Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Theres an aura and an expectation about most travel destinations that In this, the first part of our dedicated section on MIC (Meetings,
gets audiences excited at the very mention of the place. Soon, computers Incentives and Conferences), we spoke with a couple of professionals
in office are busy googling away to find out what the attractions are, and in the media space. This part of the series is focused on destinations and
what to shop for, among other things, once there. the offsite experience, with a focus on media professionals.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are a whole lot of people who While Niloufer Dundh exchanged notes on her favourite offsite location,
believe that offsites have become annual picnics and need to change
Abhijit Pradhan underlined the need to create new levels of excitement
track to focus on learning. Quite visibly, different organisations have
different expectations from their respective offsites. at offsites.
By Niloufer Dundh
Chief Sales Officer, OOH Media, in conversation with EVENTFAQS
My favourite off site location is North Point in the air...
at Khandala. Its the campus run by Lintas. The The last two trips we made there were serene. The first was during
reasons for this being my favourite are many. the pre-monsoon and the second at the fag end of the monsoons. The
Before I get into them, let me add here that the great weather helped add to the wonderful experience. From what Im
last two off sites that we have had have been at penning here, it might seem as though the entire experience is about
this very location, and both these strategy meets getting lost in the midst of nature. Theres a lot of activity too, if one is
have been very successful in terms of output. interested. I did notice that there were many takers for the Indoor and
Outdoor sports on offer.
Thought its only an hour or so away (and perhaps because it is), I would
readily categorise it as a getaway in the true sense. People unfamiliar The great internet connectivity helped when you needed to connect to
with the terrain tend to club Lonavala and Khandala as one. The truth the world outside. And given our nature of work, we better be connected!
is different. In North Point, Khandala, your are locked away with no The service was excellent too, with home cooked food, and the hosts
temptation to exit, as its far away from the madness of Lonavala. always willing to ask you what you want!
Logistically too, this location is a dream. Its fairly easy to reach from With three different venues, theres no dearth of variety. Space is another
Mumbai. And for those coming in from out of Mumbai, its a little more huge advantage, with not many other conferences taking place there at
than an hours drive from the airport. A stay there definitely brings out the same time. We look forward to having our next meet at North Point
your creative juices. And it helps you think clearly. Theres something again.
For the Awards night, Jag Mag Electrics was given the task of handling
ago. lightings, while Vinayak Video Vision is taking care of video services.
For the Awards, IM Entertainment took up the responsibility for the
This years edition got underway on September 16, and registered set design and erection, and attempted to blend mall elements with an
more than 1000 walk-ins for the three-day Conference, Exhibition awards setup.
and Awards night. While the conference was held at The Renaissance
Reasoning their decision to build the sets, Burgess Elavia, Head of
Hotel, the property drew to a close with the Awards night at the Grand Logistics and Operations, IM Entertainment, said, We decided to
Hyatt on September 18. erect the sets for the Awards night ourselves as it is our major forte.
We believe we understand the property better than anyone else, and can
This years edition of the conference and exhibition was spread over make much better sets than anyone for this event.
1500 to 2000 square metres at The Renaissance. IM Entertainment had
appointed Performance Audio to supply and manage the sounds for the On conference evenings, organizers decided to stick with a DJ and
conference as well as the awards night. For the conference, lighting jugalbandi performances, instead of performing acts as the entertainment
arrangements were distributed between Star Dimensions and Creative agenda. The Awards night was hosted by Dalip Tahil and Parizad Kolah.
Productions. Spectrum Audio Visual provided the Audio Visuals, while The Awards evening made up on the performances front, with stand-up
sets at the conference were erected by Benny from WYSIWYG. Hangars comedian Ash Chandler and singer Neeraj Shridhar of Bombay Vikings
used at the exhibition were created by Mumbai-based RM Gupta, while entertaining audiences.