Media Minds-Prints 2010 Shillong

MEDIA MIND PRINTS SHILLONG 2010

“THE DAY” REPORT

“MEDIA SHOULD BE TRUE IN PROVIDING NEWS AS IT IS: GOVERNOR OF MEGHALAYA- SHRI R.S. MOOSHAHARY”

October 30, Assam Kristi Kendra, Dhankheti Shillong

Time: 9:00 AM –  3:00 PM.

Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, one of the smallest states in India. Shillong remained the capital of undivided Assam until the creation of the new state of Meghalaya on January 21, 1972.

Shillong was much cooler than tropical India, It is said that the rolling hills around the town reminded the European settlers of Scotland. Hence Shillong is also known as Scotland of the East.Khasis make up the majority of the population, Christianity being the dominant religion in the city.

Shillong is fast emerging as an educational hub for the entire North eastern region.

Local media in Shillong is strong. There are a number of theatres, newspapers, magazines, local radio and television stations. Quite a number of dailies are published for Shillong.

International School of Business & Media has been conducting Knowledge Awareness Programme in 24 Cities of India to impart Knowledge to the interested people of India.

The Youth Fest for Knowledge Awareness Programme was staged in the Shillong, which was one of the Cities, selected for the above programme at Asom  Kristi Kendra on Saturday, the 30^th Oct, 2010.on Environment & Media.  The majority of the population has the interest of acquiring knowledge is appreciable due to their traditional culture inherited over decades. The Institute had organized teacher & student representations from 22 schools & colleges, under the vigilant leadership and guidance of Professor M. Dasgupta of ISB&M

Eminent personalities from Media and like minded people from different walks of life were present.

The Hon’ble Governor of Meghalaya chaired the proceedings as the Chief Guest of the Fest and inaugurated the function by lighting the Lamp.

Speakers like Mr.Raphael Warjeri, Mr.Rajoo Sharma, Mr.Lou Majaow, Gautam Bora, Mr.Sanjib Bhattacarjee, Mrs.Moushumi Dey, and Mr.Bidyut Kotoki were present.

Prof.Ujjawal Kr Chowdhury addressed the mass and welcomed the entire guests, introducing the students to the guests.

Then He gave an introduction to the Indian media Industry,

Rj Moushumi of Oolala 91.5 FM Shillong, initiated the speech by revealing that she had a very humble beginning .Radio being an exciting and tremendous field was kept away by the people of north east .But today radio has reached at per with the television  giving its listeners a wide range of programmes for youth ,career planning programmes etc.

Then she also spoke about the qualities that a radio jockey should have and concluded saying “career in media should be explored, and only sky is the limit in media!”

Then the session was overtaken by Mr.Sanjib Bhattacarjee an eminent photographer of The Shillong Times for seventeen long years. He advised the young generation for being hard working, which yields result. He concluded by saying “photograph speaks a thousand words.”

The student had opportunity of viewing some of his phohotograph.

Lou Majaw the famous singer and much awaited speaker finally came up. He spoke little saying “with the teacher I am a student, and with the student I am a teacher”.  Lou, thus concluded addressing the students “you have come with a wishful dream, go back with hope to materialize your dream, good day, good luck!”

The first citien of Shillong, the Governor of the state was requested to come to the podium and deliver his speech.

What had delighted him was the traditional apparel worn by the student organizer of ISB&M Kolkata.

He said the he does not know the perceptions of media but it seemed to him that it covers wide spectrum of area concerned with development. Spread of media is immense in northeast .Media is intrusive as it has entered the living room to the bed room and everywhere…. He questioned the mass about their expectations out of media which he himself answered as, truth, news should be presented as they are, transparency and opinion should be for enhancing social requirement and not promotion of media house itself .Media should not be regulated. He gave an overview of the topics that were to be discussed in media mind prints in the year 2010’.

1. Uranium mining in Meghalaya –development at what cost?” he said uranium being contemporary subject in Meghalaya which holds 20% of the uranium deposit in the country .But mining became controversial as it leads to environmental hazard. He said that mining should be for development and not destruction.

2. “Making of socially relevant cinema”, the Governor as the speaker said that cinema had played a big role in unification of diversified components of the country.

3.“Media and politics, politics of media”. This topic was perceived as husband and wife by the Governor. He spoke of politicians who are heavily dependent on media for paid news. Paid news cannot go long in the society which has the component of ethics and values.

He adviced the young media aspirants to be objective, relevant, concentrate on the quality of analysis and maintain timeliness.

He concluded thanking ISB&M for making an effort to create awareness among the people of Meghalaya about media.

Prof.U.K.C thanked the governor who had in depth take on the environment politics and media as well.

Then started the green session where Mr.Raphael gave an introduction to uranium and is hazardous effect that is diseases like cancer. He also spoke about nuclear weapons , radio-active and history of mining in Maghalaya which has been promoting uranium mining .If mining is done properly the quality of uranium ore should yield 9500 tones of uranium .

