“The way forward in the industry is to collaborate instead of competing.” - Vandana Mohan

by  Kanika Mehta Business Events | August 6, 2015 | News

ICWF Vandana Mohan Roshan Abbas

As Sabbas Joseph rightly said in his opening address at the third edition of ICWF 2015, “The future of events is going to become and remain ‘Experiential’. Clients will forget what we say. Clients will forget the details of what we did.  Clients and their guests will always remember what they felt and experienced.” 

Today clients are evolved, well-travelled and extremely sophisticated. One cannot simply offer elaborate beautiful setups. The need of the hour is to create an overall experience that starts at the entrance of the venue and is carried through magically in the F&B, the decor, the entertainment and the overall ambience.

A rather educating panel discussion at the International Convention of the Wedding Fraternity (ICWF) 2015 called ‘Designing the experience quotient in a private social event’ was moderated by Roshan Abbas, Managing Director at Encompass. Panelists included veterans in different fields of the wedding business namely, Vandana Mohan, Founder, The Wedding Design Company, Mitja Prelovsek from Invisible.si, Arpit Vyas of Dishman Pharmaceutical and gastronomical guru, Marut Sikka. 

The session commenced with a special presentation by Mitja Prelovsek which explained how technology can be used to accentuate the experience quotient at public places. 

Speaking of what it really takes to win a mandate/project after having made the pitch,Vandana Mohan said, “Building the trust and the uniqueness of the concept are two things that are guaranteed to get you the job.” She mentioned how a client would never entrust an agency that shows him a cut-pasted concept which he/she has been shown by other agencies as well. The right formula is to offer something new, unique and original.

Arpit Vyas added, “You have to inspire the clients in your very first brief. If you fail to do that you can never get him to respond. More importantly, one an has to be able to strike the right chord from the start itself.” 

On being asked how the perfect team is identified for creating bespoke experiences, Vandana Mohan explained, “I may have a certain sense of style and positioning of things but I would never hesitate to call someone like a Sumant Jayakrishnan to help me add value to my work. I strongly feel that the way forward in the industry is to collaborate and put aside this feeling of competitiveness and help each other to deliver that ultimate experience to our clients.”

Marut Sikka added, “An experience is all about using your senses. The décor, ambience and even the way food is laid out and served, is part of an experience. It is crucial that we pay attention to the minutest element and details at weddings, because the smallest of things gone wrong can be the cause of a bad experience.”

Speaking on how to create digital experiences in a country like India, Mitja Prelovsek said, “Contrary to the popular belief, digital is not always using smartphones and iPad. What I do is to integrate digital technology with tangible properties making people forget the fact that technology is being used. “