Jerry Seinfeld, the name largely speaks for itself. Proclaimed as the12th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central, the American comedian, actor, writer, and producer was slated to perform at the Stage 42 festival at SVP Stadium, NSCI in Mumbai last weekend. This event being organized by Only Much Louder was not only heavily publicized withbrands like Askme.com and Baccardi acting as sponsors but the fans too were eagerly awaitingJerry’sfirst ever show in Asia. But joining the long list of ill-fated international acts, this event too got cancelled over the weekend leaving the event industry abuzz with speculations and creating uproar on social media. What led to this last minute cancellation? Was the event a hoax from the get go? Or was it another example of a mismanaged event? With everyone giving their own answers about the fallout at the last hour, EE managed to speak to VijayNair, CEO & Co-Founder, OML,who shared with us the reason behind the last minute cancellation. “Everything was on track till Wednesday, March 11, when we were informed that the show cannot take place because the Mumbai Police would not give licenses for a show on a weekend at NSCI. In my understanding, this was largely due to a major fracas caused by a recent event where at the same venue there were issues related to traffic being held up. An unfortunate reaction to this was that the Police had to re-think licensing of events in this venue. However, the first time we were told about this issue was on March 11. We did everything we could to come up with solutions, including: 1) We offered to book additional parking. Parking for 600 more vehicles were available in the vicinity. 2) We offered to do the show at 3pm instead, so that traffic would be minimal. However, the above was not satisfactory for the authorities and we were told that the event would not get a license. We also spoke to a few members of Parliament who we know, ministers in the government, all of whom tried to help and speak with the authorities, but eventually they all came back saying it wouldn’t be possible. So on the night of the 11th, a few hours before the artist’s crew was going to get on a flight, we called them and cancelled the show. The private jet which was booked for the artist was also cancelled. We were on the verge of announcing the cancellation yesterday when we got a call from the authorities, and I was called for a meeting. Since this would be a last-minute cancellation, the authorities were trying to help us with a plan to let this weekend’s events go on. We were now told that we could get the permission, tentatively, as well. Having cancelled the performance with the artist already, we did our best to re-book a charter and look at every possible option to get them here on time. Unfortunately, with all our travel arrangements changed, parking slots cancelled and crew being re-assigned, it became impossible to make this work. While the chance of making this happen again, at this late a time, was minimal, we did everything we could to make it work. We found a few flight options that could work, but the rest of the logistics couldn’t come together. It was just too late. In short, we were trying to arrange what took us a month the first time around, in 12 hours time.”-quotes Vijay Nayar. FANS TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO VOICE THEIR OPINIONS ON THE CANCELLATION OF JERRY SEINFELD AND REGISTERED SOME INTERESTING RESPONSES ON THE SAME. AMAN SETH USED FACEBOOK TO EXPRESS HIS THOUGHTS AND UPDATED- They were right. The world has become very small and connected. I mean, Jerry Seinfeld will be spending his saturday night alone at home in USA because of parking problem in India. -.- #SeinfeldCancelled AN INTERESTING RESPONSE FROM NISHANTTANWAR WAS A SARCASTIC COMMENT WHICH READ- Now waiting for another documentary as a gift from some foreigner called “Parking in India!” #SeinfeldCancelled SAPANVERMA TOOK OUT HIS ANGER ON THE INCIDENT BY POSTING- Situations where Mumbai doesn’t have “parking issues”: – Match at Wankhede. – Political rallies at MMRDA. – Bollywood award shows anywhere. If parking was really an issue, the govt should’ve shut down all offices in Andheri East a decade ago. #SeinfeldCancelled The twitterverse too, witnessed some explosive reactions on the Jerry Seinfeld Cancellation with SagarMehratweeting- @sagarvmehra Mar 13 Congratulations fellow Mumbaikars! Our infrastructure has made it to Jerry Seinfeld’s future monologues! Way to go!! #SeinfeldCancelled HardikShah,said; @hardlyavailable Mar 13 Moral police cancels AIB show, traffic police cancels Seinfeld show. Clearly the only comedy we get is from our police #SeinfeldCancelled @shiladitya Mar 13 Much respect to @vijay_nair and his calm, concise explanations of what led to #SeinfeldCancelled hope this turns around for all it impacted An event of such high magnitude when cancelled results in an earth shattering set-back for the organizers. In the past, events of international performers like Christopher Nolan and the band Metallica have also been cancelled creating bigger problems for the organizers in the process. The operational head Rajesh Chandwani and his three team members