Thursday, December 31, 2009

Mysore pak & Cheese Aapam




" Hurry up... else..we will miss the Bus"
Varun, a Raghu in making, yelled at me as i had steeped out to buy a water bottle & some snacks.
Where to ??? Namma Bengaluru...:)

Well the journey to Bengaluru as part of 2nd Phase of CWS had begun. To spice it up we were sitting right in the front seat of A luxury bus which would drop us at the destination 15 hours later.Cold breeze of uncertainity was washing the converged expectancy. The honky horns, dim shady head lights of vehicles, and many little chats were enough to keep our pulse ticking... it was long before we fell asleep.

" Wake up kid... Majestic is here"... He yelled 2nd time... Startled i looked at my watch.. 11pm. Mystic dusk was at its peak. We decided to show some mercy to our grumbling tummys and call it a day... Waow... Here i come.

Next day early in the morning, travelling through the slim paths, i took varun to my college and placed our luggage there. We had to set up the venue by 2 pm.... As my prev college was in festival mood, We had a lot to be happy about. Firstly...some coolant to eyes, fresh faces, loads of music and FOOD. :) Ha Ha... what a way to start the day.

4 pm: The event started with many students entering with puzzled looks. Guess they were wondering , why on this earth 2 handsome looking guys from SIBM, Pune were there to ENLIGHTEN them for the next 3 hours.. Hmm.. Price to fill SNAP form Baby... :P I am sure they attained "Self actualization" right on top of Mr Maslow..

Day 2...

I am already sweating.. where else can i be? Chennai....Filter coffee,Heart thumping music which i was lucky to pick some beats, white revolution in form of Dhoti's and Brilliant ciaos... Edging off the Loyola college wasn a difficult task. Thanks to Varun(fact that he is a unofficial Tambi...) my conversation was easy. Learnt to talk in terms of 1,5 and 10 rs ... :)

We had to run around to accommodate extra chairs as the enthusiasm of chennai crowd was never better. Crisis handling( expected to know in a B School).. was put to execution . We decided make 2 teams and explain them About CWS... "Hello Chennai....Good evening.. I am Sandeep.."

Standing by the super fast train, chugging its way through silver waterways, golden beaches and fresh Cheese Aapam...i looked around me. My heart was satisfied... traveling Thousands of km and conducting an event successfully, was amazing feeling...

" Tambi..... Coffee??????" asked a Coffee wala...

Sipping aromatic filter coffee, calm breeze tickling my face, the horizon faded in to violet calm evening.... turning crimson...

I will be back..

Sandeep B Hanchanale
MBA 1, Marketing A

Sunday, December 20, 2009

ART Exposed.....


Travelling 3 major cities over 2 weekends..... Phew... What a time. I already feel like a CEO :P

The event CWS received a tremendous response across 18 cities and saw more than 5000 aspirants attending it across India.

It feels great to stand in front of mirror and see the smiling "moustached" face( ya.. that's mine..).But as u shift the angle a little you see those calm faces who have been the pillars in planning this event prominently.
Surviving on classic lavale vada pao and tea(wonder if i can vouch for it... ) we endured the long chilly nights in the team room. The ghosts of the last year's hiccups and some last minutes goof ups always kept up pushing for the ultimatum. I wonder how many times i had to look all that check list before coming to the final one after umpteen spoof reads.

A typical team day would begin with me or Anna starting the day. As the sun shone brighter, Preeti and Adwitee would come. The fact that they are ladies(our team lead is also a lady ), we were slaughtered many times for NOT KEEPING THE TEAM ROOM CLEAN...whew... That's the flipside. Thanks to them it was clean..( most of the time). As our classes used to begin, Lolly and Bakli used to take charge. By the end of the day after all the entertainment (supposedly) we had in our respective classes, the actual day began for us. Planning for a big event like this takes a lot you...what i sacrificed?? Well... My Girlfriend('s/s') calls, evening snacks( complimented by Parle biscuits), patience(.. i assumed i had a lot of it before :)) and social networking:P. How can i not mention my beloved senior team??? We are what we are because of them... Thanks :).

When i sit back in those armed chairs, watching the gold draped curtains across the team room, and sun slowly peeping out of the misty clouds trying to get the last glimpse of Lavale.... i am happy... a lot :)

Thanks team :)

Sandeep B Hanchanale
MBA 1, Marketing

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Coffee with SIBM 2009 - Memories for Life!!!

2 weekends of action...

More than 2 months of intense back end planning...

18 Cities...

5500 plus aspirants...

Memories for life...

There was discussion, there was ambition and there was.... Coffee with SIBM....

The event was the biggest event I have ever handled in my entire life. Big in terms of the objective of the event, big in terms of the magnitude of expected turnout. Big in terms of the budget involved and big in terms of the details in planning.

I would rather call CWS as a project rather than just an event, because it in essence had all the ingredients of a project. It involved conceiving the ideas, planning various aspects, designing the entire process, working out to the minutest details and over all, the actual execution and implementation of the project.

