cyber media

Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication organized National Cyber Media Conclave’09, a media seminar that covered various perspectives of the media relating to the cyber medium on March 28th, 2009. The seminar was designed to encourage learning of the new media. Organized to bring together eminent personalities from the cyber world, students and aspiring media professionals on a common platform, to promote the conception and growth of ideas, the NCMC ’09 (National Cyber Media Conclave) witnessed two panels of speakers debating issues such as the power, reach & potency of cyber media for knowledge sharing, social change and networking and, the emergence of the web as a medium for branding and marketing.

The Conclave hosted two panels of speakers on the potency of cyber media for knowledge sharing, social change and networking; and the emergence of the web as a medium for branding and marketing. Also present were Mr. Namit Bimbhat, CEO, Switch Media Services India Pvt. Ltd and Mr. J Mahadevan, VP, bharatmatrimony.com who enlightened the audience further about new media.


The first session saw eminent entrepreneurs from the cyber industry such as Kiruba Shankar, Co-founder, The Knowledge Foundation, CEO of Business Blogging Pvt. Ltd and Founder-Director of 5ive Technologies; Jasmeen Phateja, Founder, The Blank Noise Project; Shivam Vij, Blogger & former Tehelka Journalist, Delhi; and Shiv Bhaskar, CEO, The Viewspaper.

Kiruba Shankar began the session by laying emphasis on maximizing the social media connect in India, the role of social networking site and its burgeoning presence and implications in marketing and corporate scenarios. Citing Twitter as an example, he demonstrated the collaborative capability of the Internet wherein the net could be used as a medium to get multiplicity of opinion. Shankar also stressed on the interactive nature of blogs, and how it was a critical tool for organizations to gauge feedback and general perceptions of concerned people.

Shivam Vij elaborated upon the difference between mainstream media and social media, adding that the role of the new media was to complement mainstream media rather than replace it. He talked about the emergence of the blog as a paradigm shift from the vox pop in traditional media.

Shiv Bhaskar Dravid, Founder of The Viewspaper, a new initiative launched to give voice to the socio-political views of the NextGen youth, shared his views about the evolution of the ownership of the media, from being the tools of the few to truly being a public-owned medium. Speaking on “Cyber media as the ultimate fourth estate”, he said that online media was a true convergence of all the three traditional tools of mass media, also having the additional benefit of being a real time media. The costs being low, Citizen Journalism is one field that is growing steadily but strongly, he added.

Jasmeen Phateja then spoke of Blank Noise, a project that started as a community-public art project that seeks to confront street harassment and eve teasing. She stressed on the power of internet as a tool for social change. She also touched upon the power of the net as a vehicle to create an on-ground activation to mobilize public opinion and cited a ‘blogathon’ as a tool to fight against the same

The long-debated issue of self-regulation in cyber media was discussed with the panelists acceding that the cyber journalists needed to be accountable on what they write.

Mr. Rajesh Lalwani, CEO and Founder, Blogworks, a virtual media initiative which delivers strategic social media knowhow and solutions to brands and corporate organizations, spoke about the existing clutter in the market and how integrated marketing communication needs the internet as the modern consumer is tech savvy and uses the internet to help him in purchase decisions. He thus outlined the role of the internet as being a major purchase decision influencer. He also on conducted a workshop on blogging for the students, which was informative and interactive.

An innovative and interesting case study on ‘Bell Bajao’ campaign was presented by Ms. Rashmi, who emphasized the usage of Internet as a tool for publicity and mobilization besides the use of conventional media. She also said that cyber media is teaching the youth in their own language.
Adding to the views discussed during the day, Professor Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury, Director–SIMC talked about the blend of mainstream traditional and the cyber media being the way forward. An interactive Q & A session with the audience, moderated by Professor Chowdhury, brought the session to a close.

On the whole the event was an interactive one that brought together various stalwarts of the cyber space and it was a complete source of knowledge and interaction.

