IUST Awantipora organizes webinar on Event Management

AWANTIPORA: Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (DJMC), Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) organized a Webinar on ‘Career in Event Management and how to manage Artists’ Wednesday with a renowned artist manager in the field Sabaa Malik, who is one of the Directors with Mumbai-based On Stage Talents & Entertainment (OST), which is India’s premium Multi Genre Talent Agency.

Sabaa, who is an alumnus of the department has been managing artists like Amaal Malik, Aditi Singh Sharma, Ram Sampath, Neha Kakkar, DJ Chetas, Shirley Setia, Lost Stories from the entertainment and music industry including and earlier managed the famous Bollywood actor Sushmita Sen as well. She talked about the current scenario in the field of event and artist management and how students could build a career in it. “Don’t restrict yourself explore everything you are interested in and always do your job with dedication. Working in various fields of client servicing require a hardcore research on the competitors, absorbing the work culture, building relationships, make a smart use of social media.”

Sabaa who also worked with event company Ferriswheel Entertainment Pvt where she was part of event management for events like IPL, Don't let Daddy Know, and many international corporate events and said, “From handling celebrities during the IPL opening ceremony to working at box office, managing the VIP moment has been most challenging.” She also called upon students to take up different opportunities for learning but asked them to be conscious of not letting people take an advantage of them.

Talking about the session, Dr. Monisa Qadiri, who teaches Public Relations at IUST and organized the session said, “The idea behind this webinar was to motivate students towards alternative career paths, which offer multiple avenues. We deliberated upon various nuances of event management as well as discussed different challenges especially during the Covid lockdown times.” She also appreciated Sabaa Malik, for speaking during the webinar and being an inspiration to the students as she has herself been a product of IUST.

The lecture was followed by a question answer session, during which students asked about about the opportunities in the field, multi-tasking, balancing of various roles and challenges in event management as well as PR industry. “In Kashmir Journalism and Mass Communication is usually confined to print and broadcast news and so, such sessions are extremely helpful in molding our careers and changing our perspective about things. This session was really motivated us and filled with hope,” said 4th Semester student, Samreena Nazir.