Vividh Diversity Fair
Mumbai’s first job fair for candidates of all ages, abilities, genders and sexualities
Vividh, the city’s first job fair for the members of diverse communities including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community, was organized at Nehru Centre, Worli, on the 28th of July 2019 by the team in association with 6 Degrees, an LGBTQI growth network.
Just like all career fair, here the idea was to connect candidates of every gender, sexuality, age and ability with employers. Be it CV submissions, on-the-spot interviews and interactions between corporates and diversity candidates, we focused on this core proposition.
Vividh focused to create work environments that encourage inclusivity. Team Event Studio wore many hats during execution and worked relentlessly to make this unique event a massive success in a record time of 40 days from concept to completion.
Finding a neutral venue to house all activities under the same roof without disturbing and disrupting the other was the first challenge. The Nehru Center at Worli provided access to people with disabilities, had a vibrant and aesthetic appeal of inclusion.
The ground plan was robust with 20 plus participating corporates, non government organizations and 42 speakers for various activities through the day. Vividh was diverse spirit of Mumbai pulsating on social media with 5000+ shares during the campaign thanks to our partners News 18 and first post who ensured that our visibility was ace.
The on-ground fair involves three areas into which the venue was divided. The first part, Interface, where employers met with candidates conducted on the spot interviews. Among the recruiters are companies like IBM, Godrej Group, EY, Dr. Reddy’s, Barclays Bank and Standard Chartered. This was the most popular area of course with over 500 on the spot interviews.
The second area, Interact, had diverse entrepreneurs that offered wheelchair booking app, Personality and CV assessments in addition to food stalls.
The third phase, Intellect, is where the fair hosted panels, speakers and films. Amongst others Blew Minds, a business consultancy conducted sessions on entrepreneurs who overcame odds and set up successful businesses. Media and Entertainment professionals spoke of Biases in portrayal of such characters in films, TV and Popular culture. Women spoke of how difficult it is to be out at work as people of alternative sexuality and yet command respect as a leader due to unconscious biases.
Efficient mobility across three halls of Nehru Science Centre in Hall of Harmony was the key that led 150 + people with disability to turn up despite heavy rains for the show.
We received support from clients like Crossword Bookstores as gifting partners and despite our partnership with News 18 group, there were more than 30 publications in multiple languages that helped us gain traction without hiring any PR agency.
The biggest compliments received were from company representatives that attended sessions to learn about building inclusive corporate workforces and the well-being of diverse employees. Our panellists ranged from companies like Capgemini, Jio Saavn, Dainik Jagran, Midday and international recruitment experts like Shortlist professionals to cover the very wide horizon and macro vision.