Cyber Musings

National Cyber Media Conclave

PUNE, MAR 28, 2009: The first ever , National Cyber Media Conclave (NCMC) ’09, a media seminar that covered various perspectives of the media relating to the cyber medium was organized by the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication in Pune. . The seminar aimed at learning about the new media in greater detail. The seminar covered all types of new media like digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies. The event comprised of two interactive sessions with topics ‘Potency of cyber media for information exchange, social change and networking’ and ‘Emergence of the web as a medium for branding and marketing’. Eminent speakers from cyber world came together to address 400 audience in NCMC.
The programme was inaugurated by the Director Prof. Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury with the click of the mouse , instead of the usual lighting of the diyas, with an aim to stand out just as the way the new media campaigns stand out from the clutter of traditional media . This was followed by an introductory speech on the digital medium. The Conclave hosted two panels of speakers on the potency of cyber media for knowledge sharing, social change and networking; and the emergence of the web as a medium for branding and marketing.
The first speaker at the event was Mr. Kiruba Shankar, Co founder of The knowledge foundation and CEO of Business blogging Pvt. Ltd. He spoke on maximising the social media connect in India.. He followed by Mr. Shivam Vij, nationally renowned blogger, who took the audience through the ground-breaking way in which internet has changed the way businesses are carried on around the world today and the power of its deliverability. There was immense interaction between the speakers and the audience. The third speaker was Mr. Shiv Bhaskar, CEO, The Viewspaper who talked about the Internet news media- the ultimate fourth estate and then came Ms. Jasmeen, founder, Blanknoise who illustrated interesting case studies on Internet as a tool for social change.

Relating a personal incident, Kiruba spoke about the times when his wife was admitted to a hospital and he needed contact details of a neuro surgeon. A cry for help on twitter and he got around 60 responses within a span of two hours.
Jasmeen Bhatija founder of Blanknoise, a social campaign against street sexual harassment. She talked on the topic ‘internet as a tool of social change’ and the concept of ‘blogathon’ as a tool to fight against the same. Renowned blogger and owner of the popular website National Highway, Mr. Shivam Vij spoke next. He talked about social media and quality. He emphasised that new media should complement old media and a replacement is not possible. Cyber media as the ultimate fourth estate was the topic presented by Shiv Bhaskar, CEO of The Viewspaper. He mentioned that introduction of new media as a social media offers new hope and the content is created by professionals as well as public.

In the second session where the panel discussed ‘Emergence of the web as a medium for branding and marketing’ and Rajesh Lalwani, Founder and director of Scenario Consulting talked on Internet as a tool for marketing. He said that marketing, especially in cyberspace, changed from random clusters to tribes by choice. The founder of Bell Bajao campaign, Ms. Rashmi spoke about internet as a tool of publicity and mobilization. Different print ads and TV commercials of ‘Bell Bajao’ campaign were screened and according to Rashmi cyber media is teaching the youth in their own language. CEO of Switch technologies, Namit Bhatia talked about internet news media. He put forward that the online video market is evolving and talked about opportunities for video enhancement in the virtual space. Mr. J Mahadevan, VP- Products of bharatmatrimony.com interacted with audience on the topic ‘brand building of an innovative cyber product’ and evolution of that brand. The concept of open source software and how they influence current living and working conditions was explained by Atul Chitnis. He demonstrated different gadgets to emphasise the importance of open source software and explained how the absence of open source could affect the purchasing behaviour of customers. He told that the world is changing and more and more gadgets and devices use open source to beat the competition.

The Conundrum

Its a pity to see things go the way they do sometimes..

This post is being written in the nether period between two classes. The 1st of which I missed (because of what I am going to write about), and the 2nd which I will unwillingly attend.

Last night was spent in the remote industrial hamlet of Hinjewadi, where the SIIB/SCMHRD/SCIT campus is located. The occassion was scmhrd's annual fest, Neev.

The occassion looked grand with huge festoons of brands and created creatives. The walls adorned with huge-ass flex's with overflowing sponsor names.

The only thing that I could make out, from all the enjoyable music and camaraderie was just one thing. An A-list band (Euphoria) was performing in the backyard of their hostel to about 250 kids. People hanging out of the windows, or better still sitting on their beds while they enjoy Euphoria live out in the Verandah.

B-School and other fests enjoy a horde of sponsors day after day, with even mainstream regular colleges getting huge sponsorships for anything that they want to do. With the IIT Mumbai's Mood Indigo crossing Rs. 1 Crore Cash, things have never looked better.

What stops us from getting there? Only our own admission of defeat. We either choose to say things are planned too big or over-ambitious.

There are only a few men and women out here amongst the boys and girls who are ready to understand what it'll take for us to be recognised as what we are- the best kick-ass Media Institute in the country.

We are waiting for the Gods to take us there. We all love to hear the big moolah that the top guy took home last year. But we choose to look here and there when it comes to doing what he did to be where he is. Better still, half of us still don't know what he did.

