Ad Guru @ XIMB

Xpressions 2010 was kicked off with ‘Conclave’ in which eminent speakers were invited to discuss various management topics. Mr. Prahlad Kakkar, the leading Indian ad film director was one of the main speakers. It was a new experience for the audience as they got to know about the other side of Mr. Kakkar, that of a passionate entrepreneur. He talked about the various start up ventures which he initiated starting from the ‘Genesis Film Productions’ in 1977 to ‘Casa Amore’, a wine bar and restaurant, set up in Mumbai in 2001. He talked about the importance following one’s dream. He stressed that no matter how difficult it might appear one should always traverse the path in which one’s genuine interest lies.

Mr. Kakkar discussed the various changes that the Indian ad industry has gone through. He shared some of the ad films which had left a deep impact on him. Then he talked about his other passion, the passion for Scuba Diving. In 1995 he set up 'Lacadives', a scuba-diving school, along with his wife Mitali Kakar at Kadmat Island, in collaboration with the Govt. of Lakshadweep. He is also a member of several organizations founded for marine ecology’s awareness and threw light on the same. Overall it was a highly interactive and thought-provoking seminar on the various aspects of entrepreneurship and advertising added with humorous anecdotes and deep insights which electrified the entire atmosphere.

XPRESSIONS 2010 - THE GAME EVENTS

Xpressions 2010 saw the excitement, enthusiasm and spirit of the students at a new level altogether. Almost the entire student mass of XIMB was divided into 5 game committees, each trying to give a tough competition to the others. These game committees are the flagship committees of XIMB which uniquely prepare their own strategy-packed games pertaining to all the fields of Business arena. The knowledge, skill and experience of the participants are stretched to their extremes to be able to crack the games in each of the modules in Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Operations and Systems in each of the games. Each of these games are created by the students of XIMB from scratch, which not only sharpens their Business acumen but throws an open challenge to other students from reputed B schools of India. And frankly speaking, these students have been awe - inspired by the unparalleled creativity and business prowess showed by the students of XIMB in building up their games. Finally, the toiling of the midnight oil which is an investment each student puts in for the final Day in Xpressions has paid and paid off in a grand way...!!!

Lets see what the Game Committees, which have taken the competition to completely new level and have enlivened the spirit of XIMB, have to say :

Gladiator

A Hero Will Rise…

Gladiator is a test of intellect, resilience, equanimity, and endurance to unearth the Maximus of Management. The game is a simulation of real world management scenarios, which the best brains in the country battle to unravel. A number of modules spread over two days judged the contender's ability to perform in different functional environments with unique objectives. The chosen few battled to scale new heights for the moment of glory. The game culminated with the ardour to take on never ending challenges,and continuously hone skills to ace every opportunity in hand. As the legend goes, a Gladiator has always been a symbol of ultimate power and glory.

Kurukshetra

Aggression Justified!

The business world itself is a war fought day after day.The race to perfection never ends. The battle of intellects continues .So one had to get ready to prove their solid armament of critical hard skills and make the difference between the victors and the vanquished.

With a legacy of 15 years of great battles fought among the best of business sides Kurukshetra again brought forward the arena where the skills of the better was tested against the best; where battles were fought with brains. The glory went to those who could implement cross functional decisions by simulating a real world business scenario with the combination of financial, operational, marketing and human resource strategies.

Aggression only moves in one direction - it creates more aggression.

Helios

Nothing is bigger than the game !

Helios is the management game exclusively designed for undergraduate students. This is among the few B-school management events in India where the participation is only for undergraduate participants. The purpose is a ‘rite of initiation’ of sorts. The game provided an opportunity for undergrad teams to prove their mettle outside their comfort zone in the 'big bad world' of business.

Helios gave undergrad students from across the country, a sneak peek into B-School life - a life of rigor, vitality and a strong dose of fun. Helios not only tested undergraduates on a variety of parameters viz. General Knowledge, Mental Aptitude & Soft Skills, but also develops their business acumen on Finance, Marketing and Operations through the various modules of the game. Helios brought together bright and curious minds from diverse disciplines, and tested raw management potential – whether they can innovate, compete and perform in teams.

Skill City

Home for the creatively spoilt !

Skill City - the home for the creatively spoilt, isn’t just a competition. It’s an experience. For the three days spanning the event, creativity was worshiped, team spirit was applauded and strategies were formed, twisted, broken and reformed. Here, it was only your imagination that could have limited you.

