Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Backwaters 2006 - A phenomenon

It's not often that I get kinda senti...But Backwaters 2006 must be one ofthe best fests I've been a part of...The cul-nite was a manifestation of so much talent that it gives me great and immense pride to be in a batch like PGP09 and an insti like IIMK. Just about every non-IIMK participant I talked to was bowled over by the performances.

Indian Ocean was the icing on the cake. I've been to many rock concerts,and I enjoyed Indian Ocean more than most of the others put together. No jostling for space, people stepping on toes, struggling to see the band members etc. IIMK's gotta be the only place on earth where one can lie on the grass, take as many pics n videos as one wants,smoke during the show,and talk one-on-one to the artists on stage!

A special thanks has to go out to the BW committee. This year the work for BW started very early(Sep,I think). I think BW 2006 will become a starting point for many more BW's of even grander scale and popularity in the future. Composed a lil poem abt Backwaters yday,which I'm pasting below:

Performances n parties n contests galore,
Talent that u never knew existed next door,
If in the end you weren’t left baying for more,
And crying yourself hoarse ‘Encore, Encore’,
Then u aren’t in the right B-school, u bore!

B-plans for the nerds and parties for the rest,
A chance at cul-nite to give out your best,
Pros like Indian Ocean playing at request,
Pride certainly wells up in the chest,
When I say-“Man, Backwaters was MY fest”

It’s not about the courses or the degree or the jobs,
Just the experience of being in IIMK rocks.
When memories of CG and CP fade,
You’ll still remember what a blast Backwaters made


- Bala

What a bang !!!

Yes Nitai, the Bang did come!! And it sounded all through our majestic campus over the 2 days! As Backwaters 2006 comes to a close today, I feel a mix of relief and ecstacy. Relief, cause I can finally catch up on a lot of lost sleep.Ecstacy, cause it turned out to be more rocking than even anyone from the sTrEAM ever imagined it would be.

The past few months of working for BW 2006 have been an awesome learning experience, with its ups and downs(a lot of downs I must say), but the team held together and didnt lose hope and we came through. I just wanna say it has been a pleasure working with the sTrEAM and hope that we, the Jr. BW team, can live up to the expectations that have been lit up after this Backwaters.

There are many ppl who we need to thank and I cannot do justice to each and everyone of them in this write up. However, I wanna thank each and everyone who has contributed to this festival, it is such support that results to the success of any event.

Now that the sun has set on BW 2006, we as Jr. BW have started lookin ahead to the next Backwaters in 2007. There is a lot we have learnt, a lot we yet have to learn, many positives to take from this year, a few mistakes to amend, and a lot of work to do!

This is Sid signing off from BW 2006, hoping to create an even bigger bang the next year with your support and that of the coming Jr Batch.

Monday, January 23, 2006

the end of the beginning

Everything good has to end at some point. Otherwise when would it get the chance to become memorable ???

Backwaters 2006 comes to an end with the all night dance party that is still going on in the amphitheatre.

Class acts like Pavithra "Rasa Devi" "Reka ki movies" Poonacha, yeah that h is very much intentional, in The Last Samurai aside, the star event of the day was the performance by Indian Ocean, whose spell binding performance had the audience mesmerised and crying themselves hoarse for more.

Among other sidelights moi and my usual buddy-in-derringdo Surabhi came second in Konsultant, the systems simulation game and were delirious with joy at having avoided the top prize :-)

Now on to the harsher realities of life. I have 2 B2B cases to read up for class tomorrow morning so I shall sign off now, with the promise that pictures from Backwaters 2006 shall be posted on this blog as well as other online avenues pretty soon.

Also in the pipeline is a series of posts about the people who made Backwaters 2006 possible.


IIMK Rocks !!!


-Aditya

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Women Samurais shine in Quiz

Conducted by the renowned quizmaster Arun Mani of Bangalore, the general quiz “The Last Samurai” saw huge audience participation too. The event was a showcase of women power with Pavithra Poonacha of IIMK sailing her way to the first position. She wins herself air tickets to Colombo sponsored by Sri Lankan Airlines. Lakshana of MICA secured the second position.

