Confluence 2010 Press Release (Day 1)
Confluence 2010 was declared open by the head of Tata Administrative Services, Rahul Krishna and IIM Ahmedabad deans, Prof. BH Jajoo and Prof. Atanu Ghosh. It kicked off in grand style with a panel discussion centered on innovation along with inclusivity in business, which was the underlying theme for Confluence on Day 1.
Speaker sessions
The panel members included Mr. Deep Kalra, Founder and CEO of Makemytrip.com, Mr.Arjun Uppal, Head of Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, Mr. Nikhil Rungta, Marketing Head at Google India, Mr. Vishal Mehta, CEO, Infibeam and Mr. R Ramakumar, CEO, Pears Capital.
The panel felt encouraged and heartened to see the rise in entrepreneurship over the past decade in India. Mr. Kalra felt that innovation was just a medium to solve customer problems which is the real goal of any entrepreneur. He went on to make his point through various ways in which makemytrip.com has succeeded through customer focused innovation. Mr. Uppal was pleased to be at IIMA and echoed what Mr. Kalra said although in a different sector. Hariyali Kissan Bazaar today has been setup in over 300 locations, each spread over 4 acres and has provided innumerable farmers a platform to trade their produce.
Mr. Nikhil Rungta gave examples of Google products such as Google news that were born out of the 20% time that Google engineers have free to work on personal projects. He also stressed that innovation was not instant perfection and it took more than just a brilliant idea to be successful. Mr. Mehta talked about how Infibeam applied the concept of e-commerce to small retailers, kirana shops etc. and turned e-commerce to i-commerce (inclusive commerce). Infibeam today has over 1 crore products available online and is still growing.
During the Q&A session, panelists agreed on the importance of innovation while keeping the customer as the focal point. They also stressed on the fact that innovation was not about breakthroughs but about a lot of small things coming together over a long period of time.
Management Students Program
585 students registered for the Management Students Program, an avenue for students to interact with several industry leaders at lectures, workshops and panel discussions. The event saw participation from more than 50 colleges from all over the country.
Ignoble –Market Research Competition
At Ignoble, students combined creativity with sound business sense by developing products that are not available in stores. The requirement for these products was that they had to be backed by sound market research – thus adding an interesting catch to the event. Students came up with an eye-popping variety of
products which ranged from helping one find things he/ she had lost to finding a life partner! Judges were very impressed with the enthusiasm and level of research and creativity shown by the students. The first and second places were swept by SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.
Tata Think Tank
Tata Think Tank was an exciting event where students had to come up with global expansion strategies for Tata Chemicals. They were challenged to look for the best „partner? company taking into consideration synergies, potential markets and product portfolio. This was a highly charged event with students exploring a variety of options around the globe such as companies in Egypt, Brazil and Turkey. Students not only had to decide on a partner for takeover but also had to value it. The event was judged by Mr Zareer Langrana, the CEO of Tata Chemicals. The host team, IIMA won this event and IIFT came a close second.
Corporate Combat
Corporate Combat as an event tests the ability of students to handle a major crisis in a business organisation. Students have to prove that they are brilliant „CEOs? while coming up with safe solutions to tackle different crises that a business might face. This is one of major events of Confluence and goes on for 3 days. While today was just a trial round, with SP Jain winning and IIM A coming second, it promises to be an interesting and exciting contest in the days to come.
Masterplan
Masterplan is Indian subcontinent?s biggest business plan competition with a prize money of over 2 lakh rupees. This year the competition received 136 entries from colleges across the country. After an initial round of elimination 8 teams eventually made it to the finals. These include 2 from IIM A, and 1 each from ISB, NITIE, NMIMS, SPJIMR IIT Delhi-DMS, and Indian Institute of Finance.
The teams presented plans grouped under 4 categories namely: “Green is the new colour of Money”, “Building a better India, one service at a time!”, “Simplify and Enrich Urban Life” and “Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid - a tribute to C.K. Prahlad”.
The teams shortlisted for finals had a unique opportunity to get feedback and mentoring from Confluence?s knowledge partners as well as present their plans in front of the eminent panel of judges which include Prof.Nagesh Rao, Visiting Professor at IIM A from Michigan State University, Prof. Jacob Joshy, Professor in the Finance area at IIM A and Mr.Mihir Joshi who runs the Gujarat Venture Capital Fund.
The focus now shifts to the final round to be held tomorrow after two rounds of intense competition witnessed today.
ProMagna
GeneSys, IIMA?s Technology and Systems Club together with Confluence have come together to bring ProMagna, the project planning and management competition. After the initial elimination round, 10 teams were invited to take part in the subsequent rounds which were held today on campus. Of the teams taking part, 4 are from IIM A, 2 from MDI Gurgaon and 1 each from NITIE, IMT Nagpur, KJ Somaiya and Bharathisadan. The results of the competition would be declared tomorrow and are eagerly awaited.
Campaign for a Cause
For the first time in Confluence, social issues were brought to light by the event “Campaign for a Cause”. This event was an attempt to raise social consciousness amongst students and engage them into the agenda creation process in public policy. This event had participation from colleges all across the country and student presented short films on several social themes right from the plight of diamond workers in Gujarat to land acquisition issues to right of education. Among the judges of the event, Rahul Bose, Vipul Shah and Bharatan Kandaswamy were present from the film fraternity. They both greatly appreciated the format and theme of the event, and Rahul Bose said, “The important thing about this event at IIM Ahmedabad is not just the social issues that the students will talk about, but the fact that they will talk about the public policy angle which will make the short films more solution-centric, leading to a better understanding of the cause.”
KRONOS –The Agri-business part of Confluence
The finals of „Rural Crusader?, a rural marketing case study competition took placed this morning. It involved a complete marketing strategy plan (i.e. everything from radioheads to advertising plan to promotions). This was another big event which saw 64 entries.
Then, there was a workshop by Prof. Sukhpal Singh on opportunities & challenges in the agribusiness sector and a poster making competition which drew in large crowds of participants.
Conclusive Remarks
Mr. Chaitanya Shravanth, Secretary, Confluence 2010 said, “We are extremely pleased to see the overwhelming participation that we saw on Day 1. All of the events and sessions had full house audiences and some of the speakers even received standing ovation from the audience.”