An Interview with Zubair Ahmed from ‘Factory Events’

On Monday, the 22nd of June at 6pm, we at team.i conducted the 24th session of the 2nd edition of the team.i Instagram Live Series. Through this series, we aimed at providing a common platform for all those interested in understanding and contributing to the future of the Events and Entertainment Industry.

While there is no knowing for certain what the future post the pandemic looks like for the Event and Entertainment Industry, at the moment all we can do is hope for the best.

With Virtual Events being conducted and the dynamic shift towards online platforms, there has been a newfound interest in developing new and exciting ways to push our limits and strive to come out of these pressing times triumphant with the progress made.

It is with keeping this in mind that Session 24 was led by the Founder and CEO of ‘Factory Events,’ Zubair Ahmed who began his career at the age of 18, worked for a logistics company before he finally began his journey as a Marketing Consultant when he founded ‘Factory Events’ in the year 2006.

A little bit on Zubair Ahmed…

As someone who started working at a very young age, Zubair Ahmed understands the importance of hard work, discipline and consistency in any field of work.

Joining a logistics company at the age of 18, he then went on to start a co-loading company with his friend which then grew into a full- fledged logistics company which expanded significantly.

Over the course of his career he was introduced to the world of events and actively got involved in learning and then going on to conduct a few events. Today, he is the proud owner of ‘The Factory Events and Promotions’ and continues to provide Marketing consultancy services.

What is the difference between doing a corporate and a wedding event?

Corporate events are a more organised sector but when it comes to Wedding events, most of it is unorganised. However, interacting and networking with the clients and being appreciated for a job well done is the most satisfying aspect of organising any event. 

Once, while working with a client on a 25th anniversary event, the host walked up to me in between the party and he told me that I had done an incredible job and should be proud of what I had achieved in my career. It is in moments like this that I feel truly grateful for the opportunities that have helped me establish myself in an industry that is booming with incredible talent. 

Today, he still remains a good friend and I believe that that is what an event is all about regardless of it being a Corporate or any other event. In my experience weddings events are always nice to do as they are usually bigger budget events and also gives you the chance to experiment and be creative.

Do you think that the event industry will go back to what it once was?

Looking at the current global scenario, it looks like it will take a while. From what I gather, it is going to take about a year before we can see some clarity with regard to the future of the events and entertainment industry. 

Once a vaccine is discovered, it will put the minds of the people at ease as now lots of clients are understandably reluctant to spend their money, especially with the corporates being very clear as they don’t want to expose their people to unnecessary risk. At the moment we believe that we could commence partially in the year 2021.

What is your advice to 20 – 25 year old students who are aspiring event planners?

Giving advice is not easy and as someone who is also learning in the process, I am no one to advise these students. Everyday I learn from the  kids I work with. They are incredibly smart and offer new and exciting perspectives to the way we do business.

When it comes to events you need to have a broad outlook on things and develop different aptitudes because every day is a new learning opportunity where success and failure are common. There are no retakes like movies and so we need to give our best on every take.

What are your learnings from events, both large and small scale?

Any event, be it big or small is all about the attention to detail, sitting with your team, running it through and doing a worst case scenario analysis to be one step ahead of any plausible failures.

In case you missed out on the live session, feel free to click here to watch it now.