just like that

If the success of IRIS was important to us as an institute, the success of one of the games in it, Marksman, was important to me as an individual. To understand why, lets just go back an year in time to IRIS 2005. I was one among the four member PGP-1 team handling Marksman – an online marketing strategy game. We (Sandhya and Cijin in particular) had worked hard under the able guidance of the PGP2 team but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to test the game properly. The result – the game crashed mid-way and we had to make a manual entry later to decide the winner. I felt bad in being one of the very few games that let down the entire show. And at that time I told myself, whatever happens, next year I shall ensure this game becomes a success. It was one of the very few promises I definitely hoped to keep.

Cut to July 2006. The Marksman team now consisted of Sandhya, Mrunalini and myself(Arun and Cijin had moved onto bigger things). And the pitching of various events to the PGP 1 began. I knew this was it. If we were to succeed, the PGP1 team coming in had to be good. They were going to make it or break it. And thankfully the enthusiasts list got self-pruned to a sincere bunch of five guys – Anubhav, Nitin, Vignesh, Vijay and Easwaran. Of course, Srinivasan and Kaustubh helped us out in various stages of the game but the above five were the ones who were in it right through.

These guys were about as good as you can get – sincere, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. After the first few meetings, I began to breathe easy as I realized these guys could handle it. And of course, the dependable sandhya was there to lead and guide them. Easwaran was into the concept design part while the other four took up the core part of coding. My role was limited to allowing my room to be used for the meetings and giving globe now and then. Mrunalini, of course, was providing the technical inputs and also backing me up in the free-riding :)

After the first few meetings, the guys came on to their own and the team began to have a good working chemistry. This, I thought, was very important as these guys had to motivate themselves through assignments, summer placements and end-terms. We had initially planned to finish all coding about ten days before IRIS but when we approached the home stretch with still a lot to cover, I was slightly worried. Thankfully, the guys gave no more anxiety and finished it with about three days to go for IRIS – enough time to test it out thoroughly and find the chinks.

IRIS came and the prelims of our event happened on the first day. Eight finalists were chosen from the fifty-eight teams that took part. Day 2 of IRIS, 4.30 PM – This was it. The D-day was finally here. It was now or never. I was a little nervous within about whether things will go on smoothly. Can we do it?

Thankfully, except for a minor technical snag (which was fixed on the spot), the game went amazingly well. The greatest joy comes when even the losing participants come up to you and tell what a ‘fundoo’ game it was. It was personally a very significant thing for me. It was not as much about those smirks that I had received but more about the need to prove it to myself that our team could do it.

Great job guys! I know now that ‘Marksman’ is in safe hands. It will be taken care of and some good improvements made in the coming years. Thanks to the entire team – It was indeed great fun working with you and I really mean it.

P.S – If you are wondering why Iam making a big fuss about a game going off as expected, I guess I can’t explain much. Sometimes you need to be there to know it :)

There are times when I feel really lucky for having made it to this place. Some of the people I have met here have inspired and motivated me to bigger things. The Professor who handled Business to Business (B2B) marketing for us is one among them. This post is a dedication to him and all such good Profs in this country.

I still remember the first class. Even as the people were all just settling in the class, we saw this tall guy going about setting up his things. My first thoughts were one of skepticism – doesn’t seem right; must be yet another of those 'globe' profs! And then he began to speak. There are a few prof’s who speak really well but really don’t have much substance and then there are some who know their stuff but are not really able to get it across to the students. Very rarely do you find a Prof who knows his subject and is able to communicate it in a way that even the least inclined student gets interested and learns something. For once, all those guys who always considered marketing as ‘globe’ shut up. For once, we knew what case analysis really meant. For once, here was a Prof who was teaching us what was exactly happening in a corporate scenario and how to handle it. For once, we were spellbound!

The best part about the classes was the light-hearted manner in which he narrated certain mistakes made by himself/his colleagues at work. And also the humble, polite manner in which he answered the silliest of questions on and off the class. Every class of his was filled with immense takeaways and as I just said, solutions to tight situations a manager might find himself/herself in when they start working tomorrow. Over the course of twenty sessions, he has introduced a structured thought process in us and Iam really happy to say that I can approach any case much better now. Above all, it has got me totally involved in marketing all over again.

Thank you sir! It's truly been one helluva course. Hope you continue to enlighten the future batches of IIM Indore (and other schools) for a very long time to come.

After nearly 45 days of hibernation, Iam back to blogging. My thanks to the loyal readers (however few they are) for continuously checking on me. More than everything, it’s for you guys I wanted to get back ASAP.

Anyways, some dope on what's been happening all these days:

1) Summer placements of juniors - With the batch of 180 coming in, the summer placements this year were the biggest operational exercise in the history of IIM Indore. Our placom had worked hard and the results were there for everyone to see. History was created when all the juniors were placed in the day process itself with no one going into rolling. And the kind of the companies that came in was simply outstanding. Hats off Placom - we are really proud of you!

Some excerpts from the placement report:

"With 199 offers from 58 companies, IIM Indore has placed the entire batch of 2008 in the first 4 days and moved on from being a business school at the front of the pack to being a trendsetter, setting both the direction and momentum for placements across all IIMs this season."

“95 companies expressed the intent to participate though only 58 could be accommodated this season. On Day 0, a total of 133 offers were made, an increase of 82% over last year's summer placement process. Of the 58 companies on campus, 23 were here for the first time. An average of 3.5 offers was made per company which indicates the growing confidence shown by Corporate India in IIM Indore.”

2) IRIS – Within less than ten days of summers getting over, we were all gearing up for the next big challenge – IRIS, the annual management festival. The four day festival was a big success this time around as well and reiterated why IRIS at the top of all B-school fests. Our flagship event ‘Ashwamedha’ got bigger this year with the winner taking home Rs 1.5 lakhs. The event, into its third year now, is a big draw across B-schools and as any of the 30 finalists would confer, this is easily the most challenging and complete game you can imagine. Kalpavriksha, the social venture business challenge, started for the first time across any B-school also had a fantatstic start. (For more details visit www.iimi-iris.com )

My own event - Marksman, a marketing strategy game, also went off smoothly. It was personally a very satisfying experience for me and my team. I will make a separate post on this some time.

Anyways, in between all this I also managed to lose my cellphone. After all the formalities with the concerned authorities, I got back my number and the eighteen hundred odd balance from the old SIM.

That’s about it then. Iam back and hope to have a lot of posts(sensible ones) in the days to come!

Currently on a break from blogging due to some really hectic schedules. My apologies if you are a regular reader - u wouldn't have found anything new in the last month .
Will be back in about a couple of weeks time.