Historic Pledge by EEMA Think Safe, Act Safe, Be Safe

MUMBAI:
In a historic first, the Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) together with Event Show Asia pledged for ‘Safety First’ at Events, Exhibitions and Experiential marketing events being organised by the industry.
The Safety Pledge, as part of the We Are Safe initiative was tabled by the EEMA President Sabbas Joseph at the ESA being held at the Sahara Star, in the presence of industry stalwarts, Brian Tellis , Viraf Sarkari, Sameer Tobaccowala, Siddharth Ganeriwala among others. A large representation of the event fraternity and members of EEMA came together and pledged to think safe, act safe and be safe.
Safety is the need of the hour and it is important for the industry to be safety complaint at all levels. The pledge accords safety the highest priority during event planning and execution.
An insightful panel discussion on Safety at Events in real terms titled “Where to Begin’ was moderated by Viraf Sarkari – Founder and Director, Wizcraft International. The panelists included Ajit Thakkar- Director Jess, Vaibhav Kapoor – Third Wave Solutions, Manish Mavani – Director SnL Pro and Warren D’souza – Director, Sound.com . The discussion concluded with some key suggestions which EEMA as an association could implement:
– EEMA to conduct sessions to educate and create awareness among clients about health and safety standards and spend a little extra on the key measures to create a successful event
– Make it important for EEMA agencies to ensure safety norms and standards, especially the associate partners and vendors who are providing services to the event companies
– EEMA to create a list of health and safety compliant companies to give a direction to the industry
Sharing EEMA’s perspective, Sabbas Joseph, President EEMA said, “It is indeed shocking to realize how little time we spend on adhering to safety protocol that not only affects our lives, but also the lives of our invited guests besides our livelihood. I am happy and relieved that the EEMA leadership and members have undertaken to place this issue on priority. From EEMA’s end, to drive awareness, Seminars and Workshops on SAFE topics will be conducted nationally and regionally to ensure that every single EEMA member and all technical and infrastructure partners are well informed about the dangers that lurk within every event and the precautions that must be taken.”
EEMA also plans to set up a task force of national & regional experts, who can advise on better safety standards, with critical inputs from a panel of international advisors as well.
Siddharth Ganeriwala, EEMA VP for the Safety initiative, who is responsible for driving this campaign said, “Having been an event manager for well over two decades now, I still get butterflies in my stomach before the start of any event, because even though I believe in Safety, I have no clue whether the technician or the labourer down the line believes in adherence as intensely as I do. This was why we decided to set this plan rolling in order to ensure a holistic synchronization of priorities. If every single person on site ensures Safety Integrity in what they do individually, we can collectively approach D-Day with confidence.”