Stepping up the game in events organizing
OLDER people might frown upon party people saying there’s no future for them who are frequently partying and that it won’t do the person any good. But this notion was made irrelevant by Kat Dalisay when she founded Manic Nightnings Production in 2013. The name might sound familiar; this is because they are responsible for the production of huge events in the city including Carte Blanche, Arcadia, Kaondayawan, and the Weekend Night Market at the SM Lanang Premier which had been visited and patronized by thousands of Dabawenyos and those coming from other places.
Dalisay shared that when she came back to Davao in 2013 after being in Manila for three years, she realized how nothing much has changed with the party scene in Davao City. That was when she decided to produce an event to cater to a large number of people with the available resources and connection that she has.
“When you go to parties, it’s not always the stereotype of being ‘wild’. You get all your connections during parties because the people that go to parties and events are those who have networks or have companies. You meet them, you become friends with them. And after time, you will surely be able to use that clientele. I think I am really fortunate to have met a lot of friends in the whole Philippines that helped me,” Dalisay said.
In November 2013, she single-handedly organized the first Carte Blanche in Crocodile Park. The event was conducted through tapping of different people belonging in connected industries. The first Carte Blanche, which was participated by 10,033 people, was the first big dance and music festival to be conducted in the city.
“It was really very overwhelming. I realize Davao was just waiting for something new,” Dalisay said.
Just two months after that, they partnered with Seda Hotel for the 3D Mapping event. It was
then followed by different events in malls. Carte Blanche 2014 was attended by more people with 12,138 recorded head count. In 2015, she also organized the Sarangani Bay Festival.
Dalisay said she owed the success of her venture to the Dabawenyos who are very much open and are willing to spend to be entertained and to try out something new. What she deemed to be the biggest challenge in her chosen enterprise is how one is able to entice people and urge them to buy tickets for the events. But through the digital medium, such as sponsored posts in Facebook, she is able to reach about 400,000 to 800,000 people online.
March of this year, the Food Truck festival was launched in SM Lanang Premier. Although Dalisay said not a lot of tenants were using food trucks, she said after starting that event more and more food establishments had acquired food trucks for similar events that might be conducted in the future. About 83 tenants participated causing about 200,000 foot traffic.
On top of all of these big events that she has handled, Dalisay is being in close coordination with the city government especially for security such as with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Davao City Police Office (DCPO). She had been thankful that no bad thing concerning security had happened in the four years that she is handling huge events.
With several tenants participating in her food festivals, Manic Nightnings Productions, in a way helps them in their promotion as more and more people get to know these food establishments. JPA