DailyPost 203
CONTENT VS EVENT – DOES IT ADD UP?
An event is the manifestation of the content or the desire to create something with finality, timeline and quality or so should it be. Events as an end in itself seems to have become the order of the day and everybody is falling in for this fad, taking the same course as of a Big Fat Indian wedding. The gloss has hit the imagination and is there to stay. Event & event management have become products in themselves. The success of the event is the success of the product / launch / activity / program / conference et al.
Events & documentation of activities at the basic & primary level, to make a difference to the most needy on a sustainable basis, gives a feeling of a corporate enterprise. The NGOs have long moved onto this trajectory but for few exceptions. The administrative costs of these events are way beyond the benefits it accrues to the beneficiaries, for which it is intended. The quantum of the funds remain the same, how we manage our goals speaks volumes about out ingenuity & capability to deliver. Lean organizations are the best organizations.
The flab is unacceptable in a resource scarce economy, every penny spent should make a difference. Public or private. Added to the non-rationalization of funds is the non-rationalization of time; scare time / effort resources are either lost or used for a wrong purpose. What finally happens at the end of the day, the concepts of service, of professional growth, of excellence, of being an indispensable asset oneself is completely lost out. It’s just an ongoing battle for survival in the most wrong manner, unsustainable for the cause.
The content & events should add up in the final delivery of good, services, research projects, products etc which is so conspicuously missing. The event based living compromises on time, energy, effort & purpose in a big way.
AN EVENT AT BEST SHOULD BE A FRUGAL DISSEMINATION TOOL.
Sanjay Sahay