With no specific laws in place to safeguard the interests of event organizers, last minute cancellations by performers, security concerns and similar threats have become a routine affair in the industry. But where does the government step in? And what actions should it take to establish a strong footing for the industry was the subject of another insightful panel discussion on the third day of EEMAGINE 2015, the national convention of the event and experiential industry held annually which brings together thought leaders and industry experts to speak about trends and also to share their perspectives on the way forward.



Led by Brian Tellis, Patron EEMA, the session “Let’s Work Together In Building the Events Industry” had PoonamMahajan, MP, Mumbai North Central,representing the stance from the government. Brian Tellis began the session by highlighting the key issues perturbing the industry at the moment, “A major challenge that our industry faces today is the lack of recognition and as an industry I feel we are not dialoguing as much as we should.” Brian further explained how the industry faces constant pressure from the governing authorities on issues regarding venues, entertainment tax and security concerns and that the industry needs the government to intervene and come up with a support system for the events and entertainment industry.



PoonamMahajan began her address by responding to what is the crux of the term “Politics” as per her. She said, “Politics is all about a human to human connection and the work of politics today is to instigate conversations among people. The more we communicate and converse the better idea we have about the issues and we can then formulate strong solutions to resolve them. We as part of the government are open to take the necessary steps that could benefit the industry by stepping up to work together.”



She also explained the role of the authorities in the entire events spectrum and said. “Authorities are confrontational and they are present to support and guide. Today every event organizer wants the same things-single window license clearance, extension of the 10 PM deadline and less taxes to be levied upon. But what we should really look forward to is establishing a partnership between the industry and governance so that everyone can benefit from it.”



When asked upon when can the commit and create a timeline for such changes the MP responded by saying, “I think the dialogues can start from next week itself and we as part of government are willing to take every possible step that supports the events industry as a whole.”