Then Prof. David Paul Henebury from Netherlands who showcased a PowerPoint presentation of “How green is your country?”

He also informed that celebrity mongering of media is ruining the true essence of media.

Then the media session started with the speech of Prof.Thomos Lim who is the editor of Maghalaya times .He questioned that north-east media are not represented in the national /international arena “What is the reason?” People are responsible for this as they don’t know how to carve their own identity .Media is a cut throat industry! People should flaunt what they have, as media will not come to people but people have to go to the media. He concluded media career seeker should have sound mind of not to be “bought”.

Then came Mr.Bidyut Kotoki who told that films should be seen and not talked about”

Mr.Goutam Bora an eminent film maker, who started off with a question to the student,“What is that you like when you go to cinema hall to see a cinema”. He informed the students that India produces the largest amount of films. Much of the Indian films talk about the glossy part of India and the issues which are close to our heart.

The youth Fest Media Mind Prints 2010 ended with a quiz competition  which was one of the notable attraction of the evening with the of students from different schools who were given a certificate of participation.

This was a very mind absorbing day, starting from morning till late evening which was given a wide media coverage by News Live, Media Plus, PCN Cable News, Doordarshan and Meghalaya Times, The Shillong Times.

Orientation Programme 2010 Inauguration @ ISB&M Kolkata.

Time:  10:00 a.m.
ISB&M Auditorium  

SPEAKER: Prof Malay Das Gupta   Prof. Malay Das Gupta is the Former Senior Producer, ETV, RPG Media, Kolkata TV) Studied Comparative Literature and Cinema. He started his career as an independent documentary filmmaker. He directed a number of documentary films which were screened in different film festivals. He has worked extensively for television channels and also as the Executive Producer for the Bengali movie “Bombayer Bombatay”.    

This was the first day of the Orientation Programme. The first speaker was Prof. Malay Das Gupta. Firstly, he welcomed everyone to the programme. After that he gave a short introduction about ISB&M and all its campuses. It was an interactive session whose main purpose was to create a sense of punctuality and responsibility among the students. He informed us about his adventurous journey to the field of MEDIA. He told that we have to be in touch with the world for being in the line of media. He also mentioned some important facts which is going to be beneficial for the students in future.          

 10:20 a.m.
SPEAKER : Prof Gautam Ghosh     

Prof Gautam Ghosh is the Director of ISB&M Kolkata. He is the reciepient of Merit Award for Academic Proficiency conferred by Board of Governors,IIT Kanpur. He has National Science  Scholar  Industry experience with St.Gobain,Alstom,DLF , BOC India and HUTCH Telecom.      

He has conducted MPDs and workshops for a number of companies in the private and public sectors, as well as for Industry associations such as the CII, the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry member, Marketing Sub-committee,CII(East).    

      

Our second session was headed by Prof Gautam Ghosh. It was an engrossing session. The students came to know about the growth of Media Technologies and Population. We were told about the fats growing technologies that has been changing since recent years, keeping in mind the needs of the present day life style. He also gave some important tips to sustain in the field of Media. He told that we have to focus more on our skills. The enhancement of our skills are the best ways to keep us updated to the world. We were told that for opting any field time management is really necessary because in this fast life no one’s going to wait for us. With this growing population Media has also to grow and reach upvto the demands of public.           

  

  

  

  

  

 

11:00 am
SPEAKER:   Prof Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury

Prof UKC currently is the Executive Director, School of Communication; International School of Business & Media, Puna, Noida, Kolkata, and Bangaluru. He is also the Managing Director of New Global Indian. He has also worked as the Media Adviser to the Textiles Ministry, the Government of India, The Nippon Foundation, Japan and WHO, India.   

We had our third session by Prof UKC. Firstly, he gave a brief introduction to this vast Media industry. He told that currently 2.2 Million people are related to media industry directly or indirectly. We also came to know about this really interesting fact that Media has a growth which is double the growth of Indian economy. This will keep on increasing. So we can not imagine the vastness of media within the coming years. We came to know about the Media Vehicles. They are Offline Media, On Air Media, On ground Media and Online Media. We were told about the functions of communication. Now we know what have been the changes in technologies of Media. Lastly, we were told about the three functions of Media that is Editorial work, Technologies and Business of Media . He concluded by saying that the Digitisation of Media content is the Orderisation of Media for tomorrow.        

 11:15 am
SPEAKER :  Jagannath Guha     

Writer, Director and actor, Mr. Jagannath Guha comes with a varied background in academics, theatre, journalism and advertising. He has received the Rajat Kamal National Award for documentaries. He has produced,directed,written and editted over 100 documentaries, industrial films, educational films,advertising shorts and corporate presentations. As a writer and Associate Director his film Hungry Autumn won awards at Leipzig  and Oberhausen Festivals. He was second unit director for the Discovery channel series “ Beyond the Himalayas on the historic Silk route. He approached his position as Dean, Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute Kolkata.        

