Esther Oluku
At a black and white themed dinner which was held recently in Lagos, the founder of the BusyBee Events and convener of BusyBee Excellence Awards, Bisi Sotunde, in partnership with SOFITEL Cotonou Hotel and Spa, hosted the 9th edition of the BusyBee Excellence Awards, in recognition of deserving professionals in the event industry.
The gathering, which was an intimate convergence of leading practitioners in the event industry value chain, stood as a celebration of resilience, growth, and a toast to optimism on what the future holds. Sotunde, who spoke with journalists on the sidelines of the occasion, said this year’s awards represent a fulfillment of purpose for her.
“Look at the night! You have amazing people seated; you have awards being given out and people being celebrated,” she explained. “These are people of the community that we have coached, mentored, and supported. This night’s awards makes me very fulfilled because we have made an impact in the Nigerian event industry and in the international space at large.”
While the red carpet serenaded guests to classical music, sumptuous finger foods and amazing live performances, putting guests in a celebration mood, the event’s main hall was draped in black with lush white petals on the center pieces and decorative candles with soft gold lights holding the ambience in grandeur for the entire evening.
With voices rising and falling with each performance and award announced, amidst pomp and glee, the message was clear– that the industry sees the hard work that professionals put into their craft and is ready to reward it. Two awardees were rewarded with all expense paid trip.
The awards and gala night was a culmination of a two-day event, themed “Building Legacy Brands a Summit for Events SMEs”, which featured a Masterclass session, aimed to deepen regional collaboration between the Nigerian event industry and the hospitality industry of the Republic of Benin.
Sotunde equally called for stronger collaboration between the government and the private sector to further grow and expand Nigeria’s $20 billion event industry. “As an industry leader, we are very available to partner with the state as well as the federal government,” she declared.
“It is for the government to meet with industry leaders and associations. The government needs to create a platform for us to be on one page, discuss on how best to work on our industry policies, how best to help the SMEs, and how to make the industry better, and basically, it’s more about creating awareness.”
On his part, Director of Sales and Marketing SOFITEL Cotonou Hotel and Spa, Mr. Jean Yena, stated that the partnership is an opportunity to build a relationship with the Nigeria event business community as part of long term vision of connecting with regional and global corporates and events professionals.
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