The Event Management Federation’s maiden Awards, Convention & Exhibition, ACE 2014 is all set take place on the 12th, Friday and 13th, Saturday - 2014 at YMCA Club, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. As the event date nears, the sessions, their speakers, and artistes has been announced.

There will be 6 sessions in total with 3 sessions each day. On day one, 12th of September, the sessions will be seminars by prominent speakers. The second day, 13th September, the sessions will be panel discussions.

The first day of ACE 2014 will be inaugurated at 10:30 am by the legendary Bollywood director Subhash Ghai and other eminent socialites and bureaucrats from Gujarat. The seminar sessions will begin at 13:30 and the last session will end at 15:45 on 12th September. It will be followed by entertainment and performances in the evening by popular Indian artistes.

The second day panel discussions will begin at 10:30 and the last session will end at 14:30. It will be followed by an exclusive session on taxation after which, performances by top Indian artistes will be held in the evening.

SESSIONS

Day 1 Seminar 1 - Eventful Future - The Future of Event & Entertainment

Understanding the viewpoint about the future, growth opportunities, challenges and changing trends of event and entertainment industry by MAHAGURUs.

Subhash Ghai - Bollywood’s legendary director, producer and screenwriter

The successful director and producer has given hits-over-hits, year-over-year and decades-over-decades to Bollywood. From ‘Kalicharan’ in 1976 to to ‘Ram Lakhan’, 1986 and Khalnayak in 1993, he has directed some of the major hits in the 80’s and 90’s. He has also briefly produced a number of films into the 2000s, from which ‘Iqbal’ won a National Film Award for ‘Best Film on Other Social Issues’. Subhash Ghai is well-known in not just the film industry but across India and the event industry as well. He is one of the most sought after personalities in the events space in India.

Terence Lewis - Indian Dance Choreographer

He is an Indian dancer and choreographer, with a specialization in contemporary dance. He has also participated as a judge in reality dance series such as Dance India Dance and Nach Baliye. As a choreographer, he has choreographed some of the Bollywood’s hit films like Lagaan, Jhankaar Beats and Naach. He has also choreographed musicals, ads, stage shows, music videos and both national and international dance competitions.

Deepak Gattani - Managing Director, Rapport Global

He has worked in a variety of fields including marketing, advertising, modeling, TV, and is currently exploring film direction. With a postgraduate degree in marketing and soon after graduating, Deepak established his own advertising agency - Rapport advertising, which has become Rapport Global today.

Day 1 Seminar 2 - Technology - The Spinal Cord of Event

Understanding the usage of technology in event light, video, AV, graphics & mapping in current events - Focus.

Warren D’souza - Founder, Sound.com

With a degree in Electronics from St. Xaviers Technical Institute, Mahim, Warren established Sound.com in 1998. Since then, his company has mushroomed into one of the prominent sound rental companies in India.

Nitin Chowdhry - Founder & Creative Head, The One Film Co.

Nitin Chowdhry is the Founder & Creative Head at The One Film Co, a company he founded 8 years ago. For over 18 years Nitin has been instrumental in providing high quality media content to a wide variety of audiences. From Television, producing shows for Discovery Channel and fictions, Directing Television commercials for some leading brands and in Live events space using the latest technologies like 3D mapping, Holographic Projections and immersive environments using 270 and 360 degree seamless projections to tell stories.

Viraf Pocha - Director, Landmark Productions

He currently serves as the Director for Landmark Productions. As a professional, he strives constantly to provide clear communication across all channels, both spoken and subliminal. As a production director, he tries his best to deliver uncluttered communication, so his clients can derive real value through Events, Exhibitions and any other Live Meeting Formats.

Day 1 Session 3 - Changing Trends in Entertainment Management

Overview on changing trends in entertainment, especially live entertainment - Changes in trends of artist & celebrity management, dances & special performances.

Tarsem Mittal - Head, TM Talent Management

Tarasem runs the premier celebrity management agency - TM Talent Management, which is a part of the A.R.T. group. He heads the day-to-day business functioning of TM including Advertising and Entertainment.

Reema Gupta - Director, Red Entertainment

Reema Gupta is the Director at Red Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., which is a Mumbai based artiste management company specializing in promoting international performers in India & abroad, and Indian performers worldwide.