Mr. Jagannath Guha interacts with the students. 

 

   We had our fourth session with Mr. Jagannath Guha. It was a very interesting and interactive session. He started by giving us a little knowledge of market and product. He told that our job is to communicate with people as much as we can and to grab their attention towards us. Its a battle for the eyeball. We have to be prepared for this fight with the help of the weapon technology. For creating history in the field of media we have to think with a gun on our head. If we can do it then success will surely be in our hands. He also told us some important qualities required for surviving in Media like Leadership and Team work. We must develop a personality to carry people along with us. He also told that Love for our work and people, commitment towards our work and clear intentions is required for Media survival. Lastly, he shared his personal experiences in Film Making. We also asked some questions to him which made the session some more interactive.        

    

   

   

3:00 p.m
SPEAKER :   Prof Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury  

     In the second half, we had a session from Prof UKC. This time he told us what exactly do we have to do in ISB&M. He told us the techniques of how to get polished completely to match the level of today’s needs. He told that throughout the entire course we will have 8 live projects and many other assignments will be allotted to us so that there will be a complete portfolio of each and every student. He told that we definitely have to increase our performance level to reach at the top. He concluded the session with some points, the moment we execute we know what the limits of our ideas are. For execution of any idea we need certain technologies.      The students gave a very good response when they were asked about the entire session. As youngsters we want something very interesting, that would catch our eyes, and Mr. Jagannath Guha did that very well. He was a man with an excellent sense of humour. So he warmed up the whole session with his humorous attitude of delivering lecture. And the students were very much impressed by his way of expressing himself. It was indeed a very energetic and enlightening session.

OP Kolkata – Sunday, 4 July 2010

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

Time: 9:30 AM
Venue: ISB&M Auditorium, Kolkata.

Speaker: Mr. ASHOKE VISHWANATHAN
Film Director and Producer

Ashoke Vishwanathan, FTI graduate, is the General Secretary of the Eastern Indian Film Director’s Association, and the Working President of the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India. He is a National Award winning filmmaker and has also received the BFJA, Dishari, Kalakar and Rotary Awards.
Films directed by him include “Sunya Theke Shuru”, “Kichu Sankalp Kichu Pralap”, “Swapner Sandhaney”, “Anya Swapna” etc. Among the several documentaries he has directed “Walls” for PSBT (shown as inaugural film at the PSBT Festival in 2003). He is currently directing his sixth feature film in Bengali entitled, “Andhakarer Shabda” (Sounds of Darkness). He has directed films for NFDC, DOORDARSHAN (National), PSBT and CIIL.
As an actor, he has appeared in more than 12 feature films, directed by, among others, Rituparno Ghosh, Satarupa Sanyal, Chris Morahan, Utpalendu Chakraborty and Madhabi Chakraborty. He is also a regular theatre worker, having acted in and directed more than 30 plays, notable among them being I.S. Johar’s “Bhutto” (1986).
Recently he has produced two feature films, “Shesh Sanghat” (2009) and “Gumshuda” (2010) in Hindi.

He took an introduction of all the Media Trainees who attended the OP. He divided the session into two modes:

1. Instruction mode
2. Conversation mode 

Within the Instruction Mode, he gave an explanation on Cinemas. He instructed the trainees as how to analyse a cinema. He told that Cinema was invented in 28th December, 1895, at Grand Cafe in France, by Lumier Brothers. He told us that, in USA, Thomas Alva Edison also discovered cinema. He made us aware of the fact that Edison was working for WKL Dickson and invented a machine called Kinetoscope and the patent was brought out by Thomas Alva Edison. 

He threw light upon the various aspects of “Cinema”, “Film” and “Movie”. He categorised them into three very important dimensions, that is:

1. CINEMA- Having the “Aesthetic Dimensions”
2. FILM- Having the “Political Dimensions”
3. MOVIE- Having the “Economic Dimensions” 

He gave his opinion on cinema, i.e., “cinema is a unique medium for exchange of ideas”. He strongly disagrees the opinion that, “cinema is a composite art form”.
After 2 hours, he projected some shots of his next Hindi feature film “Gumshuda”. Then he showed a documentary film about the Bangla Scripts, its existence and preservation. He also presented various experiences of his life before the students.

The whole session was indeed very enthusiastic, interesting, and highly knowledgeable.  Indeed it was very enlightening session.

Time : 2:00 PM
Speaker: Mr. SUBRATA SEN
Film director, Writer, Producer

Subrata Sen started his career as a journalist in 1987 in Anandabazar Patrika, and then joined The Statesman in 1992. He also worked for Bangla live dot com, an internet magazine where he remained until he made his first film “Ek Je Achhe Kanya” in 2001.