of DNA Entertainment Network event even went behind the bars as the police had received several complaints after the Metallica show was cancelled. On being asked how will OML survive this loss, Vijay Nayar-“ A lot of you have been nice enough to send me texts and messages to see if we are doing alright. I am not going to lie. The loss from this show is the single biggest loss for us ever and possibly among the biggest in our industry. We are still a small company of 70 people and have worked really hard to get where we are at. This is a significant setback and looking at Excel sheets right now is not a particularly pleasant exercise. However, businesses are not run by Excel sheets, they are run by people. My team has the capacity to absorb this and continue pushing ahead, but many others won’t and it will be a tragedy if people have to shut down their businesses for things that they can’t control. So yes, we will survive this and will do whatever it takes to ensure that situations like these don’t arise in the future.” Members of the event industry too seemed disturb about the sudden cancellation of this much hyped event. HumayoonZaidi, CEO, Event Network says-“The situation is very sad from the industries point of view. The organizing team was prepared for the event but because of the existing red tapism the event could not take place. The surprising fact is that till now, multiple events have taken place at the same venue but the police have never created a problem before.” Amanveer Singh, Director at Ten Events and Entertainments comments-“The cancellation of this event has led to heavy discussions happening internally at EEMA. The event has been cancelled due to government interventions, what needs to be done now is reaching out to the public and explaining the entire situation.” So what can an organizer do if a heavily marketed event falls apart at the last minute due to divergent reasons? Do event companies have a contingency action map planned for such times? SharadMathur, Director of EMG Entertainment address the questions and responds-“Events can always have plan A and B but if the main content of the show that sells the tickets goes missing how can you ever replace that? There is no backup for such circumstances. When asked upon where does the solution lie to avoid such last minute fallouts? SharadMathur completes his stance by saying- “Well, I think it is time now for the entire industry to unite and figure out the reasons behind the cancellations of such events and institutions like the government of India should support us. We also promote international culture when we organize such events and thus we need to find out the real issues that lead to cancellation of such events and jointly work towards resolving them.”
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Samsung as a brand has the history of pushing the envelope as far as innovative experiential endeavors are concerned. The brand is back in news for the same as they have recently unveiled a new concept called a “Safety Truck.” The mechanism of the concept is features a wireless camera on the front of a truck and four big monitors on the back. A live stream from the cameras is then displayed on the screens, making it possible for drivers to see what’s in front of the truck. The experience has been generated with idea to reduce the possibility of road accidents and has already managed to create a worldwide sensation with the experiential researchers lauding the efforts of Samsung on adding yet another feather to their golden experiential cap. Most people wonder what drives the experiential adrenaline rushfor Samsung and why are they so successful in terms of experience generation? Well, we at EE have the answers decoded for you as we present the top 4 learnings from Samsung’s experiential campaigns across the world. 1- Let the technology speak for itself Samsung as a brand never believes in humans talking and selling their technology driven products through personal interaction. They have instead consistently come out with innovative campaigns where it is the technology that is communicating with their prospective customers like a human. Be it the ‘French Spiderman puts Samsung’s Galaxy Gear to the test’ experiential campaign or the highly advanced Samsung Galaxy 6 phone launch events or the Giant Photography experience to promote its NX11 camera. The brand has always tried to establish an intimate and indispensable relationship between technology and humans in a way that no other brand has ever attempted before. Closely looking all of their experiential campaigns all of them can be easily understood to be subtly underlining the theme ‘Who needs humans when you can make Samsung technology your best friend.’ 