arts and Shopping to Technology. Band Baja Bass, the music festival, will be headlined by Daddy G (Grant Marshall), of the award winning British trip-hop group – Massive Attack. Legendary singer Lucky Ali and Indian Ocean will be among the other prolific Indian performers, including special collaborations and indie favourites to be featured prominently in the line-up. The gastronomical experience titled Foodistaan is set to be India’s most extensive food fest featuring over 30 varieties of culinary practices from nooks of corners of India as of the world. From top ranking restaurants to Street Food, Gourmet and Wellness Bazaars, a spice fair to Farmer’s Market this festival will be a foodies delight. Foodistaan has been carefully curated by the celebrated Chef Saby (Sabyasachi Gorai). Apart from a robust participation from leading names in the food and hospitality industry of India, Foodistan will also be bringing down exclusive pop-up restaurants/bars such as Ibiza’s Bar Barlovento, Berlin’s FluxBau and London’s Mavericks Pizzeria, 23 Grosvenor Gardens & Atlantic Bar and Restaurant. The 4 day fiesta will also see India’s 1st festival of Magic & Illusion — curated by Karan Singh — will showcase 10 disciplines of magic with street magicians, illusionists and mind-readers, among others. The pièce de résistance of the 10 Heads festival will be the Unburning, a special showcase — details for which will be unveiled close to the date of the festival. 'Unburning' will be led by the prodigious ‘Laserman’ from Italy. Laserman's show is the show of the moment, a show of manipulation of laser light, creating illusion and interacting with the audience. Dates: October 22-25, 2015 Location: Dhanchiri Camping Resort, NH-8, Delhi - Gurgaon Toll, Gurgaon 122002 Some of the 10 Heads are: Foodistaan – curated and managed by Chef Saby will host the finest gastronomic institutions from India and abroad. Highlights include: Street food rarities from across India, Toddyfest – A festival of drinkables. Arena dedicated to cocktails, wines, beers and mixology. Band Baja+Bass – A Festival of Music with some of the musical acts from across the globe. Fete De Luxe – A fair for high-end luxury products across categories of high fashion, technology, auto-mobiles, real estate, leisure & travel. Great Indian Bazaar – The flea festival. Experience popular & boutique brands through The Great Indian Bazaar's customized showcase, curated by the country’s leading Fashion magazine and our Fashion Flea Partner Cosmopolitan. Bachcha Party – A kids special, Bachcha Party will feature everything from games, to entertainment that tug at the heart strings of the young ‘uns Jaadunagari – India’s first ever Festival of Magic & Illusion festival with marquee and street magicians performing across venue mediums. Dramarama – An immersive theatre festival including diverse genres and styles of music, dance, technology and stand-up comedy.
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After extending a model initiative for single window licensing, pre-approved venues and online entertainment tax payment, AAP-led Delhi Government has extended an enthusiastic invitation to event planners to organize their marquee events in Delhi. In order to achieve this, the Delhi Government Cabinet led by CM Arvind Kejriwal and consisting of Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra have initiated certain policies to facilitate an environment that aims to establish Delhi as the hub of media, entertainment and events. In relation to this, the government is also encouraging event planners to organize events on the banks of Yamuna and has promised to supply them with a clean river by administering an aggressive cleanliness campaign. During his recent visit to EEMAX Global Conclave in Mumbai, Minister Kapil Sharma stated, "We want to be your partners and not overlords demanding a percentage cut from your well-earned business. The objective of our governance is to create a regulated and easy policy environment and get out of the way. My hope from our transformative policy vision is that we don’t have to meet ever again for work, but only as friends. You should forget where the government office is to do your work.” In an open letter to the event fraternity, Roshan Shankar- Advisor to the Government of NCT of Delhi said, "We want you to bring your best events to Delhi during the Delhi Festival in February and we want you to help develop 15 special tourism hubs across Delhi by working with associations of all the industries that encompass movies, media, film, tourism, hospitality, art, culture, retail and heritage. It is our government’s personal commitment to you that you will never have to pay a bribe and that the Delhi Government will facilitate all the things that you need to make this happen." Following the announcement Delhi tourism has uploaded an e-tender that seeks to empanel event and entertainment management companies to do events with the government in Delhi. Details of the tender can be found here. The tender no. is 2015_DTTDC_87653_1 Revising the timelines of the tender, the government has issued a corrigendum announcing the bid submission closing date as 12-Oct-2015 03:00 PM and the bid opening date as 12-Oct-2015 04:00 PM