“Ek Je Achhe Kanya”, won massive critical acclaim and at the same time made an entry into the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, besides winning the Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for debut director. After “Swapner Feriwala” in 2002, Sen’s third movie “Nil Nirjane” in 2003 was the first digital movie to be made in India. The film won the Best Experimental Film award at the Down Under Film Festival, Australia. Following “Hothat Nirar Janya” in 2005, Sen’s fifth movie “Bibar in 2006, won the best actor and best actress awards at the Osean Cinefan, New Delhi.

The points that Subrata Sen threw light upon were:

1. Cinema is an older medium than television. How cinema has influenced television in terms of visuals.
2. How the advent and development of digital media slowly started influencing cinema.
3. The advent of digital interface in cinema and the incorporation of digital into cinema.
4. Development of digital techniques and how digital media moved towards cinema.
5. The differences between celluloid and digital: individual strengths and weakness.
6. How to handle the two different media.

He gave the trainees a brief description of how digital cinematography is different from the cinematography done by using celluloid films. He explained that the use of celluloid films in cameras for making films gives better results than films shooted by using digital cameras.

 The trainees were also given the idea about the process of recording sounds or voice, and how to attach it with the video so that it makes sense and the film is ready.

 Then he ended the session at around 5:00 PM, after the interactive session with the trainees, as they put up various questions before him, and Sen cleared all their doubts by answering to their questions.

  

FEEDBACK: Overall it was very very interesting session. All the trainees came across various realities of film making, which they were unaware of. The trainees learnt many words and terms related to cinemas, movies and films. Infact they were very grateful to Mr. Ashoke Vishwanathan and Mr. Subrata Sen, who acknowledged them with every possible way they could inorder to make them aware of the situations that needs to be faced in the process of film making.

OP Kolkata – Wednesday, 7 July 2010

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

 Time: 9:30 AM
Venue: IT Lab
Workshop

Speaker: Mr. Sumit Roy 

Sumit Roy is the founder director of Univbrands. He learned how to build brands the hard way- 14 years with Ogilvy & Mather and 4 years with Lintas- before deciding to start Univads which later evolved into Univbrands. As Resource Planning Manager, Sumit looked after all the training programs, co-ordinated the strategy review boards on all lintas handled brands and looked after Lintas’ corporate planning, especially growth in areas beyond conventional advertising in India. He was invited to New York to judge EFFIES and was the Chairperson of the first India Advertising Festival in Mumbai.

This morning we had a session by Mr. Sumit Roy. It was a very interesting and interactive session. We enjoyed this workshop.�
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Firstly, he gave each and every one of us a playing card. Then teams were made according to those cards. In this way four teams were made Hearts, Spades, Clubs and Diamonds. Now, we had to work as a team and answer certain questions asked by him within the given time limit. And each team secured some marks for it. 

Some of the questions are as follows

1. How does one cook an omelette?
2. What is http? How is https different from it?
3. Who or what is Tim Berners Lee?
4. List three things that the internet can’t give us information about?

So this session taught us team work and finishing work within time limit. We had fun. He also showed us some ways of utilising the Cyber world. These questions were a medium to know from how many sources, we can get particular information. He also told us “Be curious because if we are not, then we do not know ourselves”.

FEEDBACK:
We liked the workshop a lot. It was really interesting. We had fun knowing cyber world. We got many things to learn from this session like team work etc. We would definitely like to attend more Univbrand’s workshop.

OP Kolkata – Thursday, 8 July 2010

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Time: 9:30 AM
Venue: ISB&M Auditorium, Kolkata.

Speaker – MR. TIRTHARAJ BOSE
BIG FM

Tirtharaj Bose is the Creative Head of Big 92.7 FM , in-charge of programming for all seven stations across Eastern India (Kolkata, Asansol, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Guwahati). Launching radio stations across with definite programming direction, identifying talent, recruitment, training, building team to work with strong understanding of programming philosophy, adhering to the systems and process form his core area of work. Prior to Big 92.7 FM, he was the Creative Director (Audiovisual) of JWT Asia Pacific where his area of focus was special business, social projects, building team for customised operations, regular updating the methodology, research and creative techniques at the global level. Mr. Bose was the proprietor of Thirtharaj Bose Productions where he was the director of documentaries, corporate videos, TV programs, TV Commercials, radio drama, spots for advertising agencies, corporate and social clients across the country.

This morning we had a very interactive session with Mr. Tirtharaj Bose. The session was very interesting. Firstly, he asked all of us a question “Why do we listen to Radio?”
 