Rajesh Sharma - Founder, Laughing Colours

Rajesh Sharma is the founder of Laughing Colours, which deals with Show Conceptualization and Artist Management. Hailing originally from Delhi, he moved to Mumbai at the age of 20. In the early days of his career, he associated with Ravidner Jain who made him realize his interest and potential in artiste management. Today, he has successfully completed 5 years managing the well-known comedian in India, Raju Srivastav.

Day 2 Session 1 - Gujarat - The Land of Opportunities

Model state of Gujarat - which is known worldwide for its culture, events & festival celebrations. Discussing the unlimited opportunities in the field of event management state.

Kamlesh Gohil - Chairman & Managing Director, K&D

Kamlesh Gohil runs the K&D that is one of India’s largest trade fair organizing company, which provides quality and conceptualization to its partners. Under his guidance, the company has grown into a well-known solution provider to events, since its inception 15 years ago.

Talha Sareshwala - CEO & Managing Director, Parsoli Motor Works Pvt. Ltd.

Talha Sareshwala is the M.D. & CEO of Parsoli Motor Works Pvt Ltd. based in Gujarat. Having done his schooling from St Xavier’s school, Ahmedabad, he graduated in 1986 with a Bachelors of Science and then went on to complete chartered accountancy in 1992. Additionally, he has also done a short term course in portfolio and investment management from N.I.I.T.E, Powai, Mumbai.

Day 2 Session 2 - How to Create Your Own IP

Understanding the importance of creating your own IP. How to create an IP - through framework, systems, risks, execution process, marketing, sales etc.

Anwar Haleem - Jt Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, GOI and DDG, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)

In Mr. Haleem’s capacity as Jt Secretary, DDG has been instrumental in providing a new platform for IPs to grow, which has generated positive response from the Indian and international community.

Under Mr. Haleem’s guidance as a Deputy Director General of ICCR, popular IPs have been created that have gone to become popular today:

1. 
   
   

   The International Jazz Festival

   
   
   



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   The South Asian Band Festival

   
   
   



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   SAARC Music Festival

   
   
   



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   Horizon – Performing & Applied Arts

   
   
   

Anil Singh - Managing Director, Procam International

Anil B. Singh is an ebullient and gregarious Managing Director of Procam International Limited. He always had an inborn aptitude for business. Moreover, he is a keen sportsman - tennis, rugby, golf and being in love with them, he dreamt of a profession that would be an extension of his passion for sport, which led to him founding Procam. His flamboyance and natural gift of human relationship skills make him a charismatic leader and a force to reckon with in the industry.

Supriya Sobti - Co-founder, Ragasthan Festival

Supriya is the founder of Ragasthan Festival, a musical extravaganza set in the sands of the Thar Desert. Before Ragasthan, she was a multimedia journalist with eloquent writing, radio and television broadcast experience in the newsroom and programming departments of various networks including the BBC and Al Jazeera English – both in the U.K and across India.

She has previously researched, edited and written for publications whilst simultaneously writing and voicing packages for radio and television - covering the news, entertainment, current affairs and sports genre.

Her very own version of a mega festival had been on the cards for the longest time; the dream manifested into reality with RAGASTHAN that saw its first edition in the dunes of the Jaisalmer desert in November 2012.

Day 2 Session 3 - Wedding Trends

Opulent weddings has shown tremendous growth in last decade.The seminar will focus on current trends and requirements of wedding planning and management. It will showcase how some of the finest weddings were produced from legendary speakers.

Lakshyaraj Singh - Executive Director, HRH Group of Hotels / Maharaj Kumar, Prince of Mewar - Udaipur

Mr Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur is the youngest child of Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur and Smt Vijayraj Kumari Mewar of Udaipur. Belonging to the royal family of Mewar, he is a direct descendant of such luminaries in Indian history such as Maharana Sanga and Maharana Pratap.

He currently serves as the Executive Director for HRH Group of Hotels. He is also the President of the Udaipur District Cricket Association and has had a remarkable run of success in every facet of the game. He is also an Advisor to The President of Rajasthan Cricket Association.

Samit Garg - Owner, E Factor & SkyWaltz

As the owner of E Factor, he is responsible for dealing with High Net Worth Individuals, Performing Artistes, Celebrities & Film Stars. He also handles presentations for high profile events.

