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“I think we have been able to achieve more than we thought is achievable” -Binu Nano

IESA, The national association of Exhibitions and Events Services of India-which was conceptualised in 2009 has completed just about a year of its formation.
Binu Nano, The President in the exclusive interview with Hiral KP of TFT answers tough questions at ease. Few of the questions and answers are omitted from this interview. Excerpts follows.

 

TFT : . In the event that you can let us know about your journey so far as IESA President?
Binu : The first year of the association has been great and I have enjoyed working and leading the association to the present level.

TFT : IESA is on the verge on finishing one year after its formal launch, what as per you has been real errands fulfilled so far and how?
Binu : We are happy with our achievements in the first year. We held meetings for gathering Membership in Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkotta and Chennai and have about 60 members now. The said membership meetings were organised by Mr Krishna Rao and Surinder Vasisht, in coordination with our Senior Vice President Mr Abbas Khan, Mr. H K Bhattad and the regional Vice Presidents.
We organised training programmes in 8 cities starting from Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune. Hyderabad, Banglore, Chennai, and Kolkotta. We had good participation in all cities and the event was organised by Mr Nimit Soni , in coordination with Senior Vice Presidents and regional Vice Presidents.
We also organised a joint meeting of IEIA, EEMA and ICPB in Delhi on the 9th November 2015 attended by all office bearers of all the above mentioned associations including Mr M B Naqvi from IEIA, Mr. Sabbas Joseph, Mr. Mandeep Singh and Mr. Michael Menezes from EEMA, Capt. Swadesh Kumar, Ms. Monimita Sarkar and Mr.Shyam Nagapal from ICPB to name a few. All Associations welcomed the initiative by IESA and agreed to meet again and work on a five-point program, which evolved in the meeting.
The Legal cell has made a model Contract and Agreement Form which is being circulated to all members. This should bring ease of business with standard terms & conditions and also resolve issues like health and safety of workers. We hope to implement the contents by April 2017 after presenting it in an AGM.
The work on Standards and Codes is very much in advanced stage. We hope to complete this document in the next few months and present it in the next AGM for discussions and implementation. Mr. Shibu C and Mr. Sanjay Soni are leading the efforts.
Our Media cell is very active under the leadership of Mr Sanjay Soni. The website is nearly complete and will be uploaded in few days.
The team has planned and released the brochure of our exhibition INDIA EXPO SHOP being held in New Delhi on the 20,21,22 April 2016.
The Association had meetings with ITPO – Chairman, Mr. L C Goyal, BIEC, Bangalore – Mr Bala Subramaniam and Mr Susheel Shah of BCEC, Mumbai. These meetings focussed on improvement of working conditions for Exhibition service providers and their crew. The responses have been positive to the suggestions made.
IESA also aims to start Skill Development programs for our industry and discussions on the subject are already on.

TFT: There appears to be a considerable measure of contradictions in the association, would you say you are mindful of the issues?
Binu : To best of our knowledge and understanding, there are no contradictions.

TFT: Might you want to toss a few lights on this, likewise does it hampers the targets of the association?
Binu : I think we have been able to achieve more than we thought is achievable. The Association has been working with a sense of purpose and unity. The unity and camaraderie is the best thing that has happened with the association. We are proud of what we have achieved. A publication like TFT asking for an exclusive interview is proof that people are sitting up and noticing. This for sure, itself is a positive indicator.

TFT : There is written objection of few of the IESA members accessible with TFT including that of the previous Executive Director of the association, which says that the association asked him to leave him with no notification on only a WhatsApp message. Is this true?
Binu : Whatts app message may have been a confirmation of what Mr. Vasisht had already conveyed to him.

TFT : Another member from the association gripes that vital choices are neither taken according to MOA of the association nor informed to concerned, is this true?
Binu : We are not aware of any such instances. We are in regular touch with all members through mail and whats’App and each and every decision is taken after convening a meeting of the elected office bearers of the body.

TFT : It is learnt that few control the association and its extreme approach has been non-comprehensive under your authority, your remark?
Binu : Like all other Associations, IESA also functions in the same way, which is through the elected Office bearers of the Association. I don’t understand what is meant by ‘extreme’ in this question and this word is something, which I wouldn’t keep in my vocabulary nor (or) in my attitude.