CWS Hyderabad - A success against all odds!

I landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad in the wee hours of 13^th December 2009. I was in Hyderabad after 8 long months, this time to conduct Coffee with SIBM. Ever since I had quit working and packed from Hyderabad, I had this soft corner for Hyderabad in my heart. I closely used to follow the happenings in Hyderabad every day. So when Hyderabad was selected as a venue for CWS, I literally ensured that I got the whole pie and nobody even dared come close to it.

As I took the all familiar and most convenient mode of transport into the city, the Volvo, I observed that lots of things have changed in the last 8 months. The city looked a lot cleaner and roads looked a lot wider. I observed a lot of changes in the intersections, the traffic and the buildings. Change was staring straight into my eyes in whatever I chose to see.

Ever since I had selected Hyderabad as one of the venues for conducting CWS, I had taken loads of initiatives to ensure that CWS Hyderabad was a huge success. I ensured that we rented the best auditorium in the best place within our budgetary limits. Within our team, I wanted Hyderabad to come out with the best outcome in CWS. Having worked in Hyderabad for 3 years, I had struck a chord with the city which made me all the more focused towards the goal. Overall, I had left no stone unturned for this event. I made sure that the publicity was done properly for the event. I had even asked my friend Shreyas to be in Hyderabad, a day before the event to sense the pulse at the venue.

Hyderabad, had just then, been released from the tight vices of what had threatened to be a dangerous agitation for Telangana. At times, we at Pune who were closely monitoring the situation had thought to cancel the event at the last minute. Different people from different sources in Hyderabad gave me starkly conflicting opinions. The situation was oscillating from good to bad to worse and to good again like a pendulum. And this was not helping at all. There have been times when my mood has also swung like the same pendulum!

And finally when we had decided that the event would happen, I made sure to travel that extra mile to ensure that all the efforts put in so far, will not go waste from now on. We sent mails and SMSs to the participants to ensure that awareness is created about the event in the city.

And when the day arrived, we reached the venue well in advance. I had asked a couple of my friends there to accompany me so that they could be of some help. I was in for a big shock of my life when I saw people turning at the venue a good one hour before the scheduled time. We made some basic checks in the auditorium, fixed all the connections and started letting the people in. The auditorium was full even before the scheduled time. We arranged for some additional chairs to be placed in the auditorium and these were filled in no time. And to rub salt on our wounds, the length of the queue outside was only increasing.

We were suddenly into fire fighting mode. With the turnout only on the rise, we were left with no option but to have two sessions now. I asked my friends to control the crowd. We got some classrooms nearby opened and asked the people to sit in those classrooms. We explained them the situation, and luckily they all understood. I was expecting brickbat showers when I went down to take them into confidence, but it all happened the other way. There were people who were willing to stand and watch the entire proceedings. In the meanwhile, Shreyas had already started the proceedings inside. I was shuttling between the auditorium and the classrooms to make sure that things were under control. Arrangements for coffee had to be made for the incremental number. The merchandise that we had carried from here was definitely going to run out of stock soon. We had to judiciously use them. Some people started to walk out in between. We did not do any attempt to stop them as we would have done in a normal situation. We avoided unnecessary questions and unwanted interactions were simply snipped off. We ran through the session fast, so that the people waiting outside did not get too restless. One session got over and we started with the second. The auditorium was as filled in the second sitting as it was in the first. At the end of the whole event which ran for more than four and a half hours, when I gave the last CD in my hand to the last person in the auditorium, I was one relieved person.

CWS Hyderabad was definitely one big effort. The intricacies involved and the complications that we ran through the process are enough proof for me to be personally satisfied with the outcome of the event. I would not hesitate to call CWS Hyderabad as one of the best phases of CWS 2009. Even in the wildest of my imaginations I had not expected such a huge turnover. That, a similar event supposed to be held the previous week was cancelled, also helped our cause to some extent. It also looks like the tension in Hyderabad had stopped only for the couple of days preceding and succeeding the event. It was like everything in and around us helping us make the event possible.

“When a man pursues his destiny, everything in the world conspires to make it possible” – The Alchemist

Watching the sun set……. Drowning into memories………

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever” - John Keats.

