Exclusive | Nakul Chopra on the success of Goafest 2015

'The festival does become bigger and better each year and will continue to do so' Nakul Chopra

The tenth year of Goafest was one of the best organised fests so far. After putting in six months of rigorous brainstorming, planning trying to   organize a stupendous show. The tenth year saw a better product with an unforgettable experience for the fraternity and we guess it will only get better every year.

While in the past the fest has been caught up in controversies, this year it was a challenge for the team to make it an enriching experience for the ad world. There was an interesting line up eminent Indian and international speakers, more media activities, fun activities and an overall feel good experience for the fraternity.

In order to know about how the whole experience was this year we at Adgully.com caught up with Nakul Chopra, CE0, Publicis South Asia & Vice President of The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI).

Adgully (AG): How was the response this year? Your views.
Nakul Chopra (NC):
The response to Goafest this year has been overwhelming. We had a 25% increase in entries and delegates. We had to close delegate registration as we exceeded maximum capacity of 2000 to reach 2100. In addition we found the speaker sessions very well attended - and we noticed that for the award nights we had in fact run out of seats - we had people standing! The feedback we have got from the participants has been very positive - everyone enjoyed the stellar line up of speakers - complimented the entertainment and the award shows.

AG: Your thoughts on making the fest become bigger and better?
NC:
But of course.  The festival does become bigger and better each year and will continue to do so. This is the definitive festival of our industry - that fact was clearly on evidence last week in Goa. I can assure you it will remain so.

AG: Do you think opening up more categories for the Abby awards will increase participation from the industry?
NC:
We opened many new categories last year. For now we have a house full. But we remain open to the suggestions and feedback from our industry brethren. We will seek the opinion and decide for the future.

AG: Going forward do you intend to create more opportunities (media activities) for the fraternity?
NC:
For sure. This was indeed an overwhelming response year - and it only gives us heart to aim for much more next year and after.

AG: Although this year was a success do you think Goa as a destination has lost its sheen?
NC:
I am glad you think it was a success. Personally I think it was a stupendous success. No I don't believe Goa has lost its sheen at all. Indeed from the feedback I have Goa remains a huge plus for the festival. The draw will however have to be what happens in Goa - and as we showed you this year - we intend to make Goa rock each year for Goafest.

AG: In the years to come, what more do you think the industry can expect from the fest?
NC:
More - more and much more. Richer content - more people - bigger platforms - better shows and all that makes Goafest so special. Expect this festival to only become bigger and better. By Archit Ambekar | Twitter: @aambarchit

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