Eventify Entertainment

The Eventify Entertainment team reflect on two successful years in business for a company built on personal relationships, trust and respect…

It’s often said that people work with people, not companies – and nowhere is this illustrated more clearly than in the case of Eventify Entertainment. While the company is just two years old, it is owned and operated by seasoned and well-respected event professionals who have learned, grown and made their mark in the region, having designed, developed and delivered some of the UAE’s most iconic events during their time in the industry.

Af ter a barnstorming Q4 2022, which saw Eventify deliver a raft of high-profile events including Arab Media Forum, Sole DXB, Sharjah Events Festival, DSF Drones Show and the Atlantis The Royal Grand Reveal, TPiMEA was keen to check in with the team to find out more about what seems to be one of the fastestgrowing and most exciting organisations in the region’s live events sector.

Th e core of the company is made up of: CEO, Girish Bhat; COO, Vivek Velani; Director Finance, Mohit Bhandawat; Directors Events, Sonu AB and Suhail Maitreya; Director Production, Burgess Elavia; Event Producer, Jattin Gulati; and Senior Creative Strategist, Anu Thomas.

“We’ve all been in the industry for decades and people work with us for who we are as people rather than which company we are a part of,” said Suhail Maitreya, while sitting down with TPiMEA, along with Vivek Velani and Anu Thomas, over a cup of coffee in Eventify’s plush Al Barsha office.

Eventify came to be after Dubai-based agency Done Events ceased operations, with many of the key faces behind the company facing the decision of whether to go it alone as freelancers, join other agencies in the region, or get together to form a company of their own.

“When we started Eventify, each of us had great individual opportunities of being part of other businesses in the UAE, but somewhere along the line, our conversations with our clients gave us the confidence that we could come together and create something special,” Maitreya recalled. “We all have our individual strengths, but when we combine them, that’s when we’re truly strong. We always believed that we were disruptive event managers in the UAE, and this was our chance to prove that.”

So, the company was formed in September 2021, with priority number one being securing as many former clients as possible. “A lot of our clients reached out to us, giving us the confidence to start Eventify,” Velani recalled.

“Most have now continued to work with us, which gave us a huge amount of confidence to push forward.”

Co rporate work has proved to be a key pillar of Eventify’s offering so far, with the company delivering several large-scale conferences including Arab Media Forum (AMF) and brand activations for the likes of Porsche, McLaren and Etisalat among many others. “AMF is the region’s largest media conference by far, and we delivered it in a style that is very unconferencelike,” Thomas commented. “There were so many activities going on there and such a buzz around the place that it felt like walking into the hustle and bustle of a busy shopping mall, with stores, cafes and lots of people all keen to interact. That ambience was a key factor in the success of the event, and it went down very well with the client.”

Th e company isn’t limited to just corporate and conference work though, as it also ventured into the world of large-format outdoor events, including the hugely popular Sole DXB. “We were unsure about how the market would react to this large festival coming back, but the response we got was mind-boggling – it was the largest and most successful year in the history of the festival,” Maitreya revealed.

“To deliver Sole DXB while we were working simultaneously on the launch event for the

Atlantis The Royal as well as Sharjah Events Festival was a truly massive achievement.”

Ma itreya outlined what he described as the company’s ‘Westernised’ approach to event planning, which is combined with a frugal approach to cost management. “We’re certainly not the cheapest, but we believe that we give the client the biggest bang for their buck,” he stated. “The creativity and thought process we bring onboard are very important for our clients and result in a higher standard of event.”

‘It all starts with the client’s trust in us’ While the core team remains small, according to Velani, that brings with it an agility that allows the company to scale up and down when required. “Our core team works throughout the year, and we bring in freelancers on a semi-permanent basis for the busy season,” he confirmed. “We can already see a lot of demand on the horizon, so we’re already reaching out to several key people to get them booked in from August.”

With a strong foothold in the UAE already established, the last part of the puzzle for Eventify seems to be expanding into the wider GCC market. However, Velani was keen to stress the importance of restraint. “We’ve all seen the growth in the likes of Qatar and especially Saudi Arabia, but we’re not in a hurry,” he revealed.

“We would rather spend time understanding the market to make sure that when we expand, we get it right first time. There are so many companies rushing to get set up in Saudi, but we don’t want to rush into it and make mistakes.”

Th e long-term vision for the company includes a greater focus on content creation. “The natural progression is to diversify into other areas of the events business,” Maitreya explained. “There’s a strong video content and design component to a lot of what we do, which we currently outsource. In the long run, we would want to do a lot of that in-house. We will also look to focus on IP creation, as we have identified a massive potential for growth in this area and we endeavour to achieve this with a variety of partnerships with international and regional players within the entertainment industry.”

Lo oking back on the first two years of the company, Thomas pinpointed the trust between client, agency and supplier as key to Eventify’s success. “It all starts with the client’s trust in us, which allows us to deliver world-class events for them,” she explained. “This then trickles down to our suppliers, who we place our trust in, and also ask for their trust in return.”

Ve lani added: “We’ve always kept our suppliers happy. If we make a time commitment, we always stick to it regardless of whatever else is happening on the project. It can get complicated when there are different parties involved on different levels, but having those strong relationships across the board is a major factor in our success.”

With the traditionally quieter summer months now upon us, the Eventify team is using the time wisely. “Summer is a time for the team to rest, recuperate and rehabilitate, and spend some quality time with their families,” Maitreya smiled. “It’s so important to find time to take a break every once in a while; it’s been a hectic year, and we know it’s going to be extremely busy once the season picks up again, so rest and recuperation is vital. Before you know it, things will be starting to get crazy again.”

CEO, Girish Bhat believes firmly that the foundation of the company’s success lies in its team spirit. “We are not merely a group of individuals working towards a common goal; we are a family united by a shared passion for creating exceptional experiences. It is this spirit that fuels our innovation, resilience, and unwavering commitment to delivering unforgettable events,” he commented. “Together, we build upon a solid foundation of trust, collaboration, and mutual support, which empowers us to overcome challenges and achieve greatness.

“O ur team spirit is the heartbeat of our company, driving us forward, inspiring us to dream bigger, and ensuring that every event we create is infused with magic and a sense of togetherness,” he added. “We celebrate each other’s strengths, uplift one another during tough times, and embrace diversity, knowing that it is the collective strength of our team that propels us towards excellence. With this foundation and unbreakable team spirit, we are unstoppable, and there is no limit to what we can achieve.”

Photos: Eventify Entertainment www.eventifyentertainment.com