It all started in mid October when 6 members of the Junior Aspirant Relations Team met one evening to chalk out the strategies for the same. Planning needed to be solid and strong in each and every aspect to ensure that we did not falter anywhere. 6 people with diverse backgrounds, varied talents, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, each a genius in his or her own way, joined hands together for this and made it possible.

It is impossible to forget the numerous late nights spent in the team room for discussing strategies, evaluating alternatives and options, freezing on one or two final options and sometimes going half the distance only to realize that we are walking in the wrong direction. There have loads of moments of fun and equally good number of tense moments. There have been as many moments of madness as those of seriousness. There have been moments when the decibel levels due to celebrations of each minor milestone in the project reached the sky. On the other extreme, there have also been moments when the silence has paralleled that of a graveyard.

Planning and designing the process was the most important aspect that decided the success of the entire CWS. Drilling down to the minutest details was the necessity and all of us managed to do that quite efficiently. Our team dynamics were especially tested rigorously, when each of us handling different aspects of the event had to sit and work with the others to ensure that there was enough smoothness in the process. Most of the aspects in CWS required a lot of co-ordination between the different people. The one handling logistics needed to work closely with the one handling publicity. The one responsible for finances was required to be in great sync with the one who was actually spending. In order to ensure that there was no clash of anything, we met every day and discussed the progress. Above all, we had a wonderful Senior team, which at each and every step, critically evaluated our plans and gave us the necessary feedback. This was an icing on the cake, because getting inputs from the people who have already been there and done that, actually gave us a readymade platform to work on.

There were instances where we have had to change or drastically modify our plans for some reasons beyond our control. There were instances where we saw some danger on the actual occurrence of the event. But what was important was that we were quick to realize the impending trouble and flexible enough to change our plans. Changing one aspect of the plan automatically meant that a lot of other aspects that were related to the same also needed to be changed. But then, we managed to pull it all off.

The small ego clashes, the big fights. The great arguments and the humble confessions. The moments of lending a helping hand to others, the pranks in and outside the team room. The memories of these two months will remain etched in my hearts for the rest of my life.

There have been glitches in the event in spite of the meticulous planning. Most of these have been because of our over reliance on people and parties outside the team. But this taught us the importance of follow ups and continuously monitoring the situations. There have been hiccups in the event, but that taught us the importance of having an equally solid Plan B in place. There have been times when things were going exactly the opposite way we had expected them to, but perseverance and patience showed us the way out.

Having done all the ground work, it was important to execute the entire plan effectively. What was important here was to have the right people at the right place doing the right things. With the amount of constraints we had on the time, the resources & the manpower and keeping the objective of CWS in mind, it was imperative that we leave no stone unturned. We gave our best shots at publicity using multiple channels for publicizing the event. We tried our best to have the right people accompanying us. We all travelled that extra distance and took that extra effort, because we all realized that after taking the responsibility of an event of this magnitude, we could not afford to fail. Having taken all the pains so far, it was all the more important to make sure that the event did not fail just because we did not bother putting that additional bit of an effort.

The real action, which took place over two weekends, actually was a test of the entire planning and execution process. I am glad to say that we did a great job. I personally felt that we exceeded our own expectations. We did a wonderful job with whatever we had at our disposal. With the support of loads of friends and wishes of batch mates, CWS 2009 was a phenomenal success. We managed to visit 18 cities, a never before achievement. We managed to contact 5500 odd aspirants, a first timer again. CWS had never got this big!

On a closing note as I said earlier, all these would never have been possible without the continuous support given to us. The main players behind this are the Senior team members and also the faculty and admin. We were entrusted with responsibility and were given total freedom in making decisions. And with this type of an exposure, we all enjoyed working together.

At the end of it all, when graffiti sheets carry your names, when lots of unknown people add you on Facebook and Orkut, when you exceed your own benchmarks and when people look up to you as someone really great, there is reason to cheer. The sense of gratification is simply so fulfilling.
Nitin Prabhu
MBA I - Operations

Thursday, December 17, 2009

'Coffee with SIBM' - 2009


The Aspirant Relations Team wishes to announce the successful completion of 'Coffee with SIBM' - 2009. The event was conducted across 18 cities all over India and saw the participation of more than 5500 aspirants.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

CWS: Kochi


Nestled amidst land of backwaters and huge coconut trees, we landed in kochi on 4Th December. I was accompanied by Ashwini, my classmate. CWS first leg had commenced. My friends, like me, had left for different places across India to city, to conduct this event on 5th and 6Th December.
The venue was right in the heart of city. MG Road. This was the first time CWS was being conducted in Kochi at Hotel Yuvarani Residency.The event started on time at 4 pm.The ongoing flurry of MBA entrance exams did not dampen the spirits and we saw the aspirants turning out in huge numbers attending this event. The interaction went on for more than 2 hours and many queries came out. But we ensured that all the questions were answered. We were graced to have many parents accompanying their children to the event.
The first phase of CWS is over and it was a huge success.
Eagerly waiting for Phase 2 :)
Cheers.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Delhi, Jaipur and Pune....

