While early 2021 came with much hope for the event industry with live events allowed to take place, however, it all turned to be short-lived when we look at it now.

The second covid wave has once again put businesses on the backfoot and if we talk about experiential marketing agencies that were hopeful of a good 2021, the forecast is now that of gloom and doom.

Deepak Pawar, MD Midas Next and Director, Streamy.in, says that a drastic dip in on-ground activities has brought a dead halt resulting in loss of jobs & revenues.  

“As certain markets began to open at snail's pace, so did we hope for our industry too but the advent of the 2nd wave toppled hopes and aspirations of our Industry's professionals, once again delaying the recovery process. This situation again gave rise to the survival of the fittest & experiential marketing agencies have fought tooth and nail to sustain their position on the industry's map. “

“If you ask me how my team and I are still sailing in this storm, to this I would say we have planned quickly, taken adequate resources to execute this plan and rolled out the same into the market in the virtual space offering brands and our clients a platform to connect with their audience through different mediums”, added Pawar.

The story is no different for other players in this domain. It is important to mention that the event and experiential marketing sector is one of the biggest sectors with close to five crore people employed. Now the second wave has put many livelihoods at risk.

Ankur Kalra, Founder and MD of Vibgyor Brand Services, says that the second wave has brought uncertainty as far as resuming business activities is concerned.

“A lot of agencies innovated and were doing fine till last year - the months of January/February looked very encouraging but the second wave has changed everything, it has brought a huge amount of uncertainty along with. Our agency had restarted hiring and adding positions early in 2021 since we were very optimistic about this year, but March brought everything to a standstill. The wedding agencies had their hands full by the beginning of the year but they too ran dry by early April. So overall, it is extremely uncertain at the moment, we are hoping that there will be some improvement in the second half of the year.”

If we talk of brands, in our conversation with marketers, most of them were hopeful of resuming spends on experiential in the second half of 2021. However, with the second wave shutting down businesses and vaccines in short supply, it looks unlikely.

“The first wave pushed us all to change and adapt to different modes and methods of doing events. The second wave has numbed us all. At this point in time, what is most important is the sanity of the team and making sure everyone’s morale is up. It is a crisis situation not just financially but mentally and emotionally too, for all”, explains Nanni Singh, CEO, Showcase Events.

Blue Dart, India’s express logistics service provider and part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL) formed Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium with the mission of revolutionizing the delivery of vaccines and emergency medical supplies to the remotest parts of India with Drones. Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium is part of the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project in collaboration with the Government of Telangana, World Economic Forum, Niti Aayog and Healthnet Global.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted the project with necessary exemptions and rights to fly drone flights on an experimental basis in Telangana. The aim is to assess an alternate logistics route in providing safe, accurate and reliable pickup and delivery of health care items (medicines, covid-19 vaccines, units of blood, diagnostic specimens and other lifesaving equipment) from the distribution centre to a specific location and back.

Blue Dart is committed to improving the supply chain infrastructure and is fighting hard to combat the pandemic. Blue Dart Med-Express Drone flights will deploy an immersive delivery model to optimize the current healthcare logistics within Telangana. The model will enable deliveries from district medical stores and blood banks to Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs), Blood Storage Units & further from PHCs/CHCs to Central Diagnostic laboratories. 

Proud to be able to help the country in its fight against the pandemic Balfour Manuel, Managing Director, Blue Dart says, “It’s been over a year and our battle against COVID-19 continues to unfold new challenges that need solutions in real-time. The pandemic has taught each one of us the importance of logistics and the need for a tech-led supply chain infrastructure. As an organization, Blue Dart has always been surrounded by the technology of the future. It is this ability that has helped us to not only withstand the pandemic but thrive with growth. While we reach out to over 35,000 locations across the country, the current situation calls for much deeper penetration of vaccines.”

