The events and experiential business are slowly trying to position itself in the new normal. With unlock announcements gradually coming out, the focus now stands on three important pillars, i.e., Health, Safety and Sustainability. In accordance to this view point, Events and Entertainment Management Association, EEMA conducted a webinar which focused on these majorly.
A three-hour power packed insightful webinar, it showcased the most creative synergy of ideas, innovations and integration of health, safety and sustainability in the Events, Entertainment and experiential space. It brought in powerful speakers and thought leaders who shared their scoop of knowledge and practical experiences along with ideas leading towards the business growth.
The pandemic has altogether given a new dimension to the experiential space and added a new dimension to health, safety and sustainability in managing the experiential business and ensuring the viability of businesses. The webinar began with a special welcome address by EEMA General Secretary, Siddhartha Chaturvedi who described EEMA’s evolution in terms of conducting events and welcomed everyone for the webinar. He then further welcomed Roshan Abbas, President EEMA for his address.
The health segment began with a key note address by the renowned Sports Scientist and Psychologist, Shayamal Vallabhjee. He emphasized on how optimal health is the secret to a healthy business and also explained, that the perfect mindset is the key in making a right decision. The session was then taken ahead with a panel discussion who comprised of Neha Kirpal, Co-Founder, InnerHour Mental Health, Mahek Jain, Executive Director, Nirmal Lifestyle and Shayamal Vallabhjee, Sports Scientist and Psychologist, Poonam Lal, Chairperson, EEMA WeCare along with Ankur Kalra, Pramod Lunawat and Amit Gupta from the EEMA HSS Committee. The discussion covered areas of holistic well-being and the way it impacts the businesses and success.
This segment was then followed by the Safety section. It begun with a key note address by Sabbas Joseph, Co-Founder and Director at Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. & Wizcraft MIME. He described the changes the event industry needs in terms of safety in order to excel. Not just this, if we need to take charge of the current situation, we need to have a sense of responsibility to protect each and every one who is involved in the event. He gave a special mantra of ESG, i.e., Environment, Sustainability and governance in order to evolve further. This insightful session was then taken up with Sean Norris, Security & Risk Management Expert & CEO, KeyStone Global Security, Eddie Slotboom, Projects Director, Prolyte, James Clapham Risk Analyst, KeyStone Global Security, Daryl Sheldon, Director, Seventy-Seven Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Khushroo Kekobad, Siddharth Ganeriwala from the EEMA HSS Committee. They discussed about equipment safety along with focus on safety and sustainability in the events ecosystem. They emphasized on how our doings from today will become a benchmark for safety in future.
The opportunity was taken forward by Meegan Jones, Sustainability Event Expert, who then came forward with her interesting keynote and addressed areas of climatic conditions, resource efficiency and use recyclable and reusables. She also emphasized that with the use of reusable and natural resources, the industry has a long way to go. Moving forward the stellar list of panelists for the Sustainability webinar stepped forward. It comprised of Roshan Netalkar, MD Swordfish Entertainment, Pvt. Ltd. And Festival Director – Echoes of the Earth Music Festival, Claudius Saldanha, Head – Sustainability and Procurement, Procam International, Divya Ravichandran, Founder of Skrap along with Meegan Jones, Sustainability Event Expert. The panelists elaborated the subject of sustainability in events. They spoke about how conservation of our resources is necessary. Several case studies showcased great examples with the best possible usage of resources. They also added, that going forward, we need to look forward to budgeting a cost towards conducting sustainable events as in future as this will impact our industry and lead us towards our business successes.
On this, Roshan Abbas, President EEMA said, “I’m really elated to express my gratitude towards everyone who has been a part of this event from multiple locations. The event industry has been the last to open because the Government and many other bodies look upon us to be not so responsible. The event industry has always found ways and means of doing things within the best possible time and resources. We began with our efforts last year when we launched, #OpenSafeEventsToSaveEvents and launched the SOPs which comprised of safety protocols for conducting safe events in the new normal. Since then, we’ve been constantly appealing to the Government to look towards our needs and requirements.” He also added, “This health, safety and sustainability webinar by EEMA highlights the thoughts and processes and how we can become champions of change in our businesses.”
Siddhartha Chaturvedi, General Secretary, EEMA said, “These tough times have given us opportunities to mend and correct the ways we have been conducting our businesses. Going forward, these three pillars of Health, Safety and Sustainability are of paramount importance and we need to focus and allocate efforts on each of these.” He also added, “The webinar has been an overview of the change of mindset we wish to bring in the industry to inculcate from hereon. For this we would like to thank the Health, Safety and Sustainability (HSS) Committee for initiating this fantastic effort and bringing in this stellar list of speakers and panelists. We hope this brings a real change to our industry and help us evolve towards betterment.”
The webinar was then concluded by a special vote of thanks by Samit Garg, Executive Vice President, EEMA, who thanked all speakers, panelists and curators for pulling a wonderful show.