2- Adding celebrity influence Samsung usually never relies on one single celebrity brand endorser for its experiential ventures. Be it its experiential activities or launches in India or abroad it has almost always used a variety of celebrity mix to make its products appeal to masses at one go. Clear example of this is the Samsung Galaxy 6 launch party in the US recently where Samsung got a variety of celebrities to use their phones and get clicked in the process. Also Samsung in India has been recently seen associating with the likes of Huma Qureshi, Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Amir Khan and others. With this strategy not only is the brand is able to capitalize on the popularity of diverse celebrities one after the other but they also add a surprise angle to all their initiatives and leave the audiences in a mode of anticipation of what the brand might come up with next. 3- Smart associations Samsung also like most brands is known to associate with other events of diverse genres to better market itself. However what makes these associations beneficial for Samsung is the parameters on which it joins such collaborations. Looking back into Samsung’s experiential history one can easily understand it has only made association with events which majorly caters to the youth, which is the primary target market for the brand. Its notable associations with ‘Party on with Chatathon’, ‘Young Innovation Awards’, ‘College Festivals’ and Sporting associations with the likes of IPL, Asian Games, Paralympic Games etc. prove the point. 4- Innovative CSR initiatives In case of most brands while their experiential initiatives are all about telling the story of their brand and products, their CSR initiatives are known to be marked by associations with NGO’s or donations to the needy for a good cause. Samsung however has created their own niche in terms of CSR campaigns too as much similar to their experiential ventures their CSR initiatives are used by the brand as an opportunity to display the unique features of its technology while fulfilling the mandate of CSR in the process. Looking closely at their initiatives such as the development of Samsung smart schools where the technology of Samsung is used to educate underprivileged children, technological support of disabled in the rural areas, tech savvy means of sustaining the environment and others are worthy examples of how Samsung as a brand has truly diversified in all its initiatives while staying well within its ethos to display the same message and establish the same connection with all their endeavors.
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If there’s one common thing about the people all around the world together, it’s the love they have for diverse varieties of automobiles. Auto shows are traditionally one of the most anticipated events in the experiential domain, and they attract millions from all over the globe every year. These automobile events are not only used by marketers as a platform to promote their latest products, but also to test out ideas and concept vehicles in order to get a gauge on consumer enthusiasm. And while there are literally multiple events of this genre happening every year around the world, only a few turn out to be major crowd pullers. Here at EE, we are going to take a look at the 6 of worlds biggest and best auto experiential events across the globe- Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed, which sounds more like some sort of Renaissance festival, is held every year in West Sussex, England. The festival is known to attract crowds of approximately 100,000 on each of the three days on which it is held. The festival itself is held on the grounds of the Goodwood estate, a location with very important ties to British automotive history, and features historic motor racing vehicles, enabling fans to see F1 machines as well as cars and motorbikes from motor racing history all at one place. [caption id="attachment_1543" align="alignnone" width="300"] Pebble Beach, UNITED STATES: Historic automobiles fill the 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach Golf Links during the 56th annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 20 August 2006 in Pebble Beach, California. As many as 175 vintage cars from around the world were on display during the show. AFP photo Tony AVELAR (Photo credit should read TONY AVELAR/AFP/Getty Images)[/caption] (The Unofficial) Woodward Dream Cruise Held in the third week of August in Detroit, this is a classic car event along Woodward Avenue. The WDC Event spans much of the avenue, from Pontiac through Ferndale in Oakland County, Michigan, all the way to the State Fair Grounds inside the Detroit city limits, just south of 8 Mile Road. An estimated one million spectators attended the 2009 Woodward Dream Cruise as it features roughly 40,000 classic cars each year from around the globe. Spectators can see muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special interest vehicles dating across several decades. Pebble Beach Car Week Numerous events are organized at California’s Pebble Beach area over the summer, including auctions, cocktail hours, and of course, judging vehicles. The famed Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is a part of the annual Monterey Car Week festivities, and often includes several celebrities and some of the world’s richest individuals as its attendees. Cars are often auctioned off for millions of dollars over the course of the week, and many of the world’s rarest models are on display as well. [caption id="attachment_1551" align="alignnone" width="300"] Visitors look at cars displayed during the opening day of the Paris Motor Show at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on September 29, 2012. The event runs from September 29 to October 14. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSON (Photo credit should read THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/GettyImages)[/caption] Auto Shanghai China is quickly becoming addicted to cars, and that is what makes it such a vital target for the automotive industry at large. The country being the home to a huge number of people and potential customers, the event Auto Shanghai is held every two years, and saw its birth during the 1980s.The show has become a strong staging event for North American and European car companies to show off their latest creations to the Asian market, and is sure to only grow in importance every time it is held. The Auto Shanghai 2013, with a combined show space of 280,000 square meters, brought together 2,000 Chinese and foreign exhibitors from 18 countries and 1,300 complete vehicles were on display at the event, which include 69 concept cars and 91 new energy vehicles, while 111 new models had their world debuts at the event. [caption id="attachment_1552" align="alignnone" width="300"] ROYAL OAK, MI - AUGUST 17: (CAR FEATURE 1 of 5) More than a million and a half car enthusiasts line a 16 mile stretch of Woodward Avenue between Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan to watch approximately 30,000 classic and antique cars cruise by during the 8th Annual Woodward Dream Cruise August 17, 2002 in Royal Oak, Michigan. The Cruise is the world's largest one day auto event. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)[/caption] 24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (is the world’s oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France. The event commonly referred to as “the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency,” is considered to be one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world as racing teams have to balance speed with the cars’ ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining mechanical damage, and manage the cars’ consumables, primarily fuel, tyres, and braking materials. The endurance of the drivers is also at display, as drivers frequently stay behind the wheel for over two hours before handing duties over to a relief driver during a pit stop. Drivers then grab what food and rest they can before returning to drive another stint. The event is organized by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and runs on the Circuit de la Sarthe, a circuit containing a mix of closed public roads and specialist racing circuit. A Night of Destruction This event features a night of unmatched local racing, much similar to a demolition derby on speed, nights of destruction include any number of nonsensical such as car bowling, rollover contests, cars racing in reverse, and a bizarrely imaginative array of figure-eight races. The chain race ties two cars nose to tail; the front car has no brakes and the back car has no engine, leaving fantastic opportunities for drivers to hang each other out to dry in the intersection. In the boat-trailer race, each car tows a trailer with a boat strapped to it and often flings the boat off the trailer at high speed. Camper races follow the same format but with more asbestos. The event signifies mayhem and collision at its finest and more interesting than the race itself is the attendees that it attracts.
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Percept/H, the flagship advertising agency of Percept Limited, has bagged the prestigious account of foodpanda, India’s largest food ordering platform. The multi-agency pitch was won by Percept/H and is pegged at approximately INR 1 crore. The foodpanda account will be handled nationally with supervision of client operations from the Percept/H Delhi Office. The brief given to Percept/H by the foodpanda team prior to the pitch was to encourage the target audience to download the foodpanda app and make it the most popular and accepted way to order food. Percept/H conceptualized and created a unique idea that ensured a complete repositioning and enhancement from the existent promotional line ‘Your favourite food just a call away’ to the cool ‘Don’t Call, Just Install’ tagline, thereby highlighting the convenience USP of the app. The six-week long campaign blitzkrieg will encompass commercial advisements, radio spots, mall activations, and corporate events. With mobile apps being the next big thing, foodpanda has definitely attained the first mover advantage by paving the way ahead and breaking through the tiresome process consumers have to undergo of calling a restaurant and ordering vis-à-vis utilizing an app that not only saves time and energy but also serves up a phenomenal range of great offers and incredible discounts! SaurabhKochhar CEO (India) and CBO (Global), foodpanda said, “Our constant endeavour at foodpanda is to curb the food ordering ruckus in India. Through the TVCs, we aim to capture the value additions that our services bring to the customer via the app. The availability of this app not only scratches down the cumbersome task