Commenting on Blue Dart’s experiment with Drone flights for Beyond Visual Line of Sight delivery of vaccines Ketan Kulkarni, CMO & Head – Business Development, Blue Dart says, “The consortium aims at enabling safer, efficient and cost-effective Drone delivery flights. With efficient systems in place, it can help reduce the current logistics cost, making the healthcare logistics faster and efficient. We are delighted to be granted the rights to commence operations and this is definitely the need of the hour. Mankind is witnessing the worst time and Blue Dart is committed to giving back to the society in which it operates and will always be ready to take one step forward.”

Rama Devi Lanka, Director of Emerging Technologies and Officer on Special Duty (OSD), ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana, says, “The project would generate real and actionable insights to drive future adoption policies and integration with the existing healthcare supply chain. With covid-19 pandemic wrecking existing supply chains, adopting such disruptive technologies is the need of the hour.”

Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana, says, “Telangana is one of the most proactive states looking to adopt emerging technologies, and the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project using drones is in line with the same principles. This project is one of the first such programs in the country where multiple drones would fly BVLOS to establish their value proposition for the healthcare supply chain. The vision is to ensure healthcare equity for rural areas.”

Blue Dart has been consistent in its support to the nation in the fight against the pandemic. As the Trade Facilitator of the Nation, Blue Dart ensured that life doesn’t come to a standstill by safeguarding and ensuring the delivery of critical shipments across the country. In keeping with its commitment to its philosophy, Blue Darters have been working tirelessly to guarantee the continuity of the mission-critical supply chain since the time the country has been gripped by the pandemic. Blue Dart has continuously worked with the medical equipment and pharmaceuticals sector to maintain the supply chain and deliver critical shipment and essential supplies including Covid vaccine samples, temperature-controlled movement of COVID-19 testing kits, ventilators, PPE, testing kits, reagents, enzymes, respirators, surgical masks, goggles and gloves amongst other critical material. The company’s six Boeing 757 freighters ensure ease in ramping up operations swiftly to handle large-scale shipments.

On the occasion of Tamil New Year, Nippon Paint (India), has launched Nippon Paint Tamil Nadu Style Guide – Tamizhnatin Vanna Puthagam! This Style Guide brings the rich hues of sprawling Karaikudi Palaces, the ever-changing blues of our seas & rivers, the vibrant colours of true Tamil arts and the splendid rainbow of our feasts, our timeless literature, our games and our life. The people of Tamil Nadu will have more choices of colours to choose from to suit their tradition. Some of them would include: Harvest Dance, Ripe tomatoes, Yellow pendant and Sunshine Tea.

As Tamil New Year is a celebration of all the wonderful shades of this great land, the Nippon Paint Tamil Nadu Style Guide captures perfectly all that this land has to offer: hospitality, architecture, literature, delicacy, culture and sport. 

The colours of hospitality range is inspired by the intricate yet simple looking Kolams that adorn every porch in Tamil Nadu. The colours of architecture takes inspiration from Tamil Nadu's rich architectural like the Chettinad House and the vast temple landscape. The colours of delicacy takes after the wide and dynamic palate of Tamil Nadu. The colours of literature takes after the Thirukkural and Aathichoodi. The colours of culture combines the performative arts landscape of Tamil Nadu including Koothu, Bommalaatam, Villu Paatu, Carnatic Music, and Bharatanatyam. The colours of Sport embodies a mix of Jallikattu, Kabaddi, and Silambattam.

Speaking about the Nippon Paint Tamil Nadu Style guide, Mahesh S. Anand, President – Nippon Paint (India) Private Limited (Decorative Division) said, “Tamil New Year symbolises the beginning of good things and embodies everything our land stands for. During such an auspicious day, we are extremely happy to launch this Tamil Nadu Style Guide to commemorate this culturally significant festival. The Nippon Paint Tamil Nadu Style guide brings you the colours of this great land. The beauty of colours is spread throughout Tamil Nadu. We aim to share this colourful journey of Tamil Nadu's culture and traditions with this style guide. We are certain that our consumers will get some inspiration for their homes from this style guide.” 

