mid-day 43rd anniversary special: Standing united in the great outdoors

A double decker stand being constructed for a jewellery trade show in the city

Change is good

Just as the novel Coronavirus outbreak came careening around the global bend, exhibition stand designers and constructors, because of the nature of their work, which is outdoorsy and labour specific calling for making stands, stalls and booths at exhibitions, and has gatherings of people, were forced to shut shop. Then came an immensely painful two years. The industry was one of the first to shut and one of the last to re-open.

"We sold sandwiches, fish, Covid-specific cleaning supplies, vegetables, re-skilled, upskilled or down skilled, call it what you will to survive," said Suketu Dasadia, who is part of the industry. Through that time though, the fraternity also put their collective mind behind one big goal which was to give more teeth to an organisation called the Association of Exhibition Stand Designers and Constructors (AESDAC). The body was started in 2019 to streamline and see that the industry becomes more professional, but saw no solid action on those fronts as Coronavirus forced everybody to slam the brakes.

Niloy Debnath makes his point. Pic/Atul Kamble

The lockdown period gave industry professionals plenty of time to think about the way ahead, and ensure that AESDAC does not remain an organisation in name only. "We saw how people came together to help each other during the outbreak. From individuals who joined in to help a Covid-afflicted person in the building, to groups asking for better conditions for healthcare workers, we learnt the leverage that unity gives one. Like they say, united we stand, and in our industry, you need to take that literally," said Niloy Debnath, president, AESDAC.

In June this year, just as pandemic restrictions lifted completely on the number of attendees and the exhibitions looked to get rolling, the AESDAC got into the act, with a first ever event called StandBUILD 2022 at a Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) venue. The meet aimed to bring together the stand builders and constructors who have been battered by the pandemic firstly, but also speak no holds barred about intra-industry problems.

Some of those bugbears are bogus or substandard booth constructors, the practise of undercutting which is offering to make stands for less than your competitor to clinch the deal, ‘stealing' competitor's designs, or acceding because of commercial considerations to clients who want a stall that should take a week at the very least to be fully done, up in two days. AESDAC Vice-President Milind Palvekar said, "We all must learn to say ‘no' to clients who want Taj Mahals built overnight. Ask for approvals for designs at least 15 days earlier. Remind them that the marble for the Taj Mahal costs money. We are told by clients money is no problem, but give them a budget and they will say you are too expensive. Then the heinous undercutting begins."

The industry heads stated hard times should teach them bonding, not betrayal. "Insist on mammoth exhibition venues having basic facilities for our people, like access to washrooms, as we work on building exhibition stalls. At times, these are nowhere on site. Washrooms are also a basic human dignity issue, especially for women of our industry," they said together. They believe that just like the film industry for example, has associations with members having an advantage over non-members, so should theirs Dasadia, who is treasurer, AESDAC, signed off, "Alone, we are one drop, together we are an ocean."