by Surabhi Rao | Jul 11, 2016 | Blog, event management, Events, Marketing, Technology
College fests are a memorable part of our lives where extravagant decorations, sizzling celebrities/ stars and most importantly many, fun-driven events add to the flavor. Most colleges stick to a similar list of events thereby making the fest quite monotonous and stereotypical.
While some colleges make an attempt to introduce something new or modify an existing event, it may or may not turn out to be successful. A successful college event means a significant number of participants, a majority of good reviews, an excellent venue, a great judge/ moderator, etc., mostly with or maybe without handsome cash awards for the winner.
Beyond these factors, success for a college fest can be defined by the quality and the innovative aspect of the events. While event organizers, social secretaries, faculty members, etc., are on the lookout for creative ideas for new events, here are some super cool fest ideas that you can conduct in your upcoming college fest as an organizer.
Turn Coat (Block and Tackle)
A participant is given any random topic and instantly has to speak, “for or against” the topic. In a duration of 5 minutes whenever the judge commands ‘switch’, the speaker will have to toggle between ‘for’ and ‘against’ multiple times thereby contradicting the previous statements. Loaded with instantaneous humor, the speaker is evaluated by spontaneity, humor, content and of course audience response.
Shipwreck
You are given the role of Superman/ Justin Bieber/ Narendra Modi etc. The ship is sinking, and the Captain has only one Life-Jacket left. You are on the ship with other famous celebrities/ fictional characters/ hypothetical characters. Sink into the given character and try to escape from the sinking ship by using your impressive, convincing skills and prove that you deserve the only Life-jacket. Make yourself appear prominent and better than any other person/ thing on board to win the Life jacket and eventually win the event. The participants are judged on content, humor, cogent arguments, valid points and audience response.
JAM (Just A Minute)
This is group/team game. Around 6-8 speakers (participants) sit in a semi-circle and discuss a topic. The mic is handed over to one of the speakers and an incredibly humorous topic, usually, a pun is given. While the speaker tries to spin a story or only create a sentence around the given topic, he is restricted by several rules which can be classified into the three classic rules of the erstwhile JAM sessions, namely,
Meanwhile, the other participants raise objections in case the current speaker breaks these rules and correct objections fetch positive points. However, wrong objections can award negatives.
Bound by the rubrics of JAM, the speaker gains points for every second he speaks and this entire process is controlled adequately by a moderator, also known as MOD and the final or any decision at any moment is dependent upon the moderator. While the procedure sounds too prolix, the event is actually fun to participate and is more fun to watch since the general topics can be taken for a ride depending on the speakers’ creativity, imagination, and rhetoric.
Mock Interview
A mock interview is an ideal event for those preparing for the placement process including preliminary examinations, group discussions, and HR interviews. An initial round of aptitude test may contain logical reasoning, aptitude/ math, and verbal questions, etc. The second round comprises a group of students trying to voice out their opinion to a problem statement given to them popularly known as Group Discussion (GD). Sometimes the topics for discussion can be as abstract as ‘Pink’ while students try to portray their creativity in their content. The final HR interview is similar to any final interview process that ultimately tests the soft skills of the applicant and general knowledge.
Market Mayhem
This event helps discover the marketer in you. Participants either in teams or as individuals are given some used/ refurbished/ recyclable products using which they can create an entirely different product thereby tapping the potential in the innovators. These final products have to be sold to students, teachers or anyone within the university campus. The winners of the event are decided based upon the extent of creativity imparted in the making of the product, quality of the marketing strategy used, the number of items sold and finally, the amount of money that each team made. Market Mayhem will definitely test whether you are ingenious enough to overcome the various impediments that marketers and innovators brook around the globe.
ADZAP
Bored of the commercials that you see on TV? Do you believe that the ads can be made better? Here’s an amazing platform where you as a group will be able to display your ad creating talent. This spectacular event persuades the students to instantaneously decide on a skit that would depict an ad for any product that is given to them. The ad can be in the form of role play which may or may not requires the students to use props, and the ad is supposed to be enacted for about 5 minutes. As ordinary people, we like to see short but witty ads that convey the point. This is exactly the judging criteria for this event that also includes the level of co-ordination while acting in a group.
Channel Surfing
Do you feel that you are capricious while you watch the television? Do you keep switching between various channels? For a change, imagine you to be the acting in all the channels and assume that someone is switching between the channels. Channel surfing requires you as an individual or as a group to either imitate various channels or come up with something humorous to represent a particular channel. Meanwhile, the judge will keep shifting between channels after every few minutes or seconds.
For example, a judge can switch between HBO, Discovery Channel and MTV within a minute and the student(s) have to imitate any remarkable shows of those channels. Students are judged on spontaneity, content, humor, audience response and coordination (if in a group). To add flavor to this process, sometimes the judge can rewind or fast forward a particular channel thereby forcing the participants to adapt to such changes instantaneously and hilariously.