Chennai Metro Rail Limited in association with Nippon Paint (India), announced its partnership to paint the exterior walls of Wimco Nagar, Kaladipet and Toll Gate Metro Stations in Chennai. 

This partnership is in line with Nippon Paint’s other initiatives to beautify public spaces by painting them. Wimco Nagar Metro Station has already been beautified and highlights the importance of “Green Chennai”. Kaladipet Metro Station and Toll Gate Metro Station which will highlight the importance of “Water Conservation” and “Pollution Free Chennai” respectively will be given a makeover in the upcoming months.

The painting activities will be executed within the next couple of months. Nippon Paint’s hi-tech and eco-friendly exterior paints were used to beautify the Wimco Nagar Metro Station.

Speaking about the tie-up and beautification of three metro stations (Wimco Nagar, Kaladipet and Toll Gate), Thiru. S Mahesh Anand, President – Decorative Paint, Nippon Paint India commented that, “We are excited to join hands with CMRL to be part of beautifying public spaces and creating awareness on significant causes like Green Chennai, Pollution and Water Conservation. Under our CSR initiatives, city beautification forms an important pillar as it aids in creating public awareness and we hope this initiative starts conversations and encourages people to appreciate the value of the resources we all use day-to-day. Nippon has always been focused on eco – friendly paints with advanced features to paint the metro stations. We look forward to many more such associations.”

Adding about the tie-up, Thiru. Pradeep Yadav, IAS, Managing Director, Chennai Metro Rail Limited commented, “CMRL is happy to partner with Nippon Paint India for beautifying the Metro Stations. CMRL has always endeavoured to create Sustainable and Environmental friendly facilities in the Metro Stations for the betterment of the public. In addition, Station buildings act as the unique landmarks and contribute to the fabric of the city. Use of such environmental based messages will invoke social consciousness and curiosity to the people living around and encourage them to explore the Metro Rail System.”

We often get carried away by the number of likes and shares or the trending nature of a story. Should that be enough for newsrooms to narrow down on a news story? How can newsrooms secure their originality in such a content environment? At the 13th edition of exchange4media news broadcasting awards (enba) and NewsNext Conference 2021, a power-packed panel shared their opinions on the topic - “How much should algorithms control the newsrooms?”

The panelists for the session were Abhijit Iyer Mitra, Author, Journalist & Defence Economist; Vivek Narayan - Managing Editor (South)- Network 18; Subhajit Sengupta - Deputy Group Head- Network 18 Digital Videos and Vivek Tyagi, Senior Editor, India Today. The session was moderated by Tarun Nangia - Associate Editor (Special Projects)- NewsX (Member, IICA-IEPFA committee, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (Govt. of India). 

Commencing the session, Nangia remarked, “Today's topic is pretty interesting and close to my heart that whether likes and in a sense the story’s popularity should be the sole denominator to choose the story and for news channels to go ahead and go to town with it. This is especially more relevant as I see it in the past three or four years, when the popularity of content has virtually decided whether it should be taken to town by channels. And when policy journalists like us point out that why is this, why is that, we are shown that the bottom line is more important than any other line, even in channels and I think we must all agree to that at some point, when the economic environment is not as conducive, economics does rules over a lot of other decisions. Since, we are all from the content side we can be frank about it.”

Narayan opined that there’s nothing wrong with speaking about the things that are trending on social media. He shared, “We are in the business of news and if social media is making news then what's wrong with it? Even that it is in public space and is being spoken about if it is trending, why not speak about the things that are trending, you can find out whether it's right or wrong later, but as an agent of news and a person who's involved in the news business, who makes his bread and butter out of the news, I don't think there is anything bad in taking a topic, which is part of a social media network and is being spoken about, I don't think it's intellectually inferior and there’s nothing wrong in taking that in debating, but of course, there are several filters that as a news network and as a mainstream media that we have to be aware of.” 