With his SkyWalts company, he was instrumental in getting Hot Air Ballooning to India, the first and only company in India to have been authorised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to do so.

Neelabh Kapoor - Creative Director - Studio Neelabh and Founder, Director - Experiential Weddings

Neelabh Kapoor specializes in the architecture of entertainment by completely transforming raw, ordinary spaces into dramatic environments. His both initiatives, Studio Neelabh and Experiential Weddings offer Wedding Sets & Stage, Furniture & Interiors, Stage architecture in Television, larger than life Events & festivals.

PERFORMANCES

Artistes who will perform on the 12th of September, Friday - 2014

Ankit Tiwari

He is a Bollywood playback singer and music director who also works for television. He has been widely acclaimed for his recent hit ‘Sunn Raha Hai’ from the movie Aashiqui 2. A native of Kanpur, today, he is famous across India.

Agnee Band

Based out of Pune, Agnee is a well-known band among the youth of our nation, which has garnered huge fan following across cities. They have released several singles since 2007 and have been a crowd-puller in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Ahmedabad. The band will be composing the music for the upcoming Bollywood flick ‘Rockin Love’.

Akriti Kakkar

The bold and beautiful playback singer from Bollywood has given multiple hit songs in the recent past, from ‘Saturday Saturday’ from Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania to ‘Iski Uski’ from 2 States, she has been wide popular among television shows and is currently serves as one of the judges on Zee Bangla’s ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa: Li’l Champs’. She has also released her solo album called ‘Akrity’ in the year 2010 under Sony Music India.

International Act

An exclusive act will be performed by international group of dancers.

Amrita Raichand - Host

Artistes who will perform on the 13th of September, Saturday - 2014

Dia Mirza

Bollywood’s most beautiful and vivacious, Dia Mirza is an Indian model, actress and producer. She has won many beauty pageants including the Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 2000, Miss Asia Pacific 2000, Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Close-Up Smile and Miss Avon.

The actress is not just secretly admired by many men but also respected for her social efforts widely. From her hugely romantic hit debut ‘Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein’ to her Bengali film ‘Paanch Adhyay, which won her acclaim across the globe, Dia Mirza is a perfect cocktail of beauty, brain and humanity.

Hariharan

Hariharan is a respected and revered Indian playback singer who has been bestowed with numerous awards including the prestigious civilian award - ‘Padmashree’. He has sung in many regional languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Bhojpuri and Telugu. He also had a talent for ghazal singing and is among the pioneers of Indian fusion music.

RDB

RDB is an international band based out of UK, whose style blends traditional Punjabi beats and vocals with western genres. Known locally as well as in Europe, its musical journey began with singing at Gurudwaras.

Monali Thakur

Monali Thakur is an Indian playback singer and actress. Monali comes from a musical family and her father is a renowned Bengali singer. She also knows hip-hop, bharatanatyam and is a trained salsa dancer. After Indian Idol 9 participating, she has rose to prominence in the country. She has won much praise and nominations for her number 'Zara Zara Touch Me'.

Shashi Suman

The young 21 year old Sashi has always been passionate about singing since teenage. After winning Indian Idol 5, he is a national star today. He performs stage shows across India. In his spare time, he likes to play guitar and tabla.

Kainaat Arora

Kainaat Arora is an Indian model turned actress who made her entry into Bollywood with ‘Grand Masti’. She has done item songs and made appearances in multiple movies across languages, including ‘Mankatha’ and ‘Khatta Meetha’. She is the cousin of late actress ‘Divya Bharti’.

The performances at ACE are being sponsored by talent and luxury partners, and is all set to host vibrant celebrities from different parts of India to make the audiences groove to their talents.

Raju Srivastava

He is an Indian comedian who is probably well-known for his hilarious stand-ups, often invited for important events across the nation, he is a man in demand. He also performs shows outside India and has launched a series of his audio cassettes and video CDs of his antiques. From his days of 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge', he has come a long way and made a name for himself in the comedy circle.

Nitin Arora - Host

The Awards, Convention & Exhibition (ACE) 2014 will be held at YMCA, Ahmedabad, Gujarat on the 12th and 13th of September, 2014.