The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) commenced its prestigious annual management festival ‘Backwaters 2011[/b]’. This was season of firsts, collaboration with NABARD, partnership with the Chennai Super Kings IPL franchise and events planned round the clock for 72 hours. It was a high stakes event with prize money over Rs.10 Lakhs up for grabs. Being a green fest, the usage of paper, plastic and power during the entire event was monitored and minimized. The intention is to measure the total carbon footprint of the event and initiatives have been taken to offset this.
This management extravaganza, hosted in association with Madhyamam Daily[/b] was attended by more than 120 participants from various leading B-schools. On-the-spot events kicked off at zero hours with ‘Junkyard Jumbo[/b]’. ‘Triple Blitz’[/b]- tested the students’ intelligence to incorporate the Triple Bottom Line in everyday operations of a company and was won by XIMB. ‘Finosaur[/b]’, the commodity trading event and ‘Battle for IT[/b]’, the marketing event were won by IIMK. ‘Serve Wise[/b]’ which teased the business leaders of tomorrow on introducing ‘Bisneyland’ in the Indian scenario was topped by a team from IIMK. ‘Rural Nirmaan[/b]’, a flagship event laid emphasis on microfinance being the key to fight rural poverty and the tool for rural rehabilitation. Mr.Jnanendra K.N. from NABARD threw light on its ongoing initiatives such as Self Help Groups and Farmers Clubs which are in congruence with the theme of the event. ‘Shiksha[/b]’, the educational initiative drew participants from all over Kerala to be mentored by the in-house faculty and experience a slice of the IIMK life. The very popular and hilarious Nitin Gupta of the Entertainment Engineers amused the audience at night with his witty quotes and anecdotes.
Backwaters 2011, turned more competitive on Day Two, with many teams battling it out for the coveted title at a range of events throwing a myriad of challenges at the young business minds. ‘Uncommon Wealth[/b]’, teased the teams to revolutionise Indian sports, while ‘Rural Roulette’[/b], allowed the future marketeer to explore and identify opportunities in the rural markets. ‘Boot Kamp[/b]’, tested the HR skills of the contestants and was won by IIT Madras. IIMK was crowned winners at ‘Srijan[/b]’, a unique event that required the students to provide solutions to the everyday challenges faced by welfare organizations in Kerala. The highlight of the day was ‘Whistle Podu[/b]’, the event daring the participants at making the already larger than life Chennai Super Kings enter the league of the most valuable sporting brands in the world. The evening saw IIMB quite literally ‘Clinch the Deal’, [/b]in the iBanking contest. The ‘Great Debate’[/b], moderated by Mr. Ashutosh Sinha of NDTV on the topic whether social media marketing is going to leave behind all other forms of marketing going into the future was followed by a very unique Hand Shadowgraphy [/b]and Sand art show[/b].
The final lap of events saw the paritcipants going all our to achieve the title. 'White knight' the flagship event with Rs.1 lakh at stake, saw the teams battling to prove the feasibility of their business plan in the real world.'White Knight' sponsored by Cognizant in assosciation with incucapital, MAKVENCapital, Mumbai Angels and TiE Karala saw BITS Pilani walking away with the laurels. 'Bizzathalon', the quizzing marathon witnesses participants from Goa, Chennai and Bangalote. 'ITC Avatar', a leadership event looked to unearth the Avatar best euipped to be the next CEO. The Valediction ceremony was followed by a Corporate Dinner which proved to be a platform for interaction between coprorate dignitaries and the IIM K fraternity to explore newer ways of engagement and mutual growth.