With nothing significant to do at the end of the day, I was just watching outside my window as the sun set into history, behind the Sahyadri ranges for the last time in 2009. I hurriedly rushed to get my camera so that I can treasure these moments forever. What makes these moments special is the fact that there never has been a similar sunset in the past nor there ever will be a similar sunset in the future. The mountain ranges, the cloud formation, the birds flying back to their nests all at a time in different permutations and combinations almost always ensure that you never get to see the same view again. The sun draped in golden charm, lighting the surrounding mountains in a light orangish red view was indeed a feast to watch

Right on the opposite side, the full moon was rising. And for some reason, it was looking different today. The colour was light yellowish and it even seemed a bit larger than always. As I saw it rise over the highest part on our campus, I was never so excited, alternating my camera between the two giants of the universe. How I wish I had an SLR!!!

As I sat in my room whiling away my time for the last few hours of the year, I quickly plunged into the oceans of memories of how 2009 had been for me. The very first day had good news for me with my name being shortlisted for consideration for promotion to the next level at work. The next couple of months were hectic and testing in terms of my ability to make some quick and consistent decisions. There have been quite a few occasions where I had to choose between two alternatives, both of them which I would have equally loved to have selected. Summer of 09 was fully in vacation mood and went totally in de-stressing physically and mentally. Come rains, and it was time to go back to school. The only difference was that this was a B school! The days in this B School also have been enlightening. They have given me a newer and broader perspective of life. The activities I have been a part of in this second innings with the books have been a big learning experience and I for sure can vouch that this would never have happened otherwise. Temporary bouts of panic and confusion, apprehensions and distress also were also seen throughout the year. It was like those necessary spices and additives without which a meal becomes meaningless. What made the year more exciting was the increased amount of time it kept me hooked on to the cyber space. Got re connected to a lot of old friends and also made some new friends online. Also enjoyed loads of evenings sometimes over work and sometime over dinner with new found friends. I am pretty sure that 2009 was one of the most memorable years in my entire life so far and it may very well be a milestone for me.

Wishing that 2010 bring happiness, peace, satisfaction, success and over and above everything, good health to one and all. J

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.

False Alarm

This post is written as an epilogue to the post I had written exactly a month back. It was about my exams and my apprehensions on whether I will be able to handle the exams well.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm. The examinations were such a damper, that after writing a couple of papers, most of the students actually lost interest in the exams. There were two particular reasons for it, maybe three.

Firstly, the question paper was printed in the answer booklet itself and after each question, there was a limited space to answer that question. And with that kind of space limitations, you cannot simply beat around the bush. Your answer needs to be specific, precise and to the point. This was actually appreciated by the faculty and majority of the students as well.

Secondly, some of the papers were so simple that it was nothing more than elementary fill in the blanks. One paper was even so straight forward that some people were actually wondering if there was any hidden catch in the paper. Few other papers tested the concepts and that did not obviously require lengthy descriptive essays to be written. So the exams were a case of ‘either you know it or you don’t ‘type of questions.

Third comes the grading system. Though it’s said that relative grading is followed, it’s not truly relative or normally distributed. In a normally distributed grading system, someone ought to get the highest grade and someone ought to fail. Our system gives more weightage to the class average. Based on the class average, if you are in certain bands above or below the average, you get a certain grade. Now, what happens in a very easy paper is that everyone scores well. The average is very high. And to pass, one needs to score atleast 70% of the class average. Which usually happens quite easily. And to get the highest grade of 4.0, one needs to score atleast 125% of the class average, which becomes difficult in the case of a high scoring paper.

The paper itself is so easy that it ensures nobody fails and also ensures that nobody gets the top grade!! When the college public realized this, nobody even bothered to study properly. Cricket was the most famous pastimes during the exams. Something which I had not seen even once during the last 5 odd months, had become so common in the last couple of weeks. Some other people kept themselves busy by watching movies and some more slept their way to glory.

I remember only a couple of papers where I sat in the exam hall for the entire duration of the exam. With a major part of the evaluations already done internally, there was no real motivation to study. Plus when you have a question paper where you need to answer 3 questions for 20 marks each and each question has a maximum of two blank pages to be answered, how long can you actually sit in the exam hall? Time was never a constraint anymore, only the space was!!

And for people who have seen work pressures earlier, the last 10 days were probably the most chilled out in the first semester.