What a great feeling?
Michael Menezes, President, EEMA
I am fairly sure that everyone who was privileged to be at the Second National Convention of the Event & Entertainment Management Association at Agra earlier this month will echo the same thought. It was something truly extraordinary, an experience that cannot be easily recreated again ! Be it the brilliant video address by Colja Dams on a global perspective of the event industry or LV Krishnan's session on the framework of a new measurement system for ROI for events or Kaushik Roy and Sabbas's incisive interface on the positioning of our industry or GenNext's perspective of the challenges facing our industry and of course, the spectacular Gala Awards Nite brilliantly orchestrated by Brian - every moment was to be savoured and salivated upon. And will, I believe, be treasured and remembered for many days and months and years to come. Not to forget the entertainment nights capped of course by the brilliance of the one and only Rodney Fernandes!
There were two other firsts at the Convention this year - the Event Expo that saw 25 exhibitors display their wares was a great beginning. We need to look at making this part of the Convention larger, more international and more meaningful so that we can deliver even more value and more exposure to the exhibitor. And the first ever Event Industry Awards, the EEMAXs that I actually felt gave the Oscars a run for their money in terms of concept and execution. The difficult part of doing such a spectacular show is to find ways to better it in the following year. The good thing is that we are part of an industry that is responsible for delivering spectacle over and over again and I am sure we will find ways to do it even more brilliantly next year. To the 23 agencies who won awards, my warm and sincere congratulations; to the 21 who didn't, I can only reiterate my remarks on that Gala night that it's not about winning, it's about taking part ! To those who didn't manage to participate, it's time to up the ante rightaway by creating work throughout the year that deserves recognition and honour at the second EEMAX Awards next year. Such work is not just good for you as a company, it's great for our industry as well!
I think if I was to identify one singular achievement of the Convention, it would have to be the fact that it established without doubt that we could actually begin to look ourselves as an industry and not just a collection of motley entrepreneurs. However, the crucial test begins now - of building on this momentum and ensuring we can actually deliver real value to our members; much the same way that our clients are now demanding we go beyond glitz and glamour and light and sound to deliver real value to them.
I had actually outlined a 5-point agenda at the start of the Convention that spelt out my vision for EEMA and what I hope we should set out to achieve over the next year. I had reiterated the same in my closing remarks since I believed every one who was at Agra had kind of pledged their unqualified support to this vision. Let me detail those 5 points again. One, create a curriculum and interface with management institutes to nurture talent for our industry. Two, set up a mechanism to continuously and constantly upgrade employee skills through exciting and inclusive training programmes on all facets of events and experiential marketing. Three, create a relevant and transparent billing system for the industry that is real-world and ensures a fair return for the industry and fair value for the client as well. Four, create a measurement tool for the industry that provides a practical measure of ROI across diverse event spectrums which is acceptable to the client and the industry. And finally, evolve a mechanism to effectively put across the industry perspective on taxation and licensing to the Government and other relevant bodies with a clear focus to provide relief to our industry.
I believe that the Convention amply demonstrated that EEMA is a vibrant, relevant and meaningful industry body. It's now upto us to make sure it delivers value not just to its members but to the entire advertising and marketing fraternity.
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