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I. From The Chairperson’s Desk ...... 3

II. Gurgaon Chapter Meet ...... 4

III. FMCG Week ...... 6

IV. Campus Buzz

a. Independence Day Celebrations ..... 8 b. Riscon ..... 9 c. Sahyog ..... 10 d. League of Titans ..... 11 e. Brand It ..... 12 f. ZEST – Cultutal Extravaganza ..... 13 g. i Lab ...... 14 h. Glibberish ..... 15

V. Alum Musings ...... 16

VI. Q and Alumnus ...... 19

VII. Campus Shots ..... 22

VIII. Reconnect with IMTG Connect ..... 23

Contents

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It gives me immense pleasure to present the second issue of our Alumni Newsletter - ‘Sampark’, for the academic year of 2010.

We have been overwhelmed with the appreciation we received for the last issue of Sampark, and we would like to thank you for your constant support and encouragement. Meanwhile, Alcom has been abuzz with activities. The first Chapter Meet for the year was organized last month at Gurgaon.

Esteemed alumni from across batches graced the event and discussed on the topic ‘IMT and its Alumni-A Symbiosis’. FMCG Week was organized by Alcom in the first week of this month. Speakers from leading FMCG companies delivered guest lectures on upcoming topics relating to the FMCG sector.

I appreciate the untiring efforts and team spirit of our Sampark Team and everyone involved with Sampark, who made this issue a reality.

And as always, receiving insights and perspectives will be invaluable to us, so please feel free to contact us anytime at alumni@imt.edu.

Dr. Vimi Jham

Chairperson

Alumni Relationship Committee

From the Chairperson’s Desk

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The Alumni Relationship Committee of IMT Ghaziabad is actively involved in taking initiatives to strengthen its connect with its illustrious alumni base. One of the major initiatives is organizing Chapters Meets in cities across the country. The first Chapter Meet of the year was ‘The

Gurgaon Chapter Meet’ held on the 28th of August 2010 at Hotel Park Inn, Gurgaon.

The theme of the Gurgaon Chapter Meet was ‘IMT & its Alumni: A Symbiosis’. The intent was to deliberate on new ways to leverage our alumni base so as to build on brand IMT, and to leverage IMT so as build a better network with the alumni.

Mr. Rajeev Karwal and Mr. Debashis Das, founder and President of Alumni Association respectively, marked their presence with valuable inputs. They discussed the current initiatives of ALCOM, offered suggestions for improvement and stressed on the importance of continuous renewal of ideas and initiatives. They together proposed the idea of an Alumni Society, wherein the group of IMT alumni is registered as a separate legal entity.

Gurgaon Chapter Meet

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Through this society, various initiatives can be taken for the alumni base, including a housing society, alumni clubs in major cities across India and other innovative initiatives.

The discussion was carried forward by the keynote speakers

Mr. Naveen Jain (Class of 1994), Mr. Anuj Saxena (Class of 1998) and Mr. Yogendra Jain (Class of 1995). They enriched the discussion with their key inputs and ideas. The discussion reached its pinnacle when it was open to the house. Great ideas and insights were shared by the alumni who actively participated in the discussion.

Mr. Debashis Das concluded the discussion by requesting various batches, especially the most recent alumni batches, to be active and support ALCOM initiatives. The discussion ended with a strong note of enthusiasm to strengthen the ties between the institute and the alumni.

The event turned out to be a huge success. The alumni present at the event ranged right from the first batch to the latest batch i.e. from 1982 to 2010 batch. The discussion was followed by dinner where all the alumni interacted with each other and fondly remembered their college days. It was a great evening for the alumni to meet, interact, discuss with fellow IMTians.

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Among the plethora of events to be organized by the Alumni Relationship Committee of IMT Ghaziabad during the academic year 2010-2011 was the ‘FMCG Week’ held in the month of September, 2010. The week witnessed a series of Guest Lectures for the students by our esteemed alumnus from some of the biggest brands in the FMCG sector. The purpose was to ensure that the students gain an insight of the sector and an enriching experience as they interact with the best minds that have been a part of the industry for long. The week began with Mr. Ashim Nayar, Partner at Agro Food Industries, coming and addressing the students on a distinct group of consumers: ‘pets’. He introduced the students to “pet care and grooming”. Stating the tremendous potential and scope, he gave examples from various parts of the world and drew analogies and differences to those in India. Speaking about different marketing strategies and innovative ideas, he emphasized on research and its importance in this sector and general. Towards the end, Mr. Nayar shared a bit about his journey to success and mantra of doing “work that one loves”. A guest lecture by Mr. Ramarao Dhamija, Group Product Manager Home Care, at Dabur India Ltd, was the perfect food for mind just before IMT’s very own “Pizza Night”. Beginning with the basic terms in marketing, he focused on various marketing and advertisement strategies used by Dabur. He explained the importance of valueswhile marketing a product with the aid of various advertisements which have made a difference for the organization while sharing insights associated and success delivered.