of searching for phone numbers and ordering, but also offers consumers convenience to choose from a huge number of options.” Percept/H’ success in winning this esteemed account has largely been due to their innovative conceptualization, out-of-the-box ideation skills and a profound understanding spanning the category, brand and a thorough research of the target audiences needs. The agency plans to take a 360° creative and media approach encircling multiple platforms including Print, Outdoor, Television, Radio, B-T-L and Social Media. Commenting on the account win, JitenBhagat, Chief Operating Officer, Percept/H said, “It is a matter of great pride to be associated with a revolutionary brand like foodpanda. We are glad to have received this opportunity to be a part of their visionary growth journey.” Ryan Menezes, Chief Creative Officer, Percept /H said, “We’re absolutely thrilled with this win and even more excited with the creative opportunity to work for a young, exciting, evolving brand like foodpanda. We’re looking forward to doing some outstanding work with them.” Said S Suresh, Sr. Vice President, Percept/ H – Delhi, “foodpanda wanted to reinforce itself as the go-to place for customers primarily for the diverse options they offer and for the convenience of ordering. To achieve it, we created fun commercials through some everyday situations that all foodies can relate to. At a time when we rely on technology for everything, there’s no reason why we should resort to obsolete ways for ordering food, and this messaging has been very effectively portrayed in our creative communication.” Siddhartha Bindra, Executive Creative Director, Percept/ H – Delhi commented, “It was great fun to work on foodpanda. It’s a young brand in every sense, led by and targeted at young people. As a client, they appreciate bold ideas and have an infectious enthusiasm in everything they do. We expect to do some great work for foodpanda in the coming year.”
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Leading homegrown international ticketing major, Kyazoonga, continues to notch up successes, soon after being the only Indian company to make it to the final shortlist of the Rio 2016 Olympics ticketing program,Kyazoonga has signed a multi-year deal with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the official T20 championships in the West Indies to provide their proprietary ticketing and accreditation solution. The deal underscores the company’s global ambitions where it is making a mark by displacing established players and disrupting legacy practices and systems, in a market hitherto dominated by a few large players from the West. The company ticketed the CPL last year as well. The deal worth over Rs. 100 crores over the term will see Kyazoonga manage the entire ticketing and accreditation operations for the CPL. The CPL, a highly popular league with a wide array of international cricket stars, continues to expand and grow stronger. The league has a 6 team format with representation from the 6 main cricket playing countries – Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, St. Kitts and St. Lucia. Shah Rukh Khan’s KKR has recently bought the Trinidad & Tobago team. Kyazoonga introduced professionalized e-ticketing in sports and entertainment to India in 2007 and has continued to democratize access to some of the largest events in the sub-continent such as the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, the Sachin Tendulkar Retirement Test, several IPL teams since the first season, Bryan Adams India Concert Tour, Guns N’ Roses India Concert Tour, the annual Jaipur Literature Festival, among others. Commenting on the deal, Damien O’ Donohoe, CEO of CPL said ‘We have been extremely pleased with the technology, operational and system capabilities and the quality of service that Kyazoonga has brought to CPL’s ticketing program. Having worked with other major ticketing service providers in the world, Kyazoonga felt like a breath of fresh air when they were able to quickly set up ticketing operations across multiple countries in the region and successfully overcome all the challenges that come with a geographically and culturally diverse ticketing market. We are delighted with the deal that will help us grow the tournament bigger and better. The team from Kyazoonga never ceases to pleasantly surprise us with their positive, technology-driven approach to come up with solutions.” Neetu Bhatia, CEO of Kyazoonga said “Kyazoonga is incredibly proud to be associated with CPL and to bring to bear the cutting-edge capabilities that we have developed in ticketing. We are thrilled that our “Make-in-India” ticketing technology and experience is driving some of the largest ticketing programs in the world. Our experience of building and growing the ticketing market in India has been very valuable in developing superior products and services that work equally seamlessly for more mature markets in the western world. The 2015 season of the Caribbean Premier League is now underway and tickets are available on-sale online on cplt20.com orkyazoonga.com/cpl and also at various Kyazoonga-powered retail outlets and box-offices across the Caribbean.
