yashtaxfree
New member
The first ever Cyber Media Conclave was organized by the first year batch of Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC) on 28th of March, 2009. The seminar began with a click of a mouse. The conclave featured India’s renowned new media stalwarts. The event took place at Symbiosis’s beautiful new campus on Lavale Hilltop, with a strong crowd of 400 young media trainees from SIMC UG and PG Campuses.
After the Director, Prof. Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury, inaugurated the event with the ‘click’ of a mouse, the first panel took charge to discuss ‘the potency of the internet for information exchange and for social issues’. Mr. Kiruba Shankar, Founder and CEO, The knowledge Foundation started the day talking about internet as a tool for knowledge sharing. “Collective knowledge of the audience is always more than the speaker” he said and engaged the audience in an interactive session where they discussed real life examples of how the internet has helped people in dicey situations and also helped them in their career. Mr. Shivam Vij, the renowned blogger, expressed his concern on how we want to start commercializing and making out of anything before we even understand it properly. He then shared his views on the internet and its impact on the polity in developed and developing countries with special reference to India. He said that the blogsphere is a space for vox populi and hence very essential for the political scenario of each country. Mr. Shiv Bhaskar, CEO, Viewspaper, justified that Media was infact the fourth estate in the society and the most important one at that because it keeps an eye on the other three estates. Media also has the responsibility of making sure that it represents mass interest and opinion and the emergence of the internet had made this easier as more opinions are available and at a lower cost. The session ended with Ms. Jasmeen Patheja, Founder of BlankNoise which works against street sexual harassment and said that internet is a very strong tool for social change as the news reaches more people easily and they can be mobilized for the cause.
The second session focussed on ‘how the internet is being used as a branding, marketing and promotions tool’. Mr. Rajesh Lalwani, Founder and Director of Scenario Consulting Pvt. Ltd. Kick started the session by saying that the buyer now has easier access to a whole lot of other options. Hence, he decides depending on the recommendations but also on the experience that the brand offered him online. Hence it is high time that brand managers deviate from the traditional channels and pay attention to new media as well as there are layers of influencing factors on the consumer now. Ms. Rashmi Dhanwani, Marketing Manager of the Bell Bajao Campaign which works against domestic violence said that the internet gave her a 360 degree approach to the campaign as this is one medium which connects people from various cultures. This resulted in an increase in traffic on the website by almost 200%. Hence, this medium really allows us to ‘breakthrough’. The other speakers of the day- Mr. Atul Chitnis from Geodesic Solutions, Mr. Namit Bimbhat from Switch Technologies and Mr. J. Mahadevan from Bharatmatrimony.com spoke on how the new media like blogs, networking sites, portals and podcasts had opened a whole new world of innovative marketing and branding opportunities for every brand under the sun as online presence has become a must for one and all.
The day ended with a workshop focussing on ‘Social Media’ conducted by Mr. Rajesh Lalwani and Kiruba Shankar. There was also a contest called Web Wunderkind which invited new business ideas for the new medium.
After the Director, Prof. Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury, inaugurated the event with the ‘click’ of a mouse, the first panel took charge to discuss ‘the potency of the internet for information exchange and for social issues’. Mr. Kiruba Shankar, Founder and CEO, The knowledge Foundation started the day talking about internet as a tool for knowledge sharing. “Collective knowledge of the audience is always more than the speaker” he said and engaged the audience in an interactive session where they discussed real life examples of how the internet has helped people in dicey situations and also helped them in their career. Mr. Shivam Vij, the renowned blogger, expressed his concern on how we want to start commercializing and making out of anything before we even understand it properly. He then shared his views on the internet and its impact on the polity in developed and developing countries with special reference to India. He said that the blogsphere is a space for vox populi and hence very essential for the political scenario of each country. Mr. Shiv Bhaskar, CEO, Viewspaper, justified that Media was infact the fourth estate in the society and the most important one at that because it keeps an eye on the other three estates. Media also has the responsibility of making sure that it represents mass interest and opinion and the emergence of the internet had made this easier as more opinions are available and at a lower cost. The session ended with Ms. Jasmeen Patheja, Founder of BlankNoise which works against street sexual harassment and said that internet is a very strong tool for social change as the news reaches more people easily and they can be mobilized for the cause.
The second session focussed on ‘how the internet is being used as a branding, marketing and promotions tool’. Mr. Rajesh Lalwani, Founder and Director of Scenario Consulting Pvt. Ltd. Kick started the session by saying that the buyer now has easier access to a whole lot of other options. Hence, he decides depending on the recommendations but also on the experience that the brand offered him online. Hence it is high time that brand managers deviate from the traditional channels and pay attention to new media as well as there are layers of influencing factors on the consumer now. Ms. Rashmi Dhanwani, Marketing Manager of the Bell Bajao Campaign which works against domestic violence said that the internet gave her a 360 degree approach to the campaign as this is one medium which connects people from various cultures. This resulted in an increase in traffic on the website by almost 200%. Hence, this medium really allows us to ‘breakthrough’. The other speakers of the day- Mr. Atul Chitnis from Geodesic Solutions, Mr. Namit Bimbhat from Switch Technologies and Mr. J. Mahadevan from Bharatmatrimony.com spoke on how the new media like blogs, networking sites, portals and podcasts had opened a whole new world of innovative marketing and branding opportunities for every brand under the sun as online presence has become a must for one and all.
The day ended with a workshop focussing on ‘Social Media’ conducted by Mr. Rajesh Lalwani and Kiruba Shankar. There was also a contest called Web Wunderkind which invited new business ideas for the new medium.