There were six finalists who were shortlisted by an online elimination process conducted earlier. The finals had two rounds. In the first one, participants were quizzed on a particular topic allotted in advance and the second round was a general quiz.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Technique Results

The first prize for the Systems Thinking Game "Technique" has been bagged by Ankur Pruthi, Ankur Gupta and Abhishek Chaturvedi of IIMK. The runners up are Kamal Sekhon and Ashwin Rao of SPJIMR.

Oil Raiders, the derivatives trading game has started and has drawn a huge number of participants. The elimination round is over and people are waiting for the results eagerly. 20 teams will make it to the final round.

Mall Maul Results

Here are the winners and the runners up for the Marketing Simulation Game "Mall Maul".
First Prize: Team "All at Sea" - Sankar and Sushant from IIM A

Second Prize: Team "Market Lookers" - Namrata Roy and Savita Pai from IIM B.

The judges said the teams were all pretty close and it was a neck-neck contention.

"Ad Mads" finals will be conducted along with the cultural night. "Technique" final round is on with 5 teams fighting for the booty.

More results will follow. So keep watching!

Results of Opium - the Operations Game

Ryan and Ponnaiyan from PSG TECH won the first prize. The booty is a Club Mahindra Holiday Package worth 15,000 INR.

The second prize was won by Firdaus Mantri and Alok Chandra of IIMK. The prize money is 4,000 INR.

The first taste of results

Results of the first events of Backwaters are out.

Wockhardt Case Study was won by the IIMK team comprising Jaidev and Ankur Saxena. Abhishek of NITIE was the runner up. Mr.Indranil Chakravorthy, National Sales Manager, Wockhardt India adjudged the event. In the NCDEX Case Study, Milan and Naveen of IIMK were adjudged the winners. The second prize was won by Deb and Pranav of IIMB. Mr.Surjit Sen from NCDEX was the judge for this event.

The event update is as follows: Ad Mads prelims is on. Registrations for Technique, the Systems game and Oil Raiders, the Fin game, are going on. Opulence round I slot II is over. More action in the offing. Keep coming back for more updates.

-Surabhi

The battle begins

The swords have started flashing, horses galloping and armies advancing.

The final round of Wockhardt case study got over a few minutes back and the IIMK team walked away with the first prize. NCDEX round II is going on. So is the final round of Mall Maul, the Marketing Simulation Game.

The first session of Opium, the Operations game, is over - with participants lining up for the second one.

Ad Mads prelims to start at 1 PM. Technique, the Systems game to start at 2 PM.

Registrations are on for all the teams – for the simulation games, on-the-spot events and informals. Under the last category we have some traditional ones like Antakshari and also a host of wacky ones like Mystery Date, Mr. and Ms. Backwaters and others of the same genre.

Informal events are scheduled for the night.

Kingfisher Airlines has set up its stall and is unraveling a few goodies to the folks.

Backwaters is finally here!

- Surabhi.

Friday, January 20, 2006

On the Eve of the Battle

The warriors are honing their swords and dusting their armour. Strategists are racking their brains in the barracks. Spies are being released to garner intelligence. Marksmen are practising incessantly to perfect their shots. Generals are issuing orders. Unsuspecting links from other battalions are being tacitly tapped for military information. Priests are enhancing morale by singing eulogies of commanders and reciting stories of valour. Grenades are being piled up and missile dispensers positioned.

The battle is poised to begin with the strike of dawn. The Sun will come out a trifle too early to witness the first onslaught of the day. Mars would be curious too, but who would he smile upon? Who will be crowned God post the battle of the intellect? Forgive me Providence when I say “May the Best Warrior Win”.


-Surabhi

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Manic about Pictures at Pict-O-Mania

The WebSling has spread its tentacles and life has ceased to be the same. With more than a 1000 people logging in to play the game and about 150 of them fighting for the prize money of Rs.5000 right now as I write this piece, things can only heat up from here.

This blog post will attempt to bring frequent updates to you about the status of the game. As you already know, the game goes on till 9AM tomorrow morning but the way some people have been cracking the clues, it seems that we won't have to wait that long for the winner. At the same time, even though the leader is at clue number 26, the status quo has been maintained for the last hour or so.

