What IIM Calcutta and IIT Kharagpur learnt from holding their fests and meets online

An escape from the rigour of the classroom, a platform to showcase talent, or a space to network and make new friends -- fests and meets are an important part of college life. It was one of the aspects of campus life that was thoroughly disrupted by the pandemic in the past year and several institutes are taking their calendar events online to adapt to the ‘new normal’.

We caught up with the coordinators of IIM-C’s 7 Lakes Fest and the Entrepreneurship Cell at IIT Kharagpur to know about their learnings from holding their events online.

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta: 7 Lakes Fest

The students of IIM-C launched the inaugural edition of the 7 Lakes Fest virtually. It's named after the scenic spots on the Joka campus.

Held from December 25 to 27, 7 Lakes Fest incorporated business, cultural and sports events. Over 200 institutes including IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow and XLRI Jamshedpur signed up for more than 60 events. A total cash prize of Rs 10 lakh was up for grabs.

The 7 Lakes Fest combined the 28-year legacy of IIM-C’s marquee events -- the cultural festival Carpe Diem and the business summit Intaglio.

The three-day event featured a wide range of areas, from consulting and marketing to finance, operations, analytics, entrepreneurship, and even dance and a virtual marathon, said Chinmay Wazalwar and Sankalp Pahade, second-year students of IIM Calcutta, and overall co-ordinators of 7 Lakes Fest.

Here are Chinmay and Sankalp’s takeaways:

-- The theme of 7 Lakes Fest echoed the effort behind it, and we worked hard to capitalise on new opportunities of the post-pandemic world. Even though it wasn’t a smooth ride, we conducted over 60 events in the very first edition.

-- The pandemic has created a paradigm shift, causing the entire fest to move to a virtual mode. We leveraged the widespread reach and convenience of online platforms to target high participation, but the path was beset with various challenges pertaining to the ideation, design of events and sponsorship.

-- Since there was no need for travel, participants from across India showed enthusiasm. With over 300 colleges, we saw a 60% increase in participation, apart from 3 million views on social media.

-- Many potential sponsors and partners were hesitant to sponsor a virtual event. So, traditional banners were replaced by digital posters and video ads, and the targeting of events and audiences became much more specific.

Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kharagpur: The Local Startup Meet 2020 and Entrepreneurship Awareness Drive 2020

The Entrepreneurship Cell of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur decided not only to adapt to the change but embrace it. With the objective of mitigating COVID-induced losses and reinforcing the Indian start-up community, the Cell decided to revamp its internal structure in keeping with changes brought by the pandemic.

After over 350 hours of internal conferencing, The Local Startup Meet 2020 came to fruition in November 2020. The Meet impacted more than 100 start-ups over the course of a month through panel discussions, pitching, workshops and pre-mentoring.

The Entrepreneurship Awareness Drive 2020, conducted online in over 15 Indian cities, encouraged more than 1,000 students to venture into 7 entrepreneurship sectors. Despite the financial crunch, the Entrepreneurship Cell partnered with corporates like Amazon and Novartis, securing deals worth Rs 20-plus lakh, and associated with more than 30 venture capital firms to support the Indian start-up ecosystem.

However, pulling off such an event was a “Herculean task of micromanagement”, said Ashish Gokarnkar, Senior Manager of the Entrepreneurship Cell, and a third-year student of IIT Kharagpur.

“While we were hit hard in the area of sponsorships, our reduced cash outflow optimised this drawback. As every decision was taken through a distant communication flow and the events were conducted online, we were anxious about achieving the desired impact. Despite the lack of opportunities and reduced coordination, the dedication and grit of the entire team made this event successful,” added Ashish.