Then he explained us what Radio is all about. He made us listen to some samples played on 92.7 FM. After that he showed us some slides which said Radio is to “ENTERTAIN, EDUCATE AND EMPOWER”. There were many points elaborating the above statement. After all this discussion about the basic concepts of Radio, we did something really interesting. We all were divided into 9 groups with 10 members each. Every team had to select a Radio Jockey, a Caller, a Music Manager and a OB Jock. Then we had to select a topic and present a radio programme on it. Many ideas came up. All the acts were very nicely performed. We had a lot of fun. Everyone enjoyed this part of the session the most. Then the winners for the show was also declared. With this interesting act our session ended. We got the chance to actually see what happens in a radio station.

 Time: 2:30 PM
Venue: ISB&M Auditorium, Kolkata.

Speaker – MR. SUBIR BHAUMIK
BBC’s Eastern India Correspondent

Subir Bhoumik is the BBC’s Eastern India Correspondent based in Calcutta. He does Radio, TV and Online Reporting in BBC and writes regular columns for many Indian and foreign publications. He has worked for Time and Reuters, and before that for the Press Trust of India and the Calcutta based Ananda Bazar Patrika. He has won many awards for excellence in journalism and reporting and has been given membership to the exclusive club of investigative reporters—International Consortium of Investigative Journalists—that is headed by Bob Woodward of the Watergate Fame. Mr. Bhaumik is also a popular TV anchor in Calcutta, his “Hadda-Haddi” episodes in ETV Bangla has shown highest unsurpassed TRP ratings for non-fiction programmes. He is also a risk analyst and a media trainer.

In the second half, we had a session from  Mr. Subir Bhaumik. 

In this session we learnt about Radio Jornalism and its basics. In this session Mr. Bhaumik explained us what work has to be done for Radio Journalism. He also taught us how to read a news in proper way. He provided us some tips for it. He told us the key elements of Radio writing.

Today’s session was very interesting and interactive. We would definitely like to attend some more sessions from them. The method of explaining was very good. We had fun. Many of were doubts and qurerries about Radio and Radio Journalism got answered.

OP Kolkata – Wednesday, 14 July 2010

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Time: 9:30 AM
Venue: ISB&M Auditorium, Kolkata.

Speaker : MR. VIVEK DAS

An MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, he was associated with companies like Eagle Lithographic Co. and Gramophone Company of India (HMV). He started Amateur Photography since the age of 6 years (1955) and Professional Industrial and Advertising photography since 1974. He had shot for most major clients and industries in India – hotels, cars, jewelry, food, fashion, leather items, paints, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and petrochemicals, interiors, architecture, tea gardens, art reproduction, electrical switchgear, watches, computers. His clients include The Kenilworth, HHI, Elgin Hotels, Best Western-Mumbai, Country Inns & Suites-Paradeep, Astor Hotel, Fortune, Windamere-Darjeeling, Tata Steel, ITC, Siemens, Hindustan Motors, ABP, Berger, ICI, Williamson Magor, Goodricke, Xenitis, Khadim, Bata, Shaw Wallace, Bengal Ambuja, IFB, CESC, etc.

The book projects which he had photographed include ‘‘Four Mangoe Lane’’ – Tea operations of Williamson Magor in India in 2000 and “M.A. Chidambaram-biography” in 2004.

He has been the Senior Staff Photographer with the Ananda Bazar Group since 1985, Honorary Life member of Photography Association of Bengal (PAB), Chairman of Kolkata Imaging Professionals Association (KIPA), Chairman of the East Zone of the all India Advertising and Industrial Photographers’ Association of India (AIPA), till it was dissolved. He headed the [photography faculty at the Birla Institute of Futuristic Studies, in Kolkata since 1998.He attended Broncolor and Sinar workshops in Switzerland and Germany.
 

 Mr. Vivek Das started the session by displaying various photographs that he clicked, categorised under- food, landscapes, hotels, architectural, industrial, and mechanical, etc. He said that, “Every photograph is a piece of communication”.

Then he stressed mainly on the use and experimentation of natural and artificial lights for various kinds of photography processes. He explained various ways of handling a camera.

He explained us about the various career aspects of photography. The most important line uttered by him was, “Photographers are born and not made”. So according to him a person must possess the qualities of a photographer right from his birth. He then explained the different kinds of photography.

After a short break, Mr.Vivek Das discussed about various kinds of cameras and their uses, camera lenses, image capture and its procedure and technique, storage options, etc. Then he demonstrated various forms of photography using various kinds of cameras that he brought along with him. And the whole session came to an end after the live demonstration.

Today’s session was very interesting and interactive. We would definitely like to attend some more sessions from Mr. Vivek Das. The method of explaining was very good. We had fun. We came to be aware of nitigrites of photography. And especially the live demonstration session was the most enlightening of all.