There's more meat in the game than you thought when you came in...still a lot of water to go under the bridge. So keep fighting warriors and the booty shall be yours!



Update 1: There has been a sudden surge from sudarsank who has come down from Clue no. 21 to share the lead with manishapertin who is on Clue no.26 for an hour. Can sudarsank beat manishapertin on this clue...wait and watch!

Update 2:sudarsank seems to be running away with the prize, cracking clue after clue and having reached the Clue no.28, he is definitely going strong...but more people may reach there before him

Update 3: sudarsank has made it to the top. With a dashing speed and burst of lightning, he has cracked the last clue to be counted as the first winner of WebSling @ Backwaters. sudarsan wins a cool cash prize of Rs. 5000. For the others, who wish to make some easy moolah, just keep coming back to WebSling. Tonight at 10, we launch Konnect, another image based game but with a difference and of course, some tough competition and amazing prizes!

-Nitai

Sunday, January 15, 2006

the booty is there for the taking

The goodies just keep coming. And the first prize package of Backwaters 2006 is going to be found by one lucky team later tonight. Yes, its a treasure indeed, a Club Mahindra holiday package for 2 people for 3 days and 2 nights at the picturesque Munnar Resort.

backwaters 2006  Treasure Hunt poster

In other news, the first banner for Backwaters 2006 was finally put up today after 2.5 hours of grunting, head scratching and immense amount of thoughts, logical and otherwise. We thank Sam, Meren, Amos, Shounak, Pooja, Ridhi and Prashant for being there and helping us make it happen.

These days all I seem to be doing is checking and replying to email and working on Photoshop :-) Time has suddenly become a high premium commodity. But on the brighter side of things, the campus is definitely getting into the Backwaters mood and it feels nice to see the enthusiasm among the junta.

-Aditya
[cross posted on my blog]

Friday, January 13, 2006

Registrations open

The registrations for Online Games are open. They will kick off on the 16th of Jan. Prizes worth Rs. 20,000 are up for grabs over a span of four days. Register now.

Registrations are also open for the official teams of 5 each from participating institutes. This number (5) does not include the participants who have been, or will be, shortlisted for the various games, cases, etc.

Head to the Backwaters 2006 website at http://www.iimkbackwaters.com for the same.

graphics for inter-stitials

Just finished making these animated gifs to be placed in the interstitial ads for Backwaters 2006. Have turned out a bit better than expected when we sat down to make them :-)

Image copyrighted.

Image copyrighted.


Spiffy, ain't they ? ;-)

Feel free to copy the images to your blogs/fotoblogs/websites/flickr etc. The only request being that you put a comment here with your url where the image is used, if you do put it online. The image should link back to either the Backwaters website at http://www.iimkbackwaters.com or the Backwaters blog at http://iimk-backwaters.blogspot.com which is this place, of course.

In other news, the elimination rounds for The Last Samurai have concluded and the results shall be up shortly. Do check back in a couple of hours to see if you are the lucky one who gets a chance to do battle for a 5-star resort package worth Rs. 15000, courtesy Club Mahindra.

Update: The shortlist, and waitlist, for The Last Samurai is out.

-Aditya

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Day 2 Results

The results of the elimination round of Opulence, the Operations simulation game are out.

Head to the Backwaters 2006 website at http://www.iimkbackwaters.com/ for the same and more.

-Aditya

Memories of Backwaters 2005

Backwaters 2005 was fun, fun and fun. I was running around those 2 days (really hard to believe that if you have ever seen me) doing all sorts of things. I was keeping time for some of the informal events, eating something at the snacks counter, averting getting my face painted, cheering teams for some events, eating delicious Biryani at the stalls, participating in the on-the-spot Ops and Marketing events, then again eating a bit...I think you are beginning to get the drift. After all the running, I managed to be totally quiet and our team of Sharika, Karan and myself won the dumb C competition. The most enjoyable bit of Backwaters was the play done by our batch with Shounak Da giving a brilliant performance ... but the defining moment of Backwaters 2005 was definitely the Mujrah by our senior Khandu (Rajat). This year Backwaters promises to be even more FUN, FUN & FUN.