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Every day with every new event that organizers organize they further try to push the envelope and thrive on innovation and creativity. The most recent development on this front being the use of spectacular technological, art and motion installations at events. The result obviously is an amazed audience who takes back with itself a memorable moment. In this feature at EE, we list down some of the most outstanding interactive installations that explore the art of interaction between environment, users and machines. Take a look at 5 beautiful examples of interactive installations: experiments, motions, applications and more. 1- Giant Astronaut Coachella Festival As the lovers of Coachella Valley Art and Musical festival descended towards their favorite festival they were greeted by a friend from space. The Coachella Astronaut (aka “Escape Velocity”) was a 36-foot tall, 57-foot long, 40-foot wide creation, built on a forklift that would traverse the Coachella crowd both weekends of the festival. The festival with the help of this installation became famous worldwide with people sharing the pictures and videos of this installation making it the most viral topic of the week. 2- Ferrero Rochers Pyramid Italian confectionery giant Ferrero has started Diwali festivities with India’s biggest Ferrero Rocher Golden Pyramid at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon. The three dimensional pyramid measuring over 23 feet in height is also India’s biggest exhibit for any brand activation campaign till date. The pyramid has been created as part of a ‘Light up your Diwali with Gold’ campaign rolled out by experiential agency Vibgyor Brand Services. 3- Maybelline Digital Wall Maybelline India wanted to launch its Super Stay 14-hour lipstick through a social media driven activity and for that the revelation of the product took place at a 25 feet tall setup that re-created the iconic Times Square in New York. A 14-hour countdown took place, before the unveiling of the product. For 14 hours, people across the country were encouraged to tweet with #doesntlastlongenough to express their exasperation with things that finish too quickly. A huge digital screen with responses to the handle generated a lot of buzz and all the latest social media updates were displayed on the digital wall. The campaign was executed by Vibgyor Brand Services and also went on to win multiple awards and accolades. 4- Fluidic Sculpture In Motion This was an installation for Hyundai’s Advanced Design Center installed for Milan Design Week and was created by Berlin based design studio WHITEvoid. A visitor enters a darkened space, the eyes slowly adapt and a dim wall of light in the middle of the room becomes increasingly visible. Wide curved cascading podiums lead up to the core installation as the spectator approaches the virtual walls part and a cloud of iridescent light particles activated by ultrasharp laserbeams becomes visible. All suspended in mid air hovering above a water mirror surface. The installation was an instant hit among the visitors and its followers on social media who made it one of the most talked about things of the year. 5- Experience Mobile Mobile Scuplture ‘Mobile Mobile’ was a six metre circumference interactive sculpture, and signature piece for the entrance of the Lost Boys London Brick Lane studio. The idea behind the sculpture was after a company-wide upgrade the agency had a lot of old mobiles gathering dust. These were then used to built and hoist a gigantic interactive chandelier/mobile that plays Christmas jingles in their reception. To add a little xmas spice to the mix, anyone could go online, compose and play their own jingle (and enjoy annoying the hell out of people waiting around in the reception). This was achieved by playing the thing live, using your computer keyboard from a web browser. Mobile Mobile was made as a semi-permanent hanging (exhibition) space. In January the mobiles were replaced with another hanging media, then updated month in, month out. - See more at: http://everythingexperiential.com/5-spectacular-installations-from-events-across-the-globe/#sthash.dXTqQ7Zs.dpuf
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Everyone loves a good surprise. People love it when a certain unexpected moment stirs out a positive emotion in them and leaves them with a memory worth being cherished. Events too are unpredictable where an unexpected outcome to a situation can certainly make your audience take a notice. Event organizers today can use the element of surprise to their benefit by using it to liven up the content of their event. A good surprise will not only bring uniqueness to your event but will also generate positive buzz among the attendees about the organizing company as a whole. We list 4 innovative ideas to add the element of surprise to your next event. 