OP Kolkata – 3 August 2010

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

  9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Venue: ISB&M Auditorium, Kolkata

Speaker: MR. PRADEEP GOGTE

Mr. Pradeep Gogte has worked for 27 years in Godrej & Boyce, Tata Power Co, Johnson & Johnson, Skypad Couriers, Wartsila Diesel and Infomedia 18, managing diverse assignments in Human Resourses, Personnel and Administration such as manpower planning and recruitment, design and conduct of management development training modules, performance management systems, development and management of diverse related policies and industrial relations.

Also worked for about 6 years with high-profile B-school like the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, and the S P Jain center of Management, Dubai-Singapore, with responsibility for admissions, placements, faculty hiring, supervising HR processes and as HR faculty.

This morning we had a session from Mr. Pradeep Gogte. The topic was Current Perspective on PR. He initiated by a small introduction about himself. 

He informed us on the different agendas of Public Relations, empahsising on what is PR. PR communicates to create, maintain and enhance client’s goodwill and image. We need to communicate through print, television, newswires, social networks etc. The different clients with whom we have to communicate i.e, the investors, suppliers, employees, society etc. were identified.

A PR Campaign includes client interactions, defining objectives, research work before or during the campaign, types of campaign, audience, message and medium and finally timing. Communicating with audience’s expectations is necessary. The different functions of a PR staff are to manage crisis, understanding client’s primary issues, developing strategy, crisis readiness workshops and SOPs for crisis management. Then we came to know about the guiding principals of a PR. We do PR to enhance reputation and to resolve conflict. We also came to know what is reputation and how PR enhances it. Then he explained us that as a consultant we have to keep some points in mind like as know ur client, understand the client’s business, know the client’s environment, know the right media, understand state of economy, understand geo- political scenario, understand psycho- social aspirations. Lastly, he explained us HR challenges in PR. Like retention of talent, low shelf life.

2:00 pm
 SPEAKER: MR. ASHOKE MUKHERJEE

 An MBA from IISWBM, Calcutta University had his stint with the corporate world for more than a decade. Presentlly he is the Vice Present-Corporate Communications of Reliance Communications. Prior to this, he was associated with some of the big corporate brands like Shaw Wallace & Co Ltd, Exide Industries, Allahabad Bank, CESC Ltd, BDA Ltd. He is also the Guest Lecturer, Department of Journalism & Mass Communications, Calcutta University. He had authored seven books and had won the Snowcem-Ananda Literary Awards, which was instituted by Snowcem India and Ananda Bazar Group.

In the second half, we had a session from Mr. Ashoke Mukherjee. It was an interesting session. Firstly, sir gave us a definition of Public Relations. PR, according to a widely accepted definition, is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain a mutual understanding between an organisation and its public. 

We were then introduced to the 8 phases of PR. They are :-

1. Analysing the general climate of attitudes and the relation of the organisation to its universe.
2. Determining the attitude of any group towards the organisation.
3. Analysing the state of opinion.
4. Anticipating potential problems, needs or opportunities.
5. Formulating policy
6. Planning means of improving the attitude of a group.
7. Carrying out the planned activities.
8. Feedback, evaluation and adjustment.

Lastly, he explained us the roles of a PR in a Corporation. It is the function responsible for Corporate Goodwill. PR, in essence, builds acceptance for the corporation as a whole much as marketing departments build acceptance for individual products. PR, cannot be the effective part of the management team if it is not contributing toward corporate progress.

Orientation Programme

OP Kolkata – Saturday, 10 July 2010 : Day 7

Time: 9:30 AM
Venue: ISB&M Auditorium, Kolkata.

The guest lecturer for today’s session was Mr. Rajesh Lalwani, founder and principal of Blogworks, a consulting firm, which provides strategic social media solutions to brands and corporate. He is also the Principal Coordinator of IndiaSocial, a knowledge focused community based around social media.

He was accompanied by one of his colleagues, Miss Rajika Talwar.

Mr. Lalwani started off the session by impressed upon that, the key takeaway for the media trainees, would be more number of people starting off blogging, and the need of developing a better web presence. He added that, a blog, in essence, is considerably serving the purpose of resume for a major number of leading companies, nowadays, and the trend would long continue, and be taken up on a global scale eventually.

He, like most of the earlier speakers, insisted on having an interactive session. To get a better idea of the media trainees’ understanding of what ‘social media’ is, and what it means to them, he put forward a question on the same. And to his delight, he got the answers he was fishing for. “Social media is online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies”, Mr. Lalwani further added. He then gave a comparative overview of the history of media, starting from earliest forms of mass broadcasting, -newspapers, to radio, television and then, finally, the internet. He talked about the massive paradigm shift brought about by the internet, especially blogs.

