Event industry will bounce back: Rakhi Kankaria, Neeraj Thakur, TCEI President and Secretary

Ms. Rakhi Kankaria, Chairman, TCEI_ Neeraj Thakur, General Secretary, TCIE seen presenting Award to Meher Aria, founder, Star Ventures at TCEI Stri Shakthi Awards 2020

Hyderabad: The Telangana Chamber of Events Industry (TCEI), a nonprofit body of event management professionals presented on Saturday in the city at Hotel Hyatt Palace, Road No . 1 Banjara Hills,  TECI Stri Shakthi Awards 2020 to Women achievers from the most unusual fields, in the events industry vertical.

Rakhi Kankaria, President of TCEI said, it is the most sought after honour to the deserving women of our industry as there is no platform to recognize their talent exclusively in the event industry.

Though women comprise 30 per cent of the event industry, they are the most creative brains behind many successful events  and the creativity, Rakhi said.

The event industry was the worst hit because of the pandemic. Through this kind of small, small events we want to instill confidence in our clients that hosting events is safe under new normal. We follow strict SOPs, so our events are very safe added Neeraj Thakur, Secretary General of TCEI.

This was the 3rd edition of the awards. The awards were given away in two different categories–Stri Murti Awards 2020 and Stri Shakti Awards 2020, Rakhi Kankaria informed.

Stri Shakti Awards 2020, Rakhi Kankaria

Playback Singer Bhargavi Pillai; the city’s top Emcee(Master of Ceremonies) and founder of Star Ventures Meher Aria; Director of Vedic Events Ms Prasuna,  wedding planne for SS Rajamouli son’s wedding recently; young and dynamic BNI Executive Director, Sanjana Shah, who being just in twenties runs seven different businesses successfully and Founder of Pinnacle Group of Hotel Management Colleges, who founded a college twenty years back Ms Sridevi Yerroju were bestowed with top honour with Stri Murti Awards.

Another 25 distinguished women achievers were given away Stri Shakti Awards. Some of these include: City’s top birthday event organiser Jyoti Varma Addala; Michelle J Francis, head of Placements of NITHM(National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management); Rupa Sureka of Celebration Makers and others.

Sanjana Shah who just stepped out of her home in last nine months to receive the award said, women are naturally multi taskers. Sanjana who is just under thirty runs 7 businesses successfully and heads BNI as its regional Executive Director. I am a born networker. I prefer connecting people she said. She is fast spreading BNI network in the city with 31 clubs.

Meher Aria said that she is into event industry for the past 22 years and counting. Nothing is impossible is my manthra for success. She told women to unleash the champion in them.

A woman, they say, not as strong as a man.  A woman they say, can’t do what he can. But, women proved otherwise. They entered into those fields which until now are considered as men only professions. We have handpicked a few outstanding women for the coveted awards. In TCEI we have 350 members, but we need more women she said.

Neeraj Thakur said Navratri is the celebration of Woman Power – Shakti, or the female (Strī) principle of Nature (Prakriti). Navratri festivities are dedicated to Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati – the three feminine icons symbolising power, wealth and knowledge. TCEI Women Entrepreneurs’ Club takes the Navratri/Bathukamma festivities to the next level by instituting the  awards.

According to Neeraj Thakur, Telangana has 1100 event management companies. About 5500 associates or allied companies support event management industry. Nearly 50 lakh people depend on event industry in Telangana. We will showcase more such small events to build customer confidence in events, he shared.

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