Professional coordination for aesthetic success

THE CROWDS have all gone home, the sound and light engineers have packed up, the stars have been driven back to their plush hotel rooms, the sponsors have left satisfied, and the cleaners are standing by to sweep the debris of the night away. The auditorium is deserted-almost. There is one person left, hawk-eyed and swivel-necked, checking to see that the show is really over. This is the same person who was in this auditorium before the beginning and simultaneously in ten different places, making sure that the show got off to a smooth start, and stayed that way. This is the invisible-and intangible-presence that made all the parts of the event come together successfully.

``Event management is an all-time effort,'' says Rakhi Kankaria, who, with her husband Sanjay, runs an event management company in Hyderabad. ``You work endlessly. Right from the word go it's absolutely continuous.'' But she is not complaining. In a field such as event management, the highs come from the work. One has to love it to do it. ``It's a 9 to 8 work day for us, sometimes longer,'' says Rakhi.

Event management, as the name suggests, is all about planning and executing events. The projects an event manager handles could range from a large wedding reception to a multi-site product launch, or a star-studded benefit gala. Some event management companies handle only social events such as birthday parties and weddings while others restrict their activity to one type of corporate event-trade shows, for instance. The Kankarias, however, have handled a wide range of corporate jobs including airport openings, fashion shows and beauty pageants, and newspaper launches, all over the country. ``The client usually comes to us with a vague idea of what they want. From those initial discussions, we work out a plan and give them a proposal,'' explains Rakhi.

The complexity of the job ranges from designing and preparing the stage backdrop for a press conference to the entire coordination of a large entertainment event ``There is no such thing as a `ready made' event,'' says Rakhi. ``Ninety per cent of our time and effort goes into planning, and the rest is running around making sure the plan works out.'' Organisational skills, interpersonal skills and creativity are the foundation stones of the job. ``You have to be able to deal with all levels of people, right from the welder who fixes the flagpole to the sound technician who makes the music come alive, to the performers who draw the crowds,'' says Rakhi. And at the same time, you must be able to create the right ambience through decor and stage settings to make an event aesthetically successful.

All this coordinating obviously requires an eye for detail and the ability to persuade people - from mechanics to artists - to deliver on time. An event has many parts to it - booking dates, venues and stars (if it is an entertainment event), advance and post-publicity, printing of invitations and tickets, catering, photography, security, seating arrangements, decorations and a hundred other unclassifiable extras. The event manager is the binding agent that brings all these parts together so that they become a seamless whole. She must also be able to manage high levels of stress, handle difficult and demanding people, and often deliver at very short notice. Rakhi describes a recent product launch which went from discussion to event in less than three days. ``And you have to be able to handle it with perfection, because your mileage comes from a satisfied clientele.'' A satisfied client is a ``boon'' she says, as it is only through the recommendations of appreciative clients that the work grows.

In the West, many public relations consulting firms offer event management as one of their services. Increasingly, though, event management is becoming a stand alone, specialised field of activity. SVL Narayan of Satyam Computers classifies event management as a corporate communications activity, since so many of the large events are sponsored by corporates. However, most large companies do not have in-house event managers; rather, they have a public relations person in charge of events, who then coordinates with an event management firm.

How does one become an event manager? For starters, there are practically no courses in the area, but a degree or diploma in mass communication - better still, public relations - is a good way to begin. Since event managers must deal directly or indirectly with various media, it is important to gain an understanding of that.

The best way to enter the field is to get some experience with an event management firm as a trainee. Most small firms, and many of the larger ones, however, are wary of taking on too many trainees for fear of spawning competition. Alternatively, one can begin by coordinating small events - the decorations and entertainment for children's parties, for instance - and gradually work upward.

Rakhi too got her start doing birthday parties. ``After a few months of doing this, my husband and I decided to shoot into a field where there was not much competition, and where there certainly was a niche to succeed,'' she says. They began five years ago on a small scale - ``all I did was distribute pamphlets close to where I lived, and before we knew it we were in business.''

Now they employ 28 people and have a nationwide clientele. ``You learn on the job. With every project, you are a show wiser,'' explains Rakhi. ``There are no special technical qualifications one requires - you just have to work hard, with your heart and mind.''

USHA RAMAN

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