Mr. Lalwani said, “Earlier there was no interaction of the audience with the content. Things were said from a pedestal and spoken down. E-mail was interactive, but then, it was still country miles from being holistic. But, then the whole concept of blogging eventually came to be, a method more interactive, instant and transparent.” In course of that, someone popped up with a question, in regards to the ways, or things one can do to optimize their blogs. “Credibility, content, relevance, packaging and presentation” and as he went on to elaborate each of those pointers. He went on to state how blogs are now a part of e-commerce, and how it went hand-in-hand with the social media. “Global reach, accessibility, usability and recency, is what a blog technically offers, and to not use that plethora of avenues it provides, and implementing it for social media, is criminal!”, he said.

From blogs, he then moved to the social networking sites. He explained, “What social media has done is, – democratization of information, transforming people from readers to publishers.” And how, “we no longer search for news, they search for us”. He explained the USP of social media to be immediacy. Further, Miss Rajika shared a video, which, if there was ever any doubt to start with, had enough about it to dismiss any notion of ‘social media being a fad’. Then, Miss Talwar talked about the various social media tools. It was a familiar topic since most of us use these tools on a daily basis and are very well acquainted with them. She talked about the most popular ones. She touched upon the subject of social media enhancements tool, such as apps and widgets. Then explaining the importance of corporate companies, brands or otherwise having their own public forum domains, and how imperative it is to make sure that you’re answerable, and be able to attend to each and every one of your customers, and how accountability, and one-on-one troubleshooting can give a brand an impressive mileage. 

Ms. Talwar then shared another video about how to create a brand page on Facebook. Post-lunch, all the trainees were given a demo in the IT lab on the same. 

After a short break, we were back at the auditorium, and the session ensued- this time the topic at hand was Social Media Marketing. Mr. Lalwani explained how considerably, and fast the world is becoming more and more exhibitionalist, and how social media marketing is exactly making use of that, and how it makes it so much more relevant and easy. “And therein lies the beauty of it”, Mr. Lalwani said. He explained the ingenious aesthetics of Social media marketing, how word of mouth and peer feedbacks are getting much more accountability these days, and in process the whole concept of “the viral loop”. He stated how the credibility of traditional mediums has taken a hammer-blow, and how “brochure-speak” doesn’t work anymore, because, people are getting that much empowered, and know that much better. He touched upon the ground-realities, that how fast and effectively you approach a customer can make or break your brand.

Ms. Talwar then took over, showing a few presentations of the many places where social media marketing has been a success; she took up the examples of Pritham books and Mitsubishi Cedia and their brilliant marketing strategies. And then a complete and utter faux pas by a Mortin Moms campaign, where the intended message was so badly mis-communicated, that it almost ran the company into bankruptcy.

Mr. Lalwani then rounded up the session with tips to how to improve one’s personal profile, and web-presence. He stated that it’s essential in making a blog about something that one personally feels strongly about, and it’s necessary to first find, and then show off one’s expertise in that particular niché. And then explained the ways of effectively and innovatively marketing one’s own blog.

All in all, it was a brilliant insightful and enlightening session, and very captivating as well, which, I believe, is down to the fact that it was something on which were to some extent vaguely aware of. It was lovely having Mr. Lalwani and Ms. Talwar with us, and here’s hoping to see them again!

Apple Tablet Media Event : “Come See Our Latest Creation”

 

Apple is holding its media event today and is expected to introduce their much anticipated tablet device. We will provide links to live coverage of the event and provide bulleted updates. The event kicks off at 10 am Pacific or 1 pm Eastern. Apple does not provide a live video or audio stream to their events, so you can only follow along live with text and photo updates. Apple will post a QuickTime video a few hours after the event.

Live Web/Twitter Coverage

– Gizmodo
– Engadget
– Ars Technica
– gdgt
– MacRumors Twitter

– Spoiler Free notification page

Recent News and Rumors

– Photos of Apple Tablet Back Shell Leaked?
– Apple’s Focus on Content and Possible eBook Pricing
– Last Minute Leaked Photos of the Apple Tablet?
– McGraw-Hill CEO Confirms Apple Tablet, iPhone OS Based, Going to Be “Terrific”
– Apple Tablet Rumor Roundup

Event Updates

– Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger is present, possibly suggesting a content deal of some sort with Apple to be announced.
– Steve Jobs on stage, sharing stats: 250 million iPods sold; 284 retail stores, with over 50 million visitors last quarter; 3 billion App Store downloads, over 140,000 apps available.
– Apple is a mobile device company. By revenue, Apple is the largest mobile device company in the world.
– Now for the main event: Reviews 1991 PowerBook introduction and iPhone. Is there something in between that could be better at browsing, e-mail, photos, video, music, games, eBooks? Netbooks? Nope…just small, cheap laptops.
– Introduces “iPad”

– Built-in browser, mail, photos, calendar, maps, etc. iTunes Store included right on iPad. YouTube access.
– So much more intimate than a laptop. So much more capable than a smartphone.
– Music player is a hybrid between iPhone and regular iTunes.
– Showing off browsing: Apple, New York Times, Time, Fandango. One article appears to show plug-in error…no Flash?
– E-mail: Showing off message reading and creation. Direct PDF viewing.