App God
Here is a platform where some real time innovators can enjoy. App God does not require app development or coding skills. All that is needed is an idea using which the participant can build up mock screens depicting the User Interface. He also gives a presentation where he describes the functionality of the app and the main idea or result that he wants to achieve. During the presentation he can also propose a business model/ plan which can show the estimated investment, expected profit probably break-even point, etc.
LikeYou
In an attempt to motivate students to understand and experience Digital Marketing, ‘Like You’ persuades students to form teams and create a Facebook Page for a particular product and they go about doing marketing the page in a span of two days. Within these two days, they are supposed to get the maximum amount of likes for the page, inbound activities; page visits, etc., thereby comprehensively understanding the marketing analytics of a particular social media. The social media used need not be necessarily Facebook but requires only a single platform for the sake of evaluation of the teams.
Case Study
Case studies of real or hypothetical businesses are handed over to the students. They are given sufficient time to understand and analyze the case study and come up with feasible solutions to the problems or provide an alternative path that could have shown better results for the business. This event primarily focuses on the ability to analyze a case and think out of the box for a solution. The Case Study event can construe the future Business Analysts of various esteemed organizations.
These are few of the infinite event ideas that could make your college fest a paragon. As an event planner, if you come up with an idea it may seem really amorphous in the initial stages, however when you jot down the plan and attempt to implement it, you will be able to realize that your initial plan has found its shape. Make your college events the most memorable and enjoyable part of your college life!
by Ashwin | Mar 14, 2016 | event management, Events, News
The ethereal World Cultural Festival organized by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living (AOL) witnessed around 37,000 artists, more than 3 million audiences and above all, the occasion was graced by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi who had expressed abundant adulation for the ideals and values that the event promoted. An event of great magnitude absolutely dedicated to Spirituality, Cultural Integration and promotion of Arts is subjected to criticism and controversy.
What was the issue with the World Cultural Event?
The World Cultural Festival was held on a plot that covered an area more than 1000 acres on the banks of the Yamuna River. A Delhi based Environmentalist Manoj Misra, had filed a petition in the court elaborating the potential ecological damage that the event could contribute to the already contaminated river. The environmentalist threw allegations at the organizers of the event stating that a large area of natural vegetation was being uprooted and cleared so as to build a 1000 foot stage and several other structures to accommodate audiences. Though the three-day event was allowed to be conducted, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) charged a lump sum fine of INR5 crores to be paid before the conduction of the event and demanded restoration of the plains of Yamuna.
Who were responsible for the issue?
Though the organizers deny the allegations and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar exclaimed in television news channels that “not a single tree had been cut down” the black mark falls on the event organizers and their delinquency in abiding by the legal and environmental requirements.
How can issues like these be avoided?
- Prior planning and thorough checking of all the legal documents that are required to be signed or followed plays a critical role in order to shun problems.
- Approaching a legal advisor is highly recommended before conducting an event on a large scale.
- All event organizers are expected to hold up to date and adequate Public Liability Insurance for their event. Event organizers must also make sure that any equipment hired is also insured against loss or damage.
- Some events that would have more than 500 audience would require a Premise License. If it is lesser than 500 people and does not go beyond 96 hours it would need a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).
- A Risk Management Team must be deployed for your large scale event. A comprehensive risk assessment is mandatory for ensuring the safety of the stakeholders of the event and this must be performed well before the conduction of the event.
Moral of the Story for Event Organizers
An event organizer may be defined as a legal entity who is responsible for the event; the entity who has taken public liability insurance for the event. Usually, this would be the leaders of the organization conducting the event. Legal liability and responsibilities are central to the conduction of an event and it is the duty of the organizers to ensure that the documents submitted is commensurate with the legal, ethical and environmental requirements. A smart organizer would seek legal assistance so that he doesn’t miss out on anything important and would proof read all the legal documents.
by Ashwin | Feb 29, 2016 | Events, Mobile Apps, News, United States
The United States presidential election of 2016, scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2016, marks the 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. With several sources depicting the polls for possible match ups, renowned candidates like Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton etc., from the Democrat and Donald Trump, Rafael Ted Cruz from the Republican seem to be dominating and receiving raving reviews from media. The fact that election campaigns pave the cardinal path to victory, each campaign has the need to be organized in the most efficient and secured manner.
Who is a campaign manager?
A campaign manager is a volunteer or a paid individual, whose primary task is to coordinate the operations pertaining to the campaigns such as polling,fundraising, advertising, taking the vote to the public and other pertinent activities to bolster support. Apart from the presidential candidate, the managers are often the campaign’s most conspicuous leaders.
Especially for enormous, well-funded campaigns, campaign managers often handle a great number of staffs and volunteers from various departments, while also coordinating closely with the candidate.In the United States, campaign management has been a specialty occupation and is preferred by many for a career.
