#CongregationsIndia: Deepak Choudhary of EVENTFAQs Media Talks of Objectives of the Summit Today

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Business Events | December 24, 2020 | Interview

Congregations India Deepak Choudhary Event Capital EVENTFAQS Media

Ahead of the virtual ‘CONGREGATIONS INDIA: Government, Political & Religious Events Summit’ by EVENTFAQs Media on December 24, 2020, Deepak Choudhary, Founder and Director, EVENTFAQS Media & Event Capital, and curator of the summit talks of the objective of the summit, expectations from it, stellar speaker line-up and more.

#CongregationsIndia: The objectives

Explaining the objectives behind organising the ‘CONGREGATIONS INDIA: Government, Political & Religious Events Summit’, Deepak Choudhary says, “During the pandemic, we realised that the businesses had been impacted immensely and the organised Government events had also been impacted. For example, if we are a Rs 6,000-8,000 crore industry, the business coming from the Government events was not more than Rs 600-800 crore, which comes to 10% of the business. The whole idea behind the summit is to explore the gap. Our efforts here are what will it take to bring together Government authorities and event management companies and event managers. I believe events do not feed just event managers. They propel tourism, they create experiences, they enrich lives, they educate the public, they promote brands and they create consumption. Events can also help elect Governments, deliver healthcare, offer hope and motivate a nation. The main reason for curating the Congregations India platform is to get a head start - several State elections are coming up in 2021, they may be the biggest in political events; then there is Kumbh Mela, a mega religious event but not many event companies are working on it; then there are various cultural events. Also, we are binging various tourism boards and Government authorities to help event managers understand how they can get information and access to the events and how the events industry can work better with the Government.”

Speakers and Content

Commenting on the 40+ speakers, including Union and State Ministers, top-level bureaucrats and events industry leaders, Choudhary  says, “Speakers will discuss the value, process and the scope of Government events. The first set of speakers include Raghvendra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Dinesh K Patnaik, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations. The second set includes speakers like Aaditya Thackeray, Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment, Government of Maharashtra, Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Govt Of Maharashtra and Jawaharbhai Chavda, Tourism Minister of Gujarat, amongst others. We have put our efforts to bring in ministers and secretaries from the Tourism-prime States including Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa. The third set of speakers are ones related to religious events - Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, Spiritual Guru and others.”

He adds, “We also have sports content where speakers like Vivek Singh of Procam International and Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister, New Delhi will speak about role of sports in nurturing human capital for a robust India. Then Sudhanshu Mittal will speak about plans for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). There will be Boria Majumdar and Adile Sumariwala sharing insights on India’s Olympic dream. These speakers will bring an overall perspective on different aspects of Government events.”

Expectations from the summit

“I was chatting with Valsa Nair, and she said the context is that a lot of event managers don’t know what they have to do, how to proceed. She said if you have an idea, come and break that idea, and we put that to the panel and automatically you will get an approval.

So, Congregations India is all about how the construct of each of these should direct to the events industry, what is there in 2021 and how one can grow to get large format events that straddle the spectrum from the political to the religious to sporting events,” Chaudhary said. “Through the Congregations India platform, we as EVENTFAQs Media want to be the voice of the events industry and explore through perspectives of bureaucrats, Ministers and key decision-makers, how events can enrich sports, culture and religion and how the events industry can work with the Government for all-round growth.”