The Glitz and Glamour
Greetings Folks, when we talk about events industry what is the first thing that pops up on your mind the glitz, the glamour, managing entertainers and sometimes managing celebrities, A DJ Playing great music, etc. but there is more to an event than what meets the eye. As an event professional for 4 years now I started out working in a production company and being a fresher in this potential UAE market, thanks to my first job in a production company I learned the very foundation of events in terms of production from branding elements which teaches you the different kind of media we use for branding with a whole range of wooden, metal and acrylic fabrications and the media we can print on giving me a wide perspective and different options on how to select the best solution to a clients requirement I have elaborated on the pros but during the 3 years with the company and working on endless events, activations there are bound to be good days and bad days because working in such a high-pressure industry where meeting deadlines and finishing on time is a prerequisite which sets the tone to the success of the event I have experienced a few rough days as well.
An Experience
Let me share an experience of a mall activation for a well-renowned cartoon tv show as we got the job and with a very short time span to turn it around we started off with the designing stages with a bang catering to clients’ needs with communicating with the end client in the UK as well which gave our clients the assurance that they have selected the right company for the job but all that starts well doesn’t always have a fruitful ending being an event professional consistency in keeping up with the expectation through all the phases of an event industry is essential that’s where planning has to be spot on and there should always be a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C for any set back that can occur foreseeing a problem is an important aspect, in terms of the same event we had lacked a bit on the planning part because a mall activation means you have around 6-8 hrs. to complete the job and managing that short time span is only possible through foolproof planning being part of a production unit we must expect the unexpected and in this particular event, we had faced an issue with the vinyl sticker and the printing due to change in media (the vinyl sticker material) we had a color difference in the graphics we were to mount of the structure which we had to change on the 2nd day of the event which led to a very unsatisfied client being in this industry I have learned one thing the margin for error is nil because we are representing a certain brand and any kind of glitch will affect a brand image which is our responsibility as an event company. The only bright side is that we learn to take responsibility and own up to our shortcomings which makes us extra cautious for any future events. In an industry where “word of mouth” plays an important part, we need to be extra cautious and work smart as well as hard towards successfully conducting the event.
After 3 years in the production field, I moved to Max Events Dubai an event management company and have been here for 11 months in which I have been exposed to A to Z of events from a client’s small brief for which as an event conceptualizer we need to brainstorm and come up with ideas and give our clients a walkthrough on how their event will pan out with the help of the creative team at our disposal. As an Event consultant knowing exactly what will impress the client is very important and with a good creative team, we can provide unique concepts that complement the nature of the event. The success of every event is defined at the conceptualizing phase which is the most important phase that is the time when we actually put ourselves in the client’s shoes and try to brainstorm and think what will take them by surprise and keeping in mind the budget they have allotted for a particular event in terms of conceptualizing we can go all out and provide a design which may not fit in the budget which again will result in an unhappy client.