These are the campaign managers of the leading election candidates:
- Robby Mook (Hilary Clinton)
- Corey Lewandowski (Donald Trump)
- Jeff Weaver (Bernie Sanders)
- Jeff Roe (Ted Cruz)
- Terry Sullivan (Marco Rubio)
- Ben Carson (Barry Bennett)
Why campaign managers are central to election results?
It requires the synchronized effort of all the staffs to run a successful campaign for office. The staff is headed by the campaign manager who oversees personnel, allocates expenditures, and develops strategies. A campaign manager has a number of herculeantasks. He has to deal with the candidate, who quite often knows less than the staff about the technical aspects of running campaigns, but still likes to dominate staff and consultant decisions. On the other hand, campaign managers have to deal with the campaign staff who are usually underpaid and overworked in the highly pressurized environment of a political campaign. He has to be a politician himself apart from the election candidate, so as to experience and fulfill the requirements of the campaign.
The most interesting fact about the way campaign managers go about with conducting the campaign is that they mostly run the campaign like a business. The best campaigns are run like efficient corporations. They plan on the budget, return on investment (ROI) etc., with utmost efficacy. They are literally a political entrepreneur; they can create a big vision for a campaign, delineate a plan to achieve that vision, and then manage the implementation of that plan which leads to the vision.
The date of the election results is not too far and expectations are in the rise. So the million dollar questions are: Who will be replacing the incumbent president, Barack Obama? Will the diligent efforts from the campaign managers construe success for their respective candidates?
by Ashwin | Feb 19, 2016 | Blog, Events, News
A cloud of enigma still persists as one tries to figure out what really caused the massive fire during a cultural programme at a ‘Make in India’ event in Mumbai on 14th of February. Some sources assert that warnings regarding such an imminent conflagration were issued by the fire department, raising stringent questions on the delinquencies of Event Organizers. Sources say that the Fire Department had cautioned against the use of fireworks near the podium, but failing to adhere to those warnings, pyrotechnics and smoke machines were utilized on the stage which could have probably caused the fire.
Who’s at fault?
Though some measures were taken to do use the fire post the accident and no casualties were reported, such an ill incident creates a negative reputation to the event organizers and breaks the trust of the stakeholders. Any issue that pops up at an event, by default, the organizer is culpable. The Right to Information (RTI) activist Anil Galgali has alleged that safety was compromised during the Make in India Week event. “I think the fire erupted because the organizers were in different to the warnings” he said. Such public denunciations, denigrates an organizer’s esteem.
Risk Management for Organizers
What can be categorized as risks for an event?
Any issue that is created either before or during or after the event that has a potential to create danger to the audience of the event or stakeholders or the organizer himself can be categorized as a risk for an event.
What are some possible risks of organizing an event?
- Clash of event dates with other big events
- High budget event but loss incurred
- Run out of resources during an event
- Environmental factors such as inclement weather conditions, disturbance caused to or by surrounding communities etc.
- Traffic congestion and parking issues
- Loss or damage to properties by human intervention, theft and audience misbehavior
- Legal risks such as fundraising regulations, landholders’ approval and other permits.
- Food Hygiene and Quality
- Events that may arouse public sentiment or dispute on the basis of religion ,caste, creed or race
- And FIRE!(risk to life)
Precautionary Measures
The rudimentary step in planning any event must include a feasibility survey. This feasibility test would create a comprehensive overview to identify and assess the advantages and risks of an event. It also finds a tentative solution to all the possible risks while staging an event.
This survey would include catering to issues such as:
- Lack of time to organize an event: Rome was not built in a day; similarly a successful event cannot be planned and executed overnight. Time constraint is taken into account in this survey and the event is given ample time for preparation and meticulous planning.
- Preparation of Budget: No organizer would like to squander money and resources. A crisp budget that entails only the essentials for a good event would enable the organizer to shun risks of a loss.
- Quality of Food Served: Hygiene and food quality comes becomes one of the primary concerns of any organizer and the need for a trusted food catering service becomes a must.
- Legal Rubrics: Even before planning an event, one must ensure that the event is conducted by abiding the law. Legal delinquencies will lead to permanent damage to an organizer’s career. The survey involves the process of listing down all the possible legal requirements for staging the event, at the very beginning, so that the game can be played without breaching the rules.
- Safety to Life: Easily and readily accessible fire exits, ample fire extinguishers etc., are mandatory and mostly fall under the legal requirements to set up a big event. An incident management team (IMT) for large events is strongly recommended. The team must include a person trained in first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at a minimum. Some events could require a full medical staff. There is also a need to establish adequate number staffs to regulate the audience and attend personal or specific issues in detail for large events.
Practically and mathematically, the chance that ‘something could go wrong’ is greater than the probability that ‘everything goes right’. So having contingencies and safety measures in hand is critical for any event. The way the organizing committee responds to a crisis will be remembered better than the crisis itself. The time spent by the organizers in risk management would definitely lead to a successful and safe event with positive feedbacks.