-Mustu

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Wishes from an alumnus

From an inconspicuous beginning with REC auditorium as the main venue and International Hostel ground as the secondary one, Backwaters has come a long way. It's an achievement to run an event of this scale at Kozhikode and it's already on its path to becoming one of the premier fests in the country. I'd like to wish the institute, all the very best, and commend them for their efforts for taking the event to a different level.

-Vinay Chandra
Batch of 2004

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Konsultant shortlist out

The shortlist for Konsultant, the systems game at Backwaters 2006 has been released. Head over to the website for the shortlist as well as the waitlist.

It's all coming together

For a young institute like IIMK, as Gaurav pointed out in a way, in his earlier post, there are a few milestones that need to be crossed before the culture of the place comes of age. IIM Kozhikode may not be a contender for the top position in this respect but one of the most important attributes that we can show to the outside world is Backwaters, our fest. Difficult as it may be for me to believe it, this show is turning out to be quite spectacular this time.

There are so many people whose efforts are going into Backwaters right now that it is but impossible for me to even start naming them here. As Jerin told me in one of our daily sTrEAM meetings, we are all charged up right now and can probably stretch ourselves the most during this period when we are neither despondent for lack of hope nor complacent for lack of potential to improve.

Things expectedly got all heated up as we went into the first real exposure to the outside world. The launch of online eliminations to simulation games to be held on campus was not without glitches, as Aditya has already mentioned, but then what's life without a few thrills and last-minute chills!!!

Coming next is addition to my count of sleepless nights (3 and counting so far) and that of almost everyone on the sTrEAM. With 3 more eliminations to go for the finance and operations games and the Mastermind based Quiz, work has been expanding to fill voids, if any. Tempers (especially mine) have started fraying and the need for a sTrEAM outing to Taj is becoming more and more imminent. Before you say, I know that there is lot more to do than while away time eating at Taj and perhaps that is why I am writing this blog post right now, waiting for Qaynat to send the short list for Konsultant, the systems game.

Checking up the answers to the huge number of entries that we have been receiving for elimination games, putting up posters on the campus and sending them to people in different institutes all over India, responding to queries, maintaining track of team registrations (last I heard, there were 8 institutes already registered and many more expected), designing T-shirts, banners and posters, conceptualizing last minute advertising buzz, getting official permissions done, preparing to welcome participants at IIMK, getting the concerts finalized, the dances prepared, the play practice started, the list of task seems endless and it alone can probably fill up this entire post and may be even more. So, till the next time!

-Nitai

the battle continues

In other action from the Backwaters 2006 arena, the Wockhardt Strategy Case Study was launched today. The eliminations for Konsultant, the systems game also happened today.

I am totally exhausted after a long span of designing, posting, managing layout of documents and myriad other design and related issues and am going to hit the sack,hard. See you all tomorrow morning, or better still, tomorrow evening ;-)

Do not disturb !!!

-Aditya

The results of the Backwaters T shirt poll

The first nationwide polls for deciding THE Backwaters T Shirt are over. There was a very enthusiastic response from the voters and barring a few remote locations like the Computer Center, brisk to heavy voter turnout was recorded across regions.

While the entire process concluded peacefully, there was an attempt at booth-capturing in the Library constituency that resulted in the polls being countermanded and restarted at 1.30 PM. This also seemed to have dampened the enthusiasm among the respondents.

Lets have a look at the candidates for this poll.

1. Design Candidate 1




2. Design Candidate 2



3. Design Candidate 3



4. Design Candidate 4



The initial rounds of polling saw Design 1 emerge as the clear leader with only Design 4 being able to give it a semblance of a fight. Design 3 was never in the race at all and seemed to have been propped up to split some opposition votes.

Design 2 picked up steam after the first 100 votes had been cast and garnered a major chunk of the next 50 votes cast and came within breathing distance of Design 1 which failed to capitalise on its whirlwind start. Design 4 continued to clock steady gains while Design 3 ckept falling behind.