In today’s corporate world where change is the only constant and the unexpected is to be expected, future managers and entrepreneurs constantly need to ideate and innovate to stay ahead. Skill City presented a gamut of events combining elements of wit, grit, perseverance, intelligence and of course, common sense! It is the acid test of the team-spirit when situations go horribly wrong; it tested the composure and resilience when a hitherto brilliant-looking strategy fails miserably; and then it tested your common sense a little more with its crazy twists and mind boggling tasks. It is indeed the toughest test of soft skills.

Like the 8 years gone by, the best minds from across the country battled it out once again this year. This was probably one of the few battles where one had a gala time fighting!

Spardha

A social entrepreneurship competition, was introduced by Rural Managers' Association of XIMB (RMAX), during Xpressions 2008.

Spardha tested the social entrepreneurship quotient of participants through a series of stages, encompassing sectors which influence the rural scenario of India. Spardha does not stop at being just a competition. It also aims at generating ideas, concepts and policy suggestions by participants, which can be put to use in real-time situations. This is implemented by XIMB, with the assistance of various partners, including local NGOs.

XPRESSIONS 2010

What is it about:

The three day extravaganza, a legacy that started in 1998, is now one of the most respected and looked forward to B-school events in the country. It is the culmination of over 3 months of planning and efforts of all students at XIMB, with students coming together to organize a melange of the most innovative games, competitions and vibrant cultural events in this part of the country.

Xpressions invites participation from all top B-schools in the country, attracting the best managerial talent to compete against each other. The underlying aim is to challenge the participants to their limits, and create a demanding environment in which the participants can exercise and indulge their creative and competitive urges to the maximum.

Xpressions'10:

Theme:

The theme for Xpressions 2010 was ‘Pulse’. XIMB reverberated with the Pulse of the constantly evolving world of business, the Pulse of a converging and recovering world economy, the Pulse of the youth, the Pulse of a thinking mind, the Pulse of a heart beating in anticipation, in exhilaration, the Pulse, of a celebration.

Events:

The student community creates various business related games which are challenging to the core. The next blog post covers the details of these games. Let us look at the Corporate and Cultural events.

Conclave:

Conclave, the panel discussion, is the inaugural event of Xpressions and is known to bring together reputed personalities from the Indian business world. This year Conclave saw Ad guru Prahlad Kakkar visit the campus and enlighten the students on career related issues.

Home Coming:

Homecoming is an event conducted by XIMB for its alumni. It is an event in which people from the previous batches of the institute visit the campus to mingle with the current students and faculty members.

Celeblitz:

Celeblitz, a celebrity performance, is one of the major cultural events in Xpressions. Celeblitz attracts a diverse audience comprising students from various B-Schools, undergraduate colleges as well as people from in and around Bhubaneswar. This year, Xpressions is all set to pull the local music fans to hear to the magical voice of KK(Krishnakumar Kunnath) performing live on November 14th.

Decibelz:

Decibelz is a forum for all upcoming rock bands to compete with one another. It includes college and b-school bands along with local amateur bands.

Several rock bands including the popular local band Raagaz have performed in Xpressions.

Carnival de Vogue:

This is a fashion show event, in which participants walked the ramp amidst lots of colours, special effects and cheers.

Mr and Ms Xpressions:

Mr & Ms Xpressions presented students with an opportunity to showcase their talent, personality, wit, incomparable style, endearing charm, confidence, flamboyance, and most importantly, the ‘X’ factor to sweep the crowd off its feet. Here, participants expressed themselves in the most creative ways they can think of, and compete with the very best to claim the most coveted crown in the town. This year's Mr. Xpressions was Arjun, a 4th year engineering student from KIIT and Ms. Xpressions was Ms. Tanushree Dwivedi, a first-year MBA student from XIMB.

Thirkan:

Thirkan is a freestyle group dance competition, where participants jive, salsa, pop, lock and hip hop to their own tunes, and dance their way to win exciting prizes.

JLTs:

JLT is an acronym for 'Just Like That', the spirited dance parties of XIMB.

Inquizzitive:

With top teams from colleges and corporates from all around the country fighting it out, Inquizzitive was a quizzing extravaganza where nail biting finishes were the order of the day. It was a partly-business and partly-general quiz.

Pantheon:

Pantheon is the fore-runner to Inquizzitive. It was a series of 3 online quizzes scheduled on consecutive nights from 29th to 31st October, 2010. This event was open to B-School students all over the country. Each quiz was based on a theme which was be disclosed only on the day of the quiz.