FMCG Week

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In the middle of the week as the excitement reached its zenith while the thirst for knowledge was barely quenched, Mr. Sunayan Mitra, Marketing Manager-Coffee & Beverages, Nestle, visited the campus to talk about “Building Brands” by leveraging consumer insights. He gave examples from the industry to explain the power of values and insights which transcend the barriers of language and borders while building and leveraging brands. As an apt culmination to the week, we had Mr. Ambarish Bandyopadhyay, Regional Sales & Customer Manager at Hindustan Unilever Limited, Kolkata come to IMT and share with students the importance of sales. An informative and entertaining session on Lever’s sales strategy in urban as well as rural markets helped students understand how things are done in real time. He spoke about past and present activities at the organization followed by information on their future plans and how they will go about achieving them. In conclusion, the FMCG Week made its mark on the students by imparting knowledge and deeper insights on the sector. A well blended mixture of fun and learning witnessed great participation and enthusiasm by the students making the event a grand success.

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The auspicious occasion of India’s independence was celebrated with great enthusiasm by the IMT students.

The day began with the flag-hoisting ceremony. The flag was hoisted by our respected dean, Dr. R.K. Chakraborty. This was

followed by a highly motivating speech addressed to the students and faculty. Subsequently, everyone made their way to the amphitheatre, where the students gave some wonderful performances.

An excellent Bharatnatyam performance was given by two first year students. This was followed by a skit and a solo dance performance. Then Make a Difference Foundation (MADF) of IMT distributed clothes to the children of the security guards, sweepers and other staff of the institute. The food in the mess kept the spirits high by offering tri-coloured rice for lunch.

Campus Buzz

Independence Day Celebrations

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Fin-Niche, the finance club of IMT Ghaziabad organized a grand conclave on Contemporary Risk Management. RISCON ’10 was an event designed to help the students understand Risk Management. It comprised of a series of events including technical sessions, debates, panel discussions and paper

presentations, aimed at identifying the sources of risk, measuring the risk and minimizing its severity on business. Speakers from diverse financial domains came to be a part of the conclave. Some of them were: Shree Parthasarathy - Director, Risk Management, Deloitte, Vibha Batra - Co- Head, Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA, K. Ram Mohan - General Manager, Risk Management, Punjab National Bank , A. K. Sharma - General Manager ,Treasury, IOCL, R. J. Masilamani - EX-CEO, Timex India, IIM-A alumnus, P. T. Giridharan - Joint Director, ICAI, Naresh Bishnoi - Director, Risk Management, Religare Enterprises, Dipten Chakroborty - Vice President, Wealth Management, Credit Suisse, Jagannathan Thunuguntla - Equity Head, SMC Capital.

With the presence of such experienced and knowledgeable speakers, the conclave attained its goal of educating the students about risk management and how to minimize its severity on business.

RISCON

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As the Nation celebrated its 63rd year of Independence, MADF- the social club of IMT, contributed its bit by making a difference in the lives of underprivileged people inside as well as outside the campus.

The clothes collection drive in the campus got an overwhelming response from IMT students as the

number of clothes exceeded 600. The MADF team packed around 300 pairs of clothes and distributed them among the needy. The clothes ranged from winter wear to bed sheets and blankets.

The MADF team organized awareness visits in nearby areas to inform people about the initiative, its venue and time. MADF intentionally gave preference to rickshaw pullers over beggars as its motive is not to encourage charity or donation but to empower the people. Coupons were distributed prior to the event to avoid any chaos during the event. After the flag hoisting ceremony and cultural programs on campus, Dr. R.K. Chakraborty, Dean (Academics) and Mr S.K.Singh, Chairman (Student Affairs) handed out clothes and sweets to the people present for the same. The event was well popularised inside the campus through posters, social networking sites and emails which led to large participation in the initiative by the students of IMT.

SAHYOG

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After the first intra IMT sports event ‘Joga Bonito’, the Sports Committee of IMT Ghaziabad followed up with another exciting event ‘Top Spin’ – an intra-college table tennis showdown. The tournament comprised of singles and doubles matches for the men as well ladies. Great skill,

technique and grit were on display as the teams fought the battles on the table and off it as well. Huge crowds turned up to support their team and raised the excitement by a couple of notches. Akarsh Sharma, a participant from a junior team said “When I went two sets to one up, it felt like I was up against more than one player! The crowd support for my opponent was incredible. It changed the game”. The final of the event took place between the dark horses of the tournament, A1 and pre-tournament favourites, HR/IT. The eagerly awaited clash did not disappoint the huge support. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife! At times the match had to be paused mid-way to calm down the crowd. The HR/IT team, held their nerves and beat A1 3-1. In a post-match interview, winning Captain Nishant Dubey cited ‘Practice and Planning’ as the key to their outstanding performance. With two straight wins in two events, the HR/IT team seems set to conquer the ‘League of the Titans’ title.

