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FUN sans pains
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Event management companies are having a field day, finds RAKHEE MOHAN
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It's the perfect coordination of an idea, manpower and materials to obtain the desired impact Subrahmanian Santakumar
Photo: Mahesh Harila
PARTYING IN PEACE: Taking off the burden of the nitty gritties of organising an event is what people crave for Photo: Mahesh Harila
BRINGING EVENTS to life and life into events is what the new age wizards of the entertainment world are out to do. Event management has finally come of age and pitched its colourful and vibrant marquee in the mainstream service provider market. Once looked upon with suspicion and confronted with `can they deliver' questionnaires, they have become the darlings of corporate houses, with their services being engaged for a gamut of activities, right from a product launch to a birthday bash.
Says Harish Babu, Managing Director, Impresario Event Marketing Company that started off way back in 1995, "Earlier, we had a tough task convincing them about how we could ease their burden. In those days, a company had in-house people do such promotional stuff and here we wanted to give them quality services and fill up the vacuum we felt had crept up in such lacklustre events."
Indispensable
They were more than willing to take the trouble of chalking out strategies and counter strategies to make such programmes eventful occasions of a lifetime. Says Subrahmanian Santakumar, Creative and Strategic Director, Fonix events, "At first clients didn't know what we were talking about but now there is a vast shift in perception towards this field of activity. Now we are an indispensable part of the proceedings."
With so many companies launching products and keen on conducting promotional campaigns, event management is tapping the market and making hay while the sun shines. Says Martin of Razzmatazz Ventures Event Company, "entertainment is the crucial catchword here. People have slowly begun to accept stage shows and the glamour and glitz that make up such events are no more considered wasteful. We've seen an unprecedented rise in dealer meets and customer relation activities, thus broadening avenues to forage into." He also cites grand scale conventions which have been happening in the city as another area that can offer grist to the events' mill.
PrimeTime Unlimited event company's MD, Ayoobi M. says, "We specialise in corporate events and conferences but I think there is lots of scope in the tourism sector with their packaged tours that come with inclusive entertainment programmes. Also packaged conferences are another option that we are considering and would like to delve in further." Impresario is taking a cue from Clinton's image makeover book that just raised his heel size 2 inches more and which actually led him to clinch a whole nation. They have been providing image consultancy services to politicians, actors and singers. From artist and celebrity management, they have cast their net further to draw in broadcast video production and wedding festivities. Says Harish, "we have done a couple of theme weddings. Its just an off shoot of what's caught the fancy of the people in the north." It's mostly the NRIs who go in for such fanciful grandeur weddings and the bride and bridegroom get to see all their dreamy demands fulfilled on D-day. "The father of the bride just has to receive his guests. All his other tensions are taken care of by us."
Funerals too
Birthdays are a sound enough cause for celebration but what about death? Well for some that too is an event in the offing. Well, now the pomp and splendour of a funeral can follow one to the grave too. "Funerals have a grandeur about it and we keep the serious sentiments intact. We just go about doing all the dirty work like mortuary or body embalming, police information and certification, all the things that would normally have harried the close relatives of the deceased. But Christian funerals do also have flower preparations and other paraphernalia involved which we help out with," adds Harish.
Event management companies also have started their inhouse marketed events. "We seek niche markets like the job sector which we know has self sustainability and retains its interest factor perennially as well as keep upping the ante of its brand value," says Harish. ISE events, which specializes in exhibitions, has its own Careers and Campuses International Education Fair. Says R. Manu, MD of ISE and also the secretary of Kerala Event Management Association, "We execute singular themed exhibitions. Like we have our IT education and book fair called Learn @ school, or likewise the Investment and Finance exhibition."
No small matter
But all of them do agree that putting up an event is no small matter. While the client sets the benchmark, "Creativity and planning are the two steadfast pillars that assist event managers in their endeavour to realise their client's specifications," says R. Manu.
Adds Subrahmanian Santakumar, "it's the perfect coordination of an idea, manpower and materials to obtain the desired impact." Here, the innovation quotient works overtime to make each one a cut above the rest. Because you have to be distinct, else you be extinct, says the rules of the game. And that's why Ayoobi M feels, "the small time players are spoiling the market with their unprofessional approach and make-a-quick-buck attitudeIn this male dominated field, two winsome ladies Ricki Balaji and Ria Das are finding a foothold. Creating their own feminine space in a matter of six months, their company, `Ricki and Ria, The Event People' has made a place for itself. Says Ricki Balaji, " It's a man's world and it's tough convincing people of our managerial skills. You are put to the acid test and once you come out unscathed you are accepted." Their company has decided to focus on theme parties.
On the fast track
The future's bright all right but for another concern that has just cropped up in the recent tax structure developments. Informs Manu, "in the professional tax they are charging the gross amount instead of only levying the professional charge. This has an adverse impact on the client's profits and they would prefer to go back to their in-house ways which will see the market becoming sluggish." But for now life here is set on the fast track. Says Angus Davids, MD of Fonix, "we see clients walking in because of network growth. What we've done over the years is our credentials. Even outstation companies like to collaborate and sub let the work instead of coming and doing it all themselves."
Event management has come full circle.
In new avatar
Event management is in its new avatar. It has enlarged its scope from preparing promotional stuff and holding production launches to loftier heights. Theme parties, wedding management, seeing to the details of funerals, and arranging conferences came after the first phase. Now the city has professionals who do makeovers for actors, politicians and artistes, as in the West.
Packaged tours and conferences with a dash of entertainment thrown in is in the offing too.
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