#CongregationsIndia: We Need to Work Together to Expand the Events Business - Dilip Chenoy, FICCI

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | December 31, 2020 | News

Congregations India Dilip Chenoy Prof. Ujjwal K Chowdhury Adamas University, Kolkata

“Though the COVID-19 pandemic has led to physical events going out, it also opened up the new space of digital interaction,” said Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI, speaking at ‘CONGREGATIONS INDIA: Government, Political, Sport & Religious Events Summit’ organised by EVENTFAQS Media on December 24, 2020.

In conversation with session moderator Prof. Ujjwal K Chowdhury, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Adamas University, Kolkata on how corporate outreach will evolve and where experiential marketing will meet the virtual space, Chenoy said, “The FICCI EY Media report comes out every year in March, and for 2020, the finding was that the events industry would see a growth rate of 13.2%, but that was pre-COVID. Today, the challenge is to monetize digital events. There is a variety of events, including corporate and Government events, and event managers have become digital event organisers. A lot of different concepts will come up as we go forward. The industry has been disrupted, yet people want to get together and the digital medium offers this opportunity.”

Blend in the phygital events

“The size and scale will differ, but physical events will be back in a blended form of physical and digital, which we call phygital. At the recently held FICCI annual convention, we had a huge physical component. Because we could not have too many people at the venue, some corporates and others decided to congregate at an appointed place to view it together digitally. I think it is currently governed by the apprehension about restrictions imposed by COVID-19, but if you see a vaccine coming up and unlock happening, there will be huge pent-up demand. Family get-togethers are becoming events, which is a whole new category of events added to the list,” added Chenoy.

Creative, cooperative, collaborative

“The role of the event manager has been changing over the years, as new types of organisations are getting into the events business. The market in India is large and organizations and planners overseas are looking at India as a market. It’s a competitive but creative space; we need to work together to expand it. For this, the events industry needs to be creative, cooperative and collaborative going forward, to lead the Indian market,”.

Chenoy said, “As an organiser of events, you are looking at what to do to attract larger footfalls to events. At a physical event, that can be a constrict, but for a phygital event, there are infinite opportunities.”

Concluding the session, Chinoy said, “2021 will see smaller physical events but also some virtual ones. Later on, there will be larger physical events depending on the aspirations of the organisers or the ability of event organisers to sell a concept. The blend of physical and digital events will evolve.”