ASSOCON 2018, held on 4th September 2018 at World Trade Centre introduced a refreshing concept of bringing associations from different segments together. It was the first ever event in Mumbai where associations from different trade industries were brought together. This event was conceptualized & cumulated by Suvin Expo & N-gauge. The event was managed by Suvin Advisors and Expolab were their technology partner.
The event created a platform for learning new concepts & sharing experiences for the overall growth & development of associations who are the backbone of Indian Industries. The event was supported by All India Association of Industries, Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in India & Association of System Integrators & Retailers in Technology. India ITME Society was the proud award partner & RMOSS Prints Pvt. Ltd. was the printing partner for the event. The event witnessed presence of 60 delegates from 30 associations”
The Session began with a key note address by Ninad Karpe, past Chairman, CII, western region. His fascinating presentation on “Brave new World” set the pace for the conference and made every association present realize that how rapidly the world around is changing with development of technologies. After an interesting key note address the organizers Avinash Mayekar, Shekhar Shridhankar & Nilay Jani gave a small welcome note & introduced the dignitaries & delegates with the theme of the conference.
This was followed by Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Immediate Past President Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce-Industry & Agriculture’s precise & enlightening case study presentation on “Role of Associations & Chambers Post-Economic Liberalization & Digitized Economy”. The event then witnessed the panel discussion on “Role of events to boost Indian Industries”, the Session was moderated by Avinash Mayekar MD & Director Suvin Advisors & Suvin Expo LLP. The panelist for the session were Arvind Sinha, Cochairman Textile Forum, Indo American Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Hemant Sonare, National Chairman, Textile Association of India, Satyendra Mehra Group Director, NuernbergMesse India Pvt. Ltd & Seema Srivastava, Executive Director-India ITME Society. The panel discussed on all aspects of events from selection of venue to the revenue generations. The panel also emphasized that the most important aspect of building successful event is meeting the ultimate need of the event of providing quality knowledge & buyers for their members rather than just focusing on revenue generation. Seema also showed a small video of India ITME society’s upcoming event GTTES which will take place from 18th – 19th January 2019 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.
The panel concluded by setting pointers for associations to follow before coming up with events. The panellists agreed that a collaboration of association & specific event partner will be the best offering in events to the industry. Post lunch the session continued with a presentation by Arvind Sinha on “Making Indian Associations Global”. He presented statistics about few of the successful associations in US & China and addressed few concerns of Indian associations & also enlightened the way forward for Indian Associations to help boost their respective industries. The session was followed by the need of the hour topic “How to use technology to improve Association”, the panellists for the session were Jiten Mehta, Chairman, Association of System Integrators & Retailers in Technology; Tej Contractor, Training Committee Chairman, Brihan Mumbai Custom Brokers Association( BCBA) & Vasuki Sundaram, Past Jt. Secretary, Travel agents federation of India.