The next 50 votes had an even split between Design 2 and Design 4 while Design 1 started stuttering badly. It had clearly lost its initial momentum as more and more voters from outside the IIMK campus started participating in the polls.

The next 50 votes were going to be crucial for all three lead contenders as there was nothing to separate them. It was in this penultimate round that Design 4 made its decisive push for the lead. Its strong showing in this round, coupled with another lack lustre outing at the hustings by Design 1 meant that it had significant momentum going into the last phase of polls.

The last phase saw some impressive gains being made by Design 1 while there was a relatively sedate performance by Design 2. Design 3 had clearly failed to capture the voting public's imagination.

The performance -

Design 1    2.4
Design 2    2.4
Design 3    3.0
Design 4    1.9


As is clear from the scores above (the lower the better), Design 4 has emerged as the clear choice of the voting junta while Design 1 and Design 2 are tied for a very distant second spot. Design 3 brings up a rather ignominous rear.

-Aditya

Monday, January 09, 2006

Backwaters T Shirt | Exit Poll

While the Polling Commission comes up with the results of the poll to determine THE Backwaters 2006 T Shirt, we present the conclusions arrived after a quick exit poll conducted among the respondents.

Please note that while there were about 292 votes polled, in true exit poll tradition, we have contacted only 14 respondents and while all scientific mumbo jumbo picked up in QM I , QM II classes has been attempted, you can rest assured that the sample chosen is in no way a representative of the entire population (Yippee, I finally used that term somewhere related to stats)

While detailed demographic data regarding the respondents can be provided upon request, we shall go straight to the trends that we have been able to gauge from the exit poll.

The raw scores were -

Design 1 - 2.01
Design 2 - 2.80
Design 3 - 3.01
Design 4 - 2.18

Since these scores are averages of rankings, Design 1 seems to be the front runner with Design 4 close on its heels. So it does look like the design that moved Rohit "Motu" Gupta to the extent that he posted his comment indicating his preference for it FOUR times on the blog is going to be chosen as the official T Shirt.

Remember, this is merely the trend forecasted by the exit poll among 14 respondents. We are eagerly awaiting the actual results.

Any bets anyone ???

-Aditya

Choose your favorite T Shirt Design

Yes, this is your moment. Be a part of the decision making team for the official Backwaters T Shirt. Click on the online poll to rate the 4 designs as per your preference.

Note: Remember that you must rate your most preferred design as 1.

Take the online survey.

Update: The Poll is closed. As per initial reports trickling in from the polling centers, there was a record turnout. The full report with detailed analysis will follow soon as the Polling Commission collates the votes polled.

-Aditya

NCDEX Results out

As the dust settles after some engrossing battles in the first set of elimination rounds, the first set of victors have emerged from the NCDEX Case . Head to the Backwaters 2006 website to know more about them. Congratulations to all of them.

Get ready for the next level of battle that will hit you in a very short while from now.

-Aditya

The carnage has begun

All-riteeeee !!! The fun stuff has started. The elimination rounds of Mall Maul and NCDEX closed an hour back and now the work for getting the responses processed has begun. There were quite a few glitches in the same, some of which were totally unavoidable while a couple were just d-uh!!

On the menu for today are three sizzlers. First up will be the elimination round of Konsultant the systems game. The case for the Wockhardt Live Strategy Case Study will also be made available. And today's offerings will be rounded off with the Second Round of the NCDEX game.

Stay Tuned !

-Aditya

Saturday, January 07, 2006

The website

All right, the website is up. In case you didnt notice it happening, its available at http://www.iimkbackwaters.com and is also accessible through the links on the right side of this blog.

Numerous comments, suggestions and ideas, to the Alpha release, so to speak, of the website, have been incorporated and what you have now in front of you is more or less the final product.

For loyalists of the website, the spiffy flash animations on both the sides have been created in record time by JC and Nitai has made some subtle changes to the layout and layout elements as well.

The launch date for the online games is coming close (its on 8th Jan) and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

And in closing, feel free to post any queries regarding anything and everything as comments to any post on this blog. We will try to reply to the same asap.