We've the best design minds in the country, what we come out with is a tepid website, uninspiring ads and some media coverage.

We can keep moaning about it, as I am doing right now.
We can keep talking about all the ASSignments and Projects we do, same as others in those other B, C and E-Schools.

Or some of us can just get up and decide to prove me wrong. I'm on to it.

Game on?

Rightly said..Bring it on!

7th October 2007
9.15 pm
Hours before the first paper.
(There's no better time to blog)
Almost three months back this little blog was abuzz with activity! Yep, as predicted/ contemplated/discussed there's been a lot of madness,mayhem and (convergence of) media this semester.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm already unhappy about not being in the same class with a lot of you..(yes i know its childish, but its just that all of us, as groups-a,b,c,d had bonded really well)
What are the things I'm going to remember? What are the things that will make up 'those fond memories?'
Can't jot down all..but here are a few in no particular order.. (you guys are welcome to make your contributions as well):

• Sitting in the last rows in Mahamuni's class..
• Warning letters, hiding t-shirts with dupattas, Partha's utter look of dismay while he kept asking everyone how soon he'd get his cellphone back from A.S.
• Sushu correcting almost every single professor each time they referred to her as.. (err whatever they referred to her as)
• "Touch kar dia" , "Bata deta hoon", "Probaaably" "Aunty!"
• A.S. throwing away Shripriya's chocolate in the corridoor, right before i was about to have a bite!
• Making eggs fly
• "Wazaaaa"
• Sohini saying "Arrey..."
• Making a visitor's list to meet Dharam Sir!
• "Tum Pukar Lo", "Pyaar Hamein Kis Mod pe le aaya", "Aapki Aankhon mein kuch" and "Julieeee"
• Coming to college,early with a i-have-not-slept-all-night-face for "guest lectures"
• Wearing the uniforms
• A.S. selecting bakras :)
• Munching during screenings, snoozing during screenings

Cutting it short, kinda realized that Freeze pane on Excel is something I dont remember. Do you? (Aah for all those who read this after the test which almost all of you will, dont worry you missed nothing)!!

Ringa Ringa Roses

Off we go to our hinterlands.

It's been three months, and feels like a lifetime already.

I know this sounds like the cliched beginning that we've recently learnt not to write, but what do you when you've just come out of an experience that we just did?

You come here and render yourself asunder, by way of words and pictures. Let's take this oppurtunity to bring to life our expressive powers all over again.

Bring it On, Team!

Career Goals

State your 'Short term' and 'Long term' goals- sounds familiar? I sat to write my SOP and it left me pondering. Career goals? You mean the team work, maximising efforts kind? Not quite, personally here are a set of realistic short term and long term career goals that I have set for myself. Trust me these goals are easy to relate to and much simpler than the "Working effectively to achieve.. blah blah" sort.



Short term career goal: To fly a low cost airline with my own money

Long term career goal : While flying the low cost carrier when I realise that am hungry and I am not going to get any refreshments from the crew, I should be able to afford the sandwich which they sell on board and not gape at the co-passenger busy tucking in the 'Aloo ka paratha' and 'masala chai' that he brought packed in his hand baggage- Tiffin carrier and a thermos flask

Short term career goal : To be able to buy a car

Long term career goal: To be able to afford the petrol that the car consumes (Well with petrol prices going up high, the next status symbol will be the amount of petrol your car consumes and not the car itself, so effectively 10 Lit per week Maruti 800 is a higher status symbol than 10 lit per 2 weeks Ford Icon)



Short term career goal : To be able to afford a post paid connection for my cell phone

Long term career goal : To be able to actually pay the bills at the end of the month and continue the connection (And not switch back to pre paid connection after emptying my savings account in the bank to pay the post paid bills or even worse start collecting one Rupee coins to use PCO booths - as a more viable option)


Short term career goal: To be able to afford an air conditioner in the peak of summer

Long term career goal : To actually get myself to use the AC without noting down the number of units the AC consumes per hour, deriving at an average and tactfully timing the AC to function within affordable limits (Phew! I can assure you this task is more tiring than a walk out in the mid-day sun on a sweltering day)

All said and done, since these goals will not be appreciated on paper let me get back to the jargon now.."Effective utilisation....."

Design Mania

For those of you aesthetically inclined, and a sweet tooth for Humor, Click here for Vayu's post on our beta blog