2008 was the year when Coffee With SIBM reached out to the MBA aspirants community on a much larger scale.. 15 cities and an audience of 6000+..These numbers speak for themselves..However, they do not convey the tremendous satisfaction that came along with it for both the sides, the aspirants as well as the MBA students of present..

Delhi, Jaipur and Pune are some examples that come to mind instantly..

Organizing the event in the Delhi university area was a great experience as the energy of the lively college crowds was quite infectious and it caught on to us as well! The quantity and quality of questions raised was quite heartening and encouraging..

The pink city was indeed very receptive and lived up to its ‘Padharo Mhare Desh’ tradition! The turnout was much more than anticipated and the enthusiasm was to be seen to be believed..The mock test also turned out to be a huge winner among the aspirants and helped them evaluate themselves better..

Pune was more like a team performing on its home ground! But here too we were in for a pleasant surprise! The turnout turned out to be more than thrice the numbers expected..However, to deal with this situation, we quickly regrouped in small groups of 15-20 each and ensured that every query was answered fully and satisfactorily..

Here’s hoping for more and more such experiences as we reach out to even more cities in 2009..Hope to see you there!

Vivek Nair

MBA II, HR


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Memoirs : CWS 2008

'Coffee with SIBM' has been a legacy event started by the ASR (Admissions and Student Relations) Team sometime in 2007. What started with a list of 10-11 cities has expanded to 17 cities and 19 venues in 2009.The Aspirant Relations Team (erstwhile Admissions Team.. erstwhile ASR) is a unique part of the Student Council at SIBM Pune. Our major task is to reach out to more and more aspirants and enhance the Brand 'SIBM Pune' to a status that it truly deserves.
SIBM Pune estd. in 1978 has a 31 year old heritage and numerous alumni to stand and swear by it.

CWS was launched with a single motive of helping aspirants with their preparation for SNAP and
sharing some gyaan about SIBM Pune and why its an enviable choice to opt for in the current scenario.

CWS 2008 covered 15 cities and 16 venues in all. We persevered and came on tops despite the Mumbai attacks (26/11). The Mumbai event was planned on 29/11/2008, We made sure that our Mumbai event was postponed and all our team members travelling via Mumbai were sent to their destinations directly from Pune itself. The event was held across the country and the turnout was overwhelming. Overall some 6000 aspirants joined us for CWS taking the count to an avg of around 400 per city. This was a record turnout and we vowed to come up with an improved and more exciting event the following year.

CWS 2009 is covering all those cities and a few more which we had not touched till now. And there's more.. its gonna be way more exciting with on the spot quizzes, prizes, SNAP eye openers, et al.
We have strategically timed the event just before SNAP (20th Dec 2009) so that aspirants can reap the maximum benefit out of these events.
Go ahead guys n gals!! extract as much as you can from the team members who are gonna be there in all these cities.
Please keep visiting our website www.sibm.edu and www.sibmpune.edu.in/iaspire for all the lates updates on CWS 2009.
We will keep you all posted thru this blog too.

I am leaving you all with a few pics of the event last year

Shobhan Dash
MBA II, Finance

Coffee With SIBM - an initiative by Aspirant Relations Team, SIBM Pune


On menu is a rendezvous with the students of SIBM in a unique one on one interaction to prepare you for the challenges ahead.
On menu is " Coffee With SIBM"
@

City

Date

Time

Venue

Jaipur

5th December 2009

2 to 4 pm

Pink City Press Club, 54 Narayan Singh Circle

Kochi

5th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Hotel Yuvarani Residency, MG Road

Kolkata

5th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

St. Xavier’s College, 30 Park Street

Lucknow

5th December 2009

3 to 6 pm

Colvin Taluqdars’ College, University Road, Nishatganj

Ahmedabad

6th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Gajjar Hall, Ellis Bridge, Law Garden

Bhopal

6th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Sindhu Bhawan, Board Office, MP Nagar

Bhubaneswar

6th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

DAV Public School, Unit 8

Kanpur

6th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

DAV College Civil Lines




City

Date

Time

Venue

Bengaluru

12th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Senate Hall, Central College Campus, Dr. Ambedkar Vedhi, KR Circle

Delhi

12th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

United Services Institution of India, Rao Tula Ram Marg, Opposite Signals Enclave

Delhi

12th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Kingfisher Training Academy, 2nd Floor, 92 Mall Road, Kingsway Camp

Mumbai

12th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Kingfisher Training Academy, Time Square, WE Highway, Andheri(E)

Nagpur

12th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Kingfisher Training Academy, Plot No. 3, Corporation Colony, Near LAD College

Chandigarh

13th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Kingfisher Training Academy, SCO 337, 338 Sector 34

Chennai

13th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Loyola College, Sterling Road, Nungambakkam

Hyderabad

13th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

St. Mary’s College, Yousufguda

Indore

13th December 2009

4 to 7 pm

Kingfisher Training Academy, Orbit Mall, AB Road, Opposite Uttam Bhog Restaurant