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Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) partners with Maybelline New York, make up brand for the country’s most anticipated fashion fiesta, Amazon India Fashion Week Spring-Summer’16. The event scheduled from October 7-11, 2015 at NSIC Grounds, in the capital is a `fashion-meets-business’ event. It serves as a platform for young, as well as, established beauty and style talent, hand-picked after a nation-wide search. Maybelline New York, the trend setter & make-up partner for the New York Fashion Week is set to bring the latest trends and beauty expertise to their Indian consumers. Maybelline stands for freedom, modernity, ambition & self-expression, which translates into the brand’s latest mantra ‘Make It Happen’. Maybelline will bring these values and the signature New York edginess to their partnership with FDCI’s long standing Fashion property as exclusive beauty partners. Speaking on the association, Mr. Sunil Sethi, President, FDCI, said, “We are delighted to announce our association with Maybelline, for the India Fashion Week. The Indian cosmetic industry is burgeoning and this collaboration will only bolster our commitment towards adding a colourful landscape to the event.” Satyaki Ghosh, Director, Consumer Products Division, L’Oréal India said, “There is an inextricable link between fashion and make-up and with Maybelline New York at Amazon India Fashion Week, we’d like to showcase that to Indian women. This fashion extravaganza is the perfect platform for Maybelline to bring alive on the ramp its expertise from New York Fashion Week, perfectly customized for the Indian consumer. We’re very happy to be partnering with FDCI for this grand event and look forward to setting some new trends this season.” Pooja Sahgal, General Manager, Maybelline New York - India said, “Across the world Maybelline is strongly associated with fashion and is the make-up partner for the biggest fashion weeks across the world including New York, London, Berlin and others. We’re thrilled to be working with FDCI to create beauty trends this season. Through our presence at this distinguished platform, we hope to inspire women to create their own unique style statements with make-up and empower them with the mantra of ‘Make it Happen’. We look forward to an exciting season ahead where we will work with the best talent in the beauty industry and some of the most reputed designers in the Indian fashion fraternity to launch our innovative make-up range that encompasses our spirit and make-up looks from the catwalk to the sidewalk.”
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Percept Sports & Entertainment, the strategic business Unit of Percept One, bagged the brand activation & promotions mandate for Maharashtra Tourism. Percept Sports & Entertainment’s 360-degree scope of work encompassed conceptualizing the complete event design, managing and executing all promotional activities dedicated to promoting Maharashtra Tourism. Taking forward the mandate, Percept Sports & Entertainment conceptualized and executed a 3 day Road Show in Japan from 9th to 11th September, 2015 with support of the Wakayama prefecture, Japan. The Honorable Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis headed the delegation and was accompanied by top officials of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, including Mr. Paraag Jaiin Nainutia, Managing Director – MTDC, Hon. Secretary Tourism & Cultural Affairs Maharashtra – Mrs. Valsa Nair Singh, Hon. MP. Mr. Ramdas Athavle and Industries Minister – Maharashtra State - Subhash Desai. Hon. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met leaders and businessmen in Osaka on 9th September at Hotel New Otani and Tokyo at Indian Embassy where he pitched in for Japanese investments in India and also pitched for the Tour and Travel operators from Japan to increase the tourism footprint into India. This was followed by the historic signing of the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University and the Koyasan University. The MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation) road show commenced from 9th September at Hotel new Otani Osaka, followed by a grand event at Koysan to inaugurate the Ambedkar statue at The Koyasan University, in Mount Koya, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, on September 10th. On 11th September a road show was organised for Tour and Travel partners at the Indian Embassy of Tokyo. 12th September saw cultural performances by Wakayama Prefecture where the monks of Kumano performed the traditional trumpet shell act. The event also witnessed some vibrant cultural dance forms from the state of Maharashtra. Speaking on the occasion, Honorable Shri. Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra expressed, “Koyasan has been revered as a Buddhist destination, enchanting various tourists and spiritual Buddhists world over. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the creator of the Indian constitution, was also the man who revived Buddhism in modern India and thus, unveiling a statue of the father of Indian Constitution in the sacred Buddhist site in Japan is an utmost honor. I would like to thank the Government of Japan for this opportunity. Mr. Yoshinobu Nisaka, Governor of Wakayama also thanked Mr. Fadnavis and Maharashtra Tourism for this thoughtful gesture.” Secretary, Tourism Government of Maharashtra, Valsa Nair said, “With this road show in the commercial capital of Japan and one of the global cities of the world, we intend to have exchange of ideas and invite the tourist and businessmen alike to make the most out of the inflow of information that we bring along with this road show and explore the opportunities with regards to tourism and investment. This will definitely further strengthen the bond of both the countries with barter of cultural and financial thoughts.” Mr. Paraag Jaiin Nainutia, Managing Director – MTDC, while expressing his gratitude said, “We are very grateful to all those who have made this road show possible and smooth to conduct, my friends and colleague at MTDC, Government of Maharashtra officials, Mrs. Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, Tajima San the Director, Wakayama Prefecture and the very hospitable people of Japan. We sincerely hope that this exchange of information between the business communities, diplomats and the travel trade delegates result into a successful partnership and influx of tourists in both the countries.” Speaking on this significant account win and the successful 3 day road show across Japan, Mr. Sanjay Shukla, Chief Operating Officer, Percept One said, “It’s an honor to have won the MTDC mandate and we were determined to surpass their expectations with an innovative and memorable show. The entire event execution was a challenge given the distant location and lingo of Japan, but every element and detail was superbly synchronized and managed by every member of the Percept team to deliver a fantastic show that helped to achieve the goal of positioning Maharashtra as a prime investment and tourist destination. We appreciate the level of trust showed in us by MTDC and look forward to handling many such challenging and unforgettable events with them in the future.”
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‘Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!’ ~ goes the adage and it couldn’t have been truer. The Beer Café is set to delight its customers with the largest collection of authentic German brews under one roof for the much-awaited annual Oktoberfest! Those who will not be able to make it to Munich, need not worry as the bar has prepared to bring festivities from the Schottenhamel tent, right here to your neighbourhood. Through the initiative The Beer Cafe aims to create an entertaining month with great offers on buckets of authentic German beers, beer flight (sliders), special food menu, cheerful Bavarian tunes and props for fun photo ops, so that people can capture the beery moments! What’s more? Well, as a customer places an order when the special tunes are playing they are in for a cool surprise! Additionally the bar has shared with us a list of beers the customers must try- All Delhi and NCR Outlets: Erdinger- Weissbier Erdinger- Dunkel, Schneider Weiss Valentins Delhi Only Kaiserdom Weizenberg Paulaner- Original, Hefe Weissbier, Salvator Krombacher Pils The festival is scheduled to be held from Date: 19th September, 2015- 31st October, 2015 Venue: The Beer Café outlets across Delhi NCR
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It is an unabashedly open fact, that the events industry in India is a disorganized business. The consequences of which sometimes have to faced by the artists who come on board with such planners as performers for their event. From changes waiting to be made at the last minute for an event planned months in advance, to the agenda of a corporate event being whispered to an emcee as he is about to start to the show and from waiting for their payments to be cleared after months of performance to haggling over who would pay the hotel bills. There are a lot of things that artists in India do not like about the event agencies today and we at EE met with established event artists Vipin Aneja, Singer and performer, Rupali Suri, anchor, actor and model and Kubra Sait, anchor, actor and model, to ask for the same. 1-Experience not valued- Vipin Aneja begins his opinions by establishing the fact that experience today is not valued most of the times by event planners. He says, “Even newbie performers who have no experience are sometimes paid and put in the same category as established performers who have a considerable amount of experience. Not only is this practice unfair and unjustified but at the same time this brings down the level of the event for everyone.” 