Confluence 2006

This was long overdue but I guess I was just too lazy…..Now that am back home for our 2nd term-end break, there’s lots of catching up to do !!!

Confluence is the annual international B-School summit of IIM-A. I had heard it’s a huge scale event but it was only when we actually started preparing for the event and during those actual 3 days that I realized its true magnitude. The event is managed by a number of teams, each consisting of a mixture of tuchchas and fachchas. The fachchas were recruited into the team in the first term itself, even when the event was to take place in the last week of November. I was in the domestic team and thus our work had started much before the actual event got underway. My team was responsible for sending invitations to all the colleges and then actually taking care of their stay and queries once they were on campus.

November was truly hectic in some sense. First, it was our mid term exams. Once they got over, after 3 days the placements started and once they got over, after another 4-5 days Confluence started. A domestic registration desk had been set up at LKP and it was the nerve centre of all the activities taking place during the 3 days of the summit. Right from checking-in the teams who got on campus to the announcements of results to the distribution of freebies, it was a one stop shop for all information. And hence it was essential that most of the domestic team members remain in the stall for as long as possible. And that’s what precisely happened with me. For all the three days, I used to be at the desk nearly the entire time and once they day was over, we all used to sit and do the wrapping up of data and get the desk ready for the next day. So basically u can say that there was hardly any sleep for those 3 days. Get up early, come to the desk, be there or do other conflu related work the entire day, get back to the room at abt 12-1, crash on the bed and the next day the entire cycle repeats J

But you know what, those three days were damn good fun despite all the work. Though I did not get to attend any of the seminars/lectures/workshops/competitions (and some of them I really wanted to), I really didn’t have much regrets. Coz the whole experience of being at the desk and managing the thousands of queries of teams and participants and guests was something special indeed. The entire domestic team bonded very well and we all had become very good friends, despite the fact that we were from different sections and had hardly known each other before we got together as a team. That’s the beauty of this place. Even though your daily interaction is limited to people from your section or your dorms, since you are a part of different teams/clubs, you get to know so many people and make friends with them.

Yes there were stressful times as well. You always don’t have all the information with you and when so many people ask u consistently for that information, things get a bit uncomfortable. You have to ensure that u remain ur calm throughout and that the guests leave the place with a good impression of the entire event. Multitasking was at its peak, with so much information about small details entrenched in ur memory throughout. But all that was not only a challenge, but also good fun. I made so many new friends from so many other colleges. You talk to them, get to know how things go about in their colleges, learn from their experiences, get their feedback on the event and then ya, I will be honest, it sure does feel nice when u hear them praise the institute and the professionalism with which the entire summit has been handled.

And actually when I sit and look back, yeah, they were right. It was a huge event with nearly a thousand participants I guess, not to mention people who just came to attend seminars and to get a general feel of a B-School festival. And it did in the end go pretty well I guess. No major goof ups, things were smooth in general and almost all the teams I interacted with were appreciative of the way the event progressed. Hats off to our tuchchas led by Arjun Balan, the confluence coordinator, who all worked day and night for so long to pull off an event of this huge scale successfully.

There were lots of eminent personalities who delivered lectures. All the details of the event are available on the website and hence I won’t go into those details here. And once the summit officially got over after the quiz contest, which was the last event, the celebrations began. Starting with the Confluence Tempo shout at the auditorium to the Ramp party organized for absolutely everyone on campus, it was a night of fun for most of the people. The dance party saw mostly the participating teams letting their hair loose and enjoying themselves thoroughly along with the confluence team members, who finally could smile after pulling off a successful event. Yes, there were not many fachchas/tuchchas who were present, but I guess that had to do with the tiredness that had engulfed everyone after 3 hectic days of buzzing activities.

All in all, a truly amazing experience. My first ever of such a kind. To be a part of Asia’s largest B-School summit and to get a first hand experience of being in the thick of action was fun and learning going hand in hand. After Sangharsh and placements, this was the the third thing that made this term a truly unique one. This place never ceases to keep u on ur toes and give u experiences of a lifetime. WIMWI Rocks !!!

And now being in the Admin team of Chaos, our cultural festival in jan last week, I can already feel an encore of a different kind J

Trsyt With Alyque Padamsee

"Buland Bharat ki Buland Tasveer........Hamara Bajaj" !!

Does the jingle ring a bell somewhere ?? It would be tough to find someone who woudnt have lived his years without listening to this evergreen tagline and the familiar music that goes with it.

Though I am supposed to write about Confluence, it would come a bit later as I couldnt help penning down todays experience lest it fades away in my meory !

We students had the opportunity to listen and interect with the ad guru of India, who not only was the mastermind of the above but has created such powerful advertisements and taglines that have etched in the memory of millions across the country for years together !!

Alyque Padamsee was here today to share his mind and enrich us with his insights !!!

For the uninitiated, this is the man who has created some of the most enduring, catchy and everlasting advertisements Indian television has ever witnessed. No wonder he is knows as the advertisement guru of the country.

He explained the circumstances and creatives that went into coming up with these ads. He dissected the ads and we soon realized their relevance as well as the huge role they played in building brands. Brands, that have become household name, Brands that have at times become more powerful than the product itself and Brands that often thrive on the wonderfully briiliant marketing (advertising included) that bring life into them.

Hamara Bajaj, the Liril Girl, K-S and the more recent Fair and Handsome are some of his creations that redefined the way these products were perceived in the market and revolutionized the product as well as the market. He showed us clips of all these ads (trust me, it felt so wonderful to see the old and original bajaj and liril ads) and explained to us he dynamics and behind the scene creativity that went into making these ads the success they were.

He has a good sense of humour and that kept all of us in splits more often than not. His anecdotes from the tremendous experience he has in the advertising world, his expereinces at Lintas, his advertising agency were all too enriching for young budding marketers.

He did explain to us some of the basics of brand advertising, with a complete understanding of what an IDEA is and how it has the power to change the world. However simple it may sound, it proves to be the most tough thing when it comes to creating a unique ad that touches the customer.

I am not really interested in marketing, but the session was an experience in itself. After the lecture was over, he handed out few autographed books which got over in no time with the plethora of students making a beeline for them. The auditorium was filled with news reporters and photographers whi by now must have become so familiar with each nook and corner of IIMA.

I felt elated not only by learning I derived, but also by the fact that I had never dreamt that I would ever get a chance to see and listen face to face to big names and personalities and IIMA is offering me all these opportunites that make this place what it is ! Harsha Bhogale, Laloo, Nitish Kumar, Ajay Piramal, Naina Lal Kidwai, Sudha Murty...and all this is just the begining. With Chaos coming up soon, I can only see this list increasing further.

Sitaram Yechury, the CPM leader will deliver a lecture tomorrow at the RJM for all of us. It would be interesting to hear the left stand from the original source itself. I feel its going to be a chraged up atmosphere.

Whatever learning u get is completely upto you. But one thing is sure. It indeed does feel priveleged to have the opportunity to listen personally to big guns across various fields sharing their insights and intellects with us !!

WIMWI rocks indeed !!

Oh and yeah, if you think life is all fun here, think again. Today was the fourth consecutive quiz on the trot this week, discounting other stuff like presentatins, assignments, poster makings etc thst r regular supplements !!
And quizzes that.....well.....the lesser I talk abt them, the lesser pain they will cause me :)

Some things in WIMWI will never change !!! Ha ha ha…