Elaborating on algorithms and how YouTube news and opinions have become popular, Mitra explains, “For me, it's very clear. How does the media house see itself? Is it an ideological crusader or is it a business? And the second issue here is, does the media house see itself as somehow superior to the collective wisdom, because what you see as the news may not be what the people would see as news. So there's a demanding dynamic here and there’s a supply dynamic here. And I think many of these things about what should be news and what shouldn’t be news is very much an old debate where the journalist was somehow perceived to be superior to the collective wisdom, whereas today, they have multiple options. And the second thing you need to realize is that news like social media is about self-validation. If people don't like the news that you're giving them, they will go and hear the version of events or stories that they want to hear. 

This is where algorithms come in because this is how YouTube news does or YouTube opinion channels have become so much more powerful. I see so many YouTube channels that have more viewers than so-called mainstream TV channels. And the thing there is that all of them are regulated by algorithms and a particularly dangerous part of this is it's sort of ab initio control of what news can be put out or not put out.”

Speaking about how much algorithms should control the newsroom, Sengupta shared, “As a digital newsroom manager if I say algorithms do not dictate the way we work, I would be out rightly lying, and that’s not the case. Now, the question is whether it will dictate or not dictate is a long way off. The question is how much you would want the algorithm to dictate. Now, if we break it down, it again can be seen into two parts - the text that goes up and the videos that goes up on digital. So both work in a different kind of ecosystem, especially if you look into the way texts work. Algorithm has its pluses and minuses, while of course the stories which work more are done more because newsrooms at the end of the day would want a higher readership as well.”

Sengupta further stated that the consumption for video is mostly off platform. “There are also algorithm introduced factors which are also taking care of a lot of fake news which otherwise would circulate easily. But if you come to the videos, here the revenue is directly linked to the number of views that you get and text choice is not as much because there's a lot of on platform consumption, which is again dependent on other revenue models like the banner ads and native ads that you get. But if you look at videos, consumption is mostly off platform, which means either on YouTube or Facebook. 

And there the videos are completely dominated by not just how many views they are getting but also in which geography like if the video gets one lakh views in India, it might earn lesser revenues than about 10,000 views in the US. Now as a news company when you're looking at this algorithm, you cannot ignore the huge financial angle which it is bringing with it, because at the end of the day, we're all struggling to find the right subscription model. For example, if you notice, Punjab has much more YouTube streamers than most of the other languages because CPM in the Punjab market is the highest as it's got a huge consumption in England, Canada and the US. That's why the revenue that they made from doing a broadcast is much higher.”

Tyagi believes that everything depends on trust and credibility no matter how much algorithm or Al is being used. He said, “As a journalist, how much of the algorithm or AI or other tools that we're using these days, how much of that impact and usually at the end of the day for me, it all boils down to trust, there will be certain things that algorithm have made that quite easy, and also better as far as journalists and newsrooms are concerned, be it data crunching, we've been using few very smart algorithms when it comes to election number crunching. In all those aspects it does help. 

It's a great tool to have, you save a lot of time. But at the end of the day, with a human story, there is also credibility that comes in attached. Is the viewer still ready? Is it time for the viewer to in fact make that leap that it can trust a program or an algorithm or a computer or an AI to, in fact, shift through news or make news and present it to you. That is something I still feel we are yet not there and it has to be an amalgamation of technology or algorithm and the human aspect as far as news is concerned.”

March 22 marked the 125th birth anniversary of Chandigarh’s first Chief Architect, the Swiss-Frenchman, Pierre Jeanneret, who was the younger cousin of Le Corbusier, and worked as his deputy in the design, ideation and erection of Chandigarh from 1951 to 1965. 

On this important occasion, some conscientious citizens of Chandigarh came together to launch The Le Corbusier & Pierre Jeanneret Forum (LC&PJ) at the Chandigarh College of Architecture (CCA) where the Principal Sangeeta Bagga Mehta and Chandigarh’s Chief Architect Kapil Setia made presentations. The presentations focused on the phenomenal body of creative work done by Pierre Jeanneret in the 15 years that he was in the city. The UT Administration’s Secretary, Technical Education, SS Gill, IAS was also present.

