Roy was speaking at the Future Ready Leadership Series by EEMA.

The event and experiential industry is going through challenging times due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Reports indicate that the industry will incur a total loss of 1 trillion dollar globally because of the pandemic.

As part of the Event and Entertainment Management Association(EEMA) Future Ready Leadership Series, Sanjoy K Roy, MD of Teamwork Arts and President, EEMA spoke about the current crisis and the way forward for the industry. The discussion was moderated by popular anchor, actor and writer Gitikka Ganju Dhar.

During his discussion Roy underlined that the events industry needed to build trust again and escape the space of fear.  “The world has gone through SARS, HIV and it will get through this as well”, he said.

He also shared that  the government has been approached for help collectively. “Some of the things that we have asked for are-- help with the tax refunds due to the companies, if any government body has engaged any event company their dues must be cleared at the earliest, GST waiver and re-considering the loan criteria to make it more accessible for smaller and medium sized companies. These steps will ensure cash back into the system.”

He advised the agency owners to be empathetic towards the vendors, daily wagers and artists so that they can survive these hard times too. He also advised the event industry leaders to think online, think digital and think agile.

Roy also spoke about the  initiative undertaken by Teamwork Arts called “Art Matters” which aims to bring forward the unheard voices of small artists and their struggles during these testing times. 

“Our world is not going to immediately come back to speed after April 15 due to the further restrictions that will be imposed but destruction and creation are always together. So seek more opportunities that lie ahead, I would say we should ”, said Roy.

The EEMA President also underlined that now is the time to renew and rebuild relationships and ensure that your partners feel that you create value for them. “It is a good time for small scale agencies to collaborate and use agility and small scale to their advantage”, he added.