Virtual fundraising events to mark World Event Managers Day

Many years ago there released a movie, 'The Net' about a woman, who never leaves her house, and her entire life is online. So much so that she has no offline friends or acquaintances, no one knows how she looks like and all she is in the social system is a security number. One always wondered if human race is headed in the direction with too much time spent online. Then, we were struck by the pandemic, and with it came lockdown, which forced us all to live in isolation. And, suddenly we began to realise the importance of so many things that we took for granted – family time, me-time, reading, music, art, films, fun with friends. However, we have been trying to cope, and finding ways to deal; and during this new normal, the internet has played a prominent role.

People are finding newer ways to stay engaged and connected with friends and family. Several online teaching avenues have opened up in every imaginable art form where masters conduct sessions on Skype mostly or through a dedicated App. Karaoke is yet another popular past time gaining popularity the world over. In India, singing Apps Smule and Starmaker rule the roost. In the UK, a singing App, Singa has had an increase of 700 percent in their customer sign-ups during initial days of lockdown. Facebook and WhatsApp singing groups have cropped up and people are sharing their love for music and using the platforms to display their latent talent. Recently a gated community Vertex Prime in Nizampet took this one level up by organising an e-concert on YouTube during the weekend. The engaging concert had the talented residents singing from Carnatic music to film songs, entertaining the inmates remotely from the safety of their own homes. The grand finale of the event will be webcasted today. Yet another college friends group had a stand-up comedian do a show for them on Zoom.

Among other things including work and education; art-related talks, theatre, and artiste performances are happening online. Many senior musicians and dancers are conducting webinars, talks, and even dance and music performances. Theatre companies are uploading their plays on YouTube. Enterprising actors are coming up with innovative shows in the absence of any real rehearsals happening.

Book publishers and e-reading portals were one of the first ones to respond to lockdown by giving free access to books and followed it by online conversations, and Instagram live sessions with authors keeping alive the reading vibe amongst book lovers. Art galleries have gone online.

Evidently, online activity is hardly revenue-generating, and they are not a patch over live performances in terms of experience for the audience and the artistes as well. Yet rasikas and art lovers are making do with these online performances, sometimes recorded and many times, catching their favourite artistes live on social media platforms. For artistes, it is just a way to keep in touch with their audience, and of course, experiment with the new medium. And for the event industry it is an exercise to get back on track, event by event, and find new ways to evolve with the changing times. Infact, it is one of the worst affected sectors with 93 percent of all events between April and July being cancelled leaving thousands of people depending on the industry jobless and several companies, big and small in a limbo. They have joined hands to convert the challenge into an opportunity.

One India Concert

On 31 May, the World Event Managers Day, prominent bodies of India like the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) have joined hands with a historic event – 'One India Concert'. 50 artists are coming together on one virtual platform and over 300 members of the Indian Event Professionals Association from across India are at work to design and develop a new normal for their industry. The event will go live at 5pm and will feature Sumit Saini - the winner of the third season of The Voice, Vipin Aneja - a melodious Bollywood playback singer, Manan Desai - one of the top standup comedians in India, Abhijit Ghosal- versatile Bollywood playback singer who has performed in movies like 'London Dreams', Shibani Kashyap - the accomplished Bollywood singer, Pavni Pandey Bollywood Singer for songs like "Laila" for 'Raees', Bobby Cash - the Indian country music singer- song- writer, Megha Sampat - the celebrity choreographer for many reality shows and film stars, and Fal- guni Brahmbhatt who debuted as a Bollywood singer in the movie 'Ek Andekha Sach' and many more who will perform and show their solidarity with the Event Managers. Funds raised for the event will be used for Covid affected, say the organisers.

Love 2 Humanity

This online event features India's popular artists and personalities including Sudha Murthy, Latha Rajnikanth, Salim Merchant, Kailash Kher, Terence Lewis, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Nikhil Chinapa, Javed Ali, Kubra Sait, Danish Sait and Raghu Dixit amongst others. The not for profit global broadcast is aimed at raising funds to help folk artists of Zariya Foundation. The show that will go live at 6pm featuring music, conversations and stories, is being organised by one of the largest entertainment companies Live Nation Asia and presented by Phase 1 Events and Experiences sets tone for future of digital entertainment.