It's not all business...

Breaking Routine

Today, various B-schools are thinking outside the box and bringing in fun elements to their annual fests. By conducting photography competitions, fashion shows, dance performances, rock concerts and even bringing in celebrities to interact with students, many colleges are trying to make their fests stand out.

The trend has caught on so fast that of late, there are very few business or management fests that stick to routine events.

Recently, the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) hosted its annual fest ‘Vista 2011’. Apart from  normal events like HR, Best Manager and Finance events, the fest also incorporated movie screenings at the end of each day and held an awareness run for all the participants called ‘Run For Change’.

One of the highlights was the interaction that the students had with actress Nandita Das, racer Narain Karthikeyan and Justice Santosh Hegde.

“We have students coming from all over the country and we wanted them to learn something as well as have some fun and take back good memories. That’s why every year we try to bring in something different to our fests,” says Atish from IIM-B.

When CMR Institute of Management Studies held its annual all India management fest titled, Lakshya, the fest concluded with an innovative fashion show with the theme ‘Business Tea Party’.

Prof T Balachander, director, Management Programmes, says that the inclusion of such events is a way of contemporising the usual management fests. “Not only do they attract more participation from students but they are also a great way of winding up things. The advantage of such fests is that the students get a hands-on experience in handling all kinds of events in a corporate manner,” he adds.

Alex, a student of St Joseph’s College of Business Administration, says that such events are a crowd-puller and an easy way to get sponsors. “When we approach sponsors, they often look at the kind of events we have and it’s these ‘colourful’ events that really attract them to tie up with us,” he says. “At the same time, events like photography and short film-making competitions allow management students like us to express ourselves in a different way and also helps a lot in de-stressing,” he adds.

Manohar, a student of Surana College, agrees. Management and business fests like ‘Surge’ and Utkarsh in Surana College not only included events like fashion shows and dance but also had fun games in between two events.

“Some of the hardcore management events can be stressful and at times even boring but these games allow the participants to de-stress and bring a change in the monotony. These events also give participants an opportunity to invite their friends to the campus,” he adds.

Joining the bandwagon is the Mount Carmel Institute of Management which has decided to include group dance and fashion show on the final day of its annual management fest ‘Diakrisi 2011’. “Rarely do management students get to showcase their other skills and talents. Fun events provide us a platform to do just that,” wraps up Maria, a student of Mount Carmel Institute of Management.