The Forum’s founder, Sandeep Goyal said that this would be a study-group-cum-think-tank devoted to preserving the ‘brand-goodness’ of Chandigarh, the foremost modern city that came up post partition with proper urban planning and micro-detailing of its major public buildings, and human dwellings. Says Goyal, “Chandigarh was designed in 1950 as the Punjab’s new state capital. Le Corbusier, a global ‘starchitect’ was tapped to design the new metropolis, employing a grid street pattern, European-style boulevards and raw concrete buildings – a distillation of ideas that were revolutionary and avant garde. The result was a spectacular city. But today, nearly seven decades later, a lot of those buildings have taken a lot of wear and tear, and occupants over the years have snipped and changed the originals. Before they get totally changed or altered or demolished, the visual heritage of these buildings needs to be fully preserved and archived. LC&PJ’s first task is to get that started.”

“LC&PJ will be working with the students and faculty of the CCA to photograph, catalogue and compile the design features of buildings designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret across 14 types of dwelling units in Sectors 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24 and 27 besides those in the Capitol Complex, the Panjab University, including the Gandhi Bhawan, Fine Arts Museum, University Library and the famous cylindrical Student Centre. In the next stage all government schools designed in the 1950s and 1960s, and unique SCO/SCFs in Sector 22, 17, 16, 11, 21, 20, 27, 19 and others will be brought into the ambit,” added Prof. Avanindra Chopra, Honorary Secretary of the Forum. 

The Forum will also be collaborating with the Pierre Jeanneret Museum in Sector 5. Plans are afoot to create miniature to-size replicas of all the edifices and display them at the Museum with old architectural layouts and possibly soon have CAD-CAM virtual walk-throughs for visitors. The LC&PJ office bearers have already met and opened discussions with Prof. Dipika Gandhi, who is in-charge of the Museum, and also oversees the Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19.  

The city of Chandigarh has a certain design language that has contributed to its unique brand personality that differentiates it from other cities. “Brand Chandigarh needs to continue to evolve,” says LC&PJ Founder Goyal. “The Forum’s efforts will add vivacity and value to the city … for its residents, its tourists and its many virtual residents who live in distant lands but still call it home. For all of them, we need to preserve the design integrity of the city and ensure we continue to invest in the city in a manner that it has always stood for”. 

The Karnataka Event Management Association - KEMA, has announced its first general body election slated for 8 April 2021.

The cofounders of KEMA, Sanjeev Kapoor and Arvind Jyot Sabhaney have told us just how excited they were when they started the association way back in February 2019.

The association has come a long way in spite of the pandemic. With over 80 registered general body members along with having regular meetings every month, the association has grown from strength to strength. From taking care of its members and vendors and addressing the disputes that are likely to arise to assisting members in helping them run their businesses, KEMA has done it all. Chartered accountants, lawyers, and company secretaries form an integral part of KEMA including HR services and other important functions required to successfully and smoothly run the business.

Members are excited about the first-ever general body election, with 11 posts to choose from and over 20 members nominating themselves for these posts. 80 members will be exercising their franchise which is going to be a lot of fun and will be conducted professionally with a Returning Officer, ballot and all.  

POSITIONS FOR CANDIDATURE
1. President
2. Vice President 1
3. Vice president 2
4. General Secretary
5. Treasurer
6. Executive committee member Redressal
7. Executive committee member Legal
8. Executive committee member Liasoning
9. Executive committee member PR & Marketing
10. Executive committee member Membership
11. Executive committee member Event & Production

We look forward to the new Executive Committee who will be taking KEMA to new heights!

Arvind Jyot Sabhaney and Sanjeev Kapoor shall be enrolled as Life Members and shall be entitled to voting and other rights and privileges of the Association including the right to hold the elective post.