– Showing off photos: Can utilize Events, Places, and Faces functionality by syncing from iPhoto.
– iTunes: expansive interface, album art, etc.

– Showing off Calendar and Maps applications. Maps includes Street View…everything reportedly very snappy.
– Showing off video capabilities via YouTube. Also movies, TV…showing clips from Star Trek and Up.
– Back to the hardware. 0.5″ thin, 1.5 pounds, 9.7″ IPS display, full multi-touch.
– 1 GHz “Apple A4 chip”, 16, 32, or 64 GB flash storage, 802.11n, Bluetooth, accelerometer, compass, speaker, mic. 10 hours battery life. One month of standby battery.
– Now App Store…third-party apps. Scott Forstall on stage.
– Can run existing apps in a small box in center of screen or can pixel double to run full screen. Demoing. Showing off Facebook and ESPN snowcross game.
– Apple has also modified iPhone SDK to allow third-developers to rewrite for the large display as Apple has done with its own apps.
– App Store available on iPad and will feature both iPad-only and iPhone apps. Gameloft now on stage with a demo. Showing off Nova…iPad version coming later this year. Can interact with the game world on a whole new level.
– Now showing off New York Times. Martin Nisenholtz, NYT senior VP of digital operations on stage. Creating iPad-specific application.

– Steve Sprang from Brushes. Briefly showing off painting application.
– Travis Boatman of Electronic Arts to talk about gaming. Showing off Need for Speed: Shift. Fully touch-enabled. “Like holding an HD display up to your face.”
– Major League Baseball on stage. Utilizing screen space to show off stats, animations, video highlights, box score, scoreboards, etc.
– Steve Jobs back on stage. Showing off another one of our apps. Standing on Amazon’s shoulders, we’re going a bit further with “iBooks”.
– E-books displayed on a bookshelf. Direct access to iBook Store to download new material. Major publishers on board, and we’re opening the floodgates to others this afternoon. Demoing purchasing e-books.

– Showing e-book navigation…tap right or left side of screen to flip pages, change font, text size, etc.
– Now talking about iWork. Talked to head of iWork team a year ago about creating iPad version, and they got it done. Introducing iWork on iPad.
– Phil Schiller on stage talking about iWork on iPad. Completely new versions of Keynote, Pages, Number. Now demoing Keynote…landscape orientation to accommodate slide views. Moving slides, resizing images, etc.

– Now showing Pages. Document gallery, scrolling, virtual keyboard, showing off auto text-wrapping.
– Demoing Numbers. Showing off how to move columns of data, adding rows, etc. Offers multiple keyboards…data-entry, text, date and time. etc.
– iWork for iPad apps priced at $9.99 each.
– Steve is back to show off iTunes. iPad syncs over USB, exactly like iPhone or iPod touch. When you sync, you sync everything.
– Wireless: iPad has Wi-Fi, also 3G. Two data plans available: 250 MB limit for $14.99/month; Unlimited for $29.99/month. AT&T to provide service. Free use of AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots.
– Activation directly through device. NO wireless contract needed. Cancel anytime.
– What about international? Hope to have deals in place by June or July. Hopefully June. All iPad models are unlocked and use new GSM micro SIMs.
– Steve is recapping the features of the iPad.
– Pricing: Starts at $499 for 16 GB, $599 for 32 GB, $699 for 64 GB. 3G-capable models are $130 more: $629/$729/$829.

– Will begin shipping Wi-Fi models in 60 days, 3G models in 90 days.
– Also introducing dock stand, as well as a full-size mechanical keyboard dock stand.

– Also a case that doubles as a stand. Showing highlight video with Jonathan Ive and others hyping the iPad.
– Notes from observers: No visible camera or mention of one; No mention of multi-tasking; No mention of any phone capabilities.
– Steve: “We think we’ve got the goods. We think we’ve got it.” With over 75 million iPhones and iPod touches sold, we’ve got over 75 million people who already know how to use the iPad. Over 125 million iTunes accounts with over 12 billion products downloaded. We’re ready for the iPad.
– Thanking attendees. Invited for hands-on.

4th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE- MEDIA FOR ALL

 About the Conference

The 4th International Media for All Conference – Audiovisual Translation: Taking Stock aims to bring together professionals, scholars, practitioners and other interested parties to explore audiovisual translation (AVT) in theory and practice, to ascertain the language needs of distributors and broadcasters, to discuss the linguistic and cultural dimensions of AVT, to look into potential synergies between the industry and the academic worlds, and to investigate the relevance and application of translation theory for this very specific and rapidly expanding translational genre. Special attention will be given to the notion of accessibility to information and to the social and economic implications of implementing appropriate quality standards.