-Aditya

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Down the memory lane

As a member of the sTrEAM from the class of 2005, I obviously have a great deal of interest in Backwaters 2006, and its success. As I have mentioned to the current senior sTrEAM, every year, the committee elected in brings its own unique set of ideas and inputs to the festival, making each Backwaters unique and exciting. I believe that it is a great time to be at IIMK in general, and even more so if you are part of the team attempting to make the institute's festival bigger and better than the previous one, for that is certainly the most important goal at a young business school like IIMK. More than any other event, Backwaters is an opportunity to showcase IIMK to the B-school community at large. Although this year's festival is still a couple of weeks away, I am certain that Backwaters 2006 will succeed in raising the bar further than Backwaters 2005 did.

The more some things change, though, the more others stay the same. One feature of every edition of this festival has been the enthusiasm and interest of the entire student community at IIMK; this interest is usually much higher than the committee members themselves realise, and invaluable assistance is often readily offered by the most unexpected quarters. This year too, it is heartening to see that a number of students have gotten involved in very important aspects of the event. As Nitai wrote recently, the role of the sTrEAM is really to facilitate and channel these creative energies in a meaningful way.

The success and growth of this festival is a celebration of the growing confidence and assurance of IIMK itself. Here's to a memorable Backwaters 2006!

-Gaurav

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Take over your fest

Most of the times, it is very difficult to put a name, a figure, an achievement to your feelings and dedicated efforts. Organizing a fest like Backwaters is one such time. For the sTrEAM, which has been meeting every day now for the past one week or so, things are coming to a head. We have always been passionate about the festival but now that it is time to convert that passion into something more concrete, things have started taking a challenging shape.

Starting with the Euphoria concert and our willingness or lack of it, our capability or lack of it to go full steam ahead with it, and moving on to the real organizational aspects of the fest, we have realized one thing for sure. This festival is not owned by just the thirteen of us. The uncountable number of suggestions, comments, and feedback on the site that have been pouring in from both the batches, the readiness with which people have been taking ownership of conducting games at Backwaters, and the support from other interest groups and committees all go on to prove that IIMK is enroute to taking over Backwaters. And are we happy!!!

IIMK student community knows and has been reiterating, much to our pleasure, that their stake in the festival is as big as ours or even bigger. The thirteen of us are merely facilitators (to use Rohit and Aditya's words) who are going to do our best to see to it that everyone gets the right chance to make his/her fest the best in B-school circuit.

So, come along people and fight...for the final frontier looms up in the distance and now is the time to say Har Har Mahadev and charge on the enemy...any and every obstacle that prevents us from making Backwaters a big success.

Let us terminate...with extreme prejudice, if need be.
Let us seek...and destroy, if need be.
Let us annihilate...if need be.
Let us kill...and be killed, if need be.

-Nitai

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Backwaters on the web!

Half the battle remains to be fought and the journey has just begun. Backwaters 2006 is now present on the web at http://www.iimkbackwaters.com.

After much deliberation and many design ideas, trying to relate the imagery to the theme, thinking of words, and finally getting it all together, what we finally accomplished was one mean task. Needless to say, the team working on it was one mean team, as well. With Aditya taking on the concept and design, JC getting in with his ideas, and of course, Naseem, the silent developer from Rubens Media Works getting the implementation right, and above all, the entire IIMK community coming up with ideas and feedback, we were on the right way right from the start.

The theme is all there and the words and layout in place. All that the site needs now is the flash intro that we are working on. I just hope that it comes out as well as the site has. Once this happens, we are ready with the official mailer to launch the site to the world. Online eliminations to the simulation games happening on campus will follow in immediate succession.

There are a few technical things to deal with right now and a lot of testing needs to happen before we send the official mailer out. Compatibility with Mozilla, use of fonts that may not be installed everywhere, verbal re-arrangements are just some of the things that have been hitting us since the morning but I am sure that there will be more.

Waiting for more brickbats than bouquets

-Nitai

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year

Hi all,

On behalf of sTrEAM BACKWATERS and the other sub-sTrEAMs,

I wish you all a Happy New Year.

-Aditya