2-Tax Issues- Vipin further says, “There have also been times when I have been paid my fees after the deduction of TDS but the certificate of TDS deduction has never been given to me. This I feel is a wrong practice and needs to be changed.” 3-Equipment issues- "Just like guns and ammunitions are the weapons of a soldier, light and sound are the weapons of a good performer, however most event agencies today start of by negotiating over every simple thing. They get cheap equipments for your performance at times to save money and when the performances are not up to the mark the onus of that falls on us”-completes Vipin, 4-No budget hoax- Kubra Sait begins her list by saying that 'hate' is a very strong word to use and she does not hate anything about even planners or organizers. However she feels. there are a few things that event planners need to change in themselves. She says, “Agencies call you today and they start the conversation with fact that the event is going to be a larger than life one, with all top stars coming in however we have no budget for same. It is actually funny at times when they expect us to believe this.” 5-No hospitality- Kubra continues her stance, “Also, there are times when you are booked for an event months in advance however when you reach at the venue on the day you will be told that there is no room available at the hotel.” “As a result we sometimes have to stay at a different location which is so far from the event venue. Also some event organizers disappear immediately after the event has been executed and we sometimes have to sit and wait for our hotel bills to be cleared. I just hope the event organizing industry gets a little more organized in that sense.” 6-Call Timings- Nothing ever starts in India on time, however the call timings for invitees are much in advance. Speaking about the same phenomenon, Kubra says, “We as emcees are sometimes called 4 hours before the show has been started. Many a times even the stage has not been constructed but we are called way in advance and we have to sit and wait for things to get into place which hinders our performance.” 7-The script issues- Rupali Suri says, “As artists there are a lot of issues we face as far as the script of the emcee is concerned. In spite of asking for it much in advance there are times it is only on the last minute where you are handed over that precious piece of paper. There are also times when you literally have to beg them for it.” 8-Payments- “Getting your payments out of some event planners is a bigger challenge than anchoring an event with no script at times. I am not talking about all event planners but yes there are a few who haggle over the budgets from the get go and even after we have settled down for a low fees we are at times not even paid that after the event”-says Rupali. 9-Unreasonable requests- Pointing out the unreasonable requests made by event planners at times, Rupali says,“There are times when event planners ask you to wear a certain type of dress for an event which at times costs more than what you are paid for the event itself. And when you ask them to pay for the same they expect it to be a part of our fees, This kind of experience is certainly the worst for any performer and agencies should restrain from following such practices.” 10-No to greenroom- "There are also times when some event planners do not understand the importance of greenrooms for artists. There is a certain kind of mental preparation that needs to be done before an event and a greenroom helps you to do that. However, most event organizers feel that it is a waste of space and hence no such services are provided. I hope this culture changes soon”-says Rupali Suri as she completes her stance on things she does not like in event planners.
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The EEMAX Global conclave and awards organized by the Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) was held across 19th and 20th September 2015 at Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai. The annual event targeted at the events and experiential industry within India had experts from various parts of the world share experiences from their respective areas of focus. From insightful panel discussions to engaging performances by notable artists and from experiential elements to high profile celebrities, all were part of EEMAX Global Conclave 2015. Here are a few moments we snatched from the event- [gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="24504,24505,24506,24507,24508,24509,24510,24511,24512,24513,24514,24515,24516"]
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