1- Check-in to Surprise When your attendees are registering themselves for the event an added wow factor at this stage can be used to get them excited for the event from the get go. Technology like QR codes and mobile phone applications can be used efficiently for this purpose. One can use QR codes to allow the guests to register themselves or develop a procedure where the attendee can also avail surprises from the check in by scanning the mystery gift box through QR codes. A similar concept was used by the club Turquoise Cottage in Delhi recently and was voraciously admired by the audience. Also, mobile phone applications that already have the attendee credentials enclosed in them can be used to customize a surprise for a specific attendee or attendees as per the convenience of the organizer. The better is the surprise the more engaged the audience is. 2- Celebrity Presence It is everyone’s dream to have a picture with their favorite celebrity when they are not expecting anything at all. A surprise photo session with their favorite movie star or the sporting legend that they adore can really bring out the best emotions in your attendees. All one needs to do is have a celebrity presence planned in advance and not advertise about it. Not only this move will help you as another engaging element to the overall event but the post event buzz created will help generate positive influence on prospective event attendees of future events. 3- Decorating ideas The basic look and decorative contents of the event can also be used to infuse the element of surprise at events. One can easily use the photographs of event attendees to decorate the event premises and also use them to add captions to their photos and place it as the event backdrop. In case of a smaller audience the seats of the attendees can also be customized as per the likes and dislikes of the attendee. The genre of horror can also be used as a surprise at events with suddenly emerging scary objects are also tested and proven ingredients to wow audiences at events. 4- Audience Engagement The surprise element can also be added to an event in the form of an audience engagement activity. An example of such can be a music performer involving the participation of the members of the audience for an overall song or a particular performance. The audience can also be expected to play a certain musical instrument kept hidden under their chairs. Similar concepts have also been effectively used in Global India Music Awards in the past and have been appreciated by the viewers as well as the audience. Also, the emcee at the event can use audience to involve them into many surprising activities such as an impromptu karaoke performance or fun filled activities such as a food fight, slogan contest, tug-of-war, kiss cam, live proposal etc. Such little surprises will add a positive flavor to the overall event that are guaranteed to win over the hearts of the audience.
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From cost cutting techniques they could have followed during the event to what went wrong with the security management and from what lacked in the décor to whether the performances were good enough- Event organizers need to keep a tab on everything today. Organizing an event today involves heavy investments and thus after the event there are many questions that need to be answered. One of the most prominent questions is regarding the ROI of the event. Every event organizer wants to know whether their event was a successful one or not and what the return on investment was from the event. The calculation of ROI in the industry today is not only complex but also varies in perspective and most organizers feel unsure about the success of their event. We ask industry veterans on how they determine the ROI on Events. Reema Gupta, Director, Red Entertainment comments-“It depends upon the kind of event you execute. For events where in a direct exchange for cash is involved we directly subtract the expenses from the incomes. Also consideration of other factors such word of mouth publicity and the kind of buzz generated helps us.” Lalit Jain, Founder and CEO, Lakshya Events says-“It is without a doubt a daunting challenge for us. The calculation is very vague and what creates the worst confusion is that there is no fixed metric to determine the ROI. I have heard EEMA (Event and Entertainment Management Association) is working on that for now but till it comes up with something every calculation is an assumption as there is no full proof method. For now what we do is that we adopt standardized data from the market and work on it our own way. The result is very near to ROI but still it’s estimation at the end of the day.” One of the most followed system to calculate ROI around the world is (Gross Profit – Marketing Expenses) / Marketing Expenses. Wherein the Gross Profit has to be the benefits received from the attendance of the event, which however is an uncertain figure to zero down upon. “For me a satisfied audience is the biggest return on investment”-says Harimom Jatiya, Owner, Excellency Time Entertainment Pvt Ltd. He says money is not always important but it is the success of the events that counts. “An organizer too makes new contacts from the event for his business. I calculate ROI from the success of the event itself. If the event is executed properly, the audience is happy and it has managed a good response then it is all the return on investment I need. Many times when we have multiple events on a single date we hire artists for full day and make them perform on multiple locations to control event budget. It all depends on what you really expect from the event in return”- he completes.
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