TOP SPIN – League Of Titans

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BRAND IT, an innovative challenge from the Research and Consultancy Enterprise (RACE), the consultancy club of IMT, Ghaziabad, drew great response from the students. The participants needed to devise a strategy to revitalize one of the five

faded brands in India: The National TV channel-Doordarshan, Lakhani shoes, Hindustan Motors Ambassador, HMT watches and Kesh Nikhar soap. The event was divided into two rounds where each team had to choose the brand to re-brand and give their analysis on it. The selection criteria for the first round focused on the brand (not the product), originality of the analysis and relevance of the questionnaire. On the basis of the analysis done in the first round, 8 teams were selected for the next round. In the second round, teams were required to get the questionnaire filled, and based on this feedback they presented a strategy to revive the brand. Flexibility in terms of redesigning the logo, changing the slogan or the advertising strategy etc. was given to the teams. The short listed teams presented their branding and promotion strategy to Dr. Rajat Gera, renowned Marketing faculty at IMT Ghaziabad.

BRAND IT

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The Cultural Committee of IMT Ghaziabad brought in a dose of fun and entertainment to the campus through Zest- the intra college Cultural Night . 'Zest’ showcased the talent of the new entrants in the college, bringing them under the limelight. The

event gave the freshers a much needed break from the hectic MBA schedule. The over-whelming response from the students in terms of participation and the enthusiasm among the crowd made it a grand success. The amphitheatre was buzzing with excitement and showcased the famed ’Never dying spirt’ of IMTians. The event kick started with a captivating performance by the in-house Eastern band. Their performance mesmerized everyone and left the audience craving for more. It was followed by an interesting contemporary skit, and then by a power-packed Bhangra performance. The momentum of the electrifying performance was carried forward by vocal and dance performances. The Mr and Ms Fresher competition was the highlight of the evening with each section nominating a girl and a boy to compete for the esteemed title. The crowd was divided amongst different sections and each section cheered their participants to the hilt. The final attraction was a smashing performance by the Western band which left everyone in high spirits for the freshers party which was to be continued in the Basket Ball court till the wee hours.

ZEST: The Cultural Extravaganza

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2nd September 2010 was a significant day for IMT Ghaziabad. E-Cell (the Entrepreneurial Cell of IMT Ghaziabad) launched the ‘Innovation Lab’ to encourage and support budding

entrepreneurs.

The launch was inaugurated through a workshop by Mr. David Wittenberg, Founder and CEO of The Innovation Workgroup. A versatile and ingenious business leader, he has over 30 years of experience in companies such as American Express, AT&T, Philip Morris, Standard & Poor’s, UPS, Reliance Industries, Tata and Ericsson. Mr. David Wittenberg delivered interesting and meaningful insights on how to become a successful entrepreneur and emphasized on the power of new and creative ideas. He spoke about an inspiring three step idea generation model- “Discover”, “Invent” and “Refine”. The workshop was followed by a short presentation on the Innovation Lab by Mr. Bipul Kumar, coordinator of E-Cell. He explained the unique concept of this platform where the only pre requisite was a strong entrepreneurial desire. He also explained the three phases in which the Lab would work. This was aimed at exposing the students to various stages of the entrepreneurial value chain- from the development of a business idea to finally becoming a successful entrepreneur.

I-LAB

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Mr. Sachin and Mr.Shishir, who are part of NITEE (Network of ICT Entrepreneurs and Enterprises), also shared important entrepreneurial insights with the students. The main objective of the Innovation Lab is to provide the students with a cognitive environment where they can generate and evaluate ideas. According to Mr.Imran, Coordinator of Innovation Lab, they would support and guide students who have an entrepreneurial desire and not necessarily a Business Plan. Literati, the literary club of IMT Ghaziabad, kick started its calendar with a fun JAM session- ‘Glibberish’. The event was based on the ‘Just a Minute’ concept which tests the verbal skills and the thought process of the participants. Mr. Rahul Subramanian, student of 2009-11 batch and JAM Master for the event, kept the crowd entertained and engaged. The session consisted of multiple rounds with students being given wild and crazy topics to speak on. Glibberish 2010 was an out and out fun event, enjoyed by participants and viewers alike. A great start to Literati’s journey this year!

Glibberish

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The blog in feature in this issue of Sampark is “VolksWagen Audio Ad in Newspaper - Thoughless” by Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Marketing Manager, Defiance Technologies, who is also the Vice President-North Zone of the Alumni Association.

Volkswagen was audacious enough to attach an audio device to their full page print ad in the Times of India and the Hindu (Chennai edition). When it came in, I first felt a sense of curiosity followed by disgust, both as a marketer and as an private citizen. Lot of people told me since the morning about the ad. Tonnes of blogging has happened raving about the ‘buzz’ created by this crazy device. I asked several people what

they thought of it and there was unanimity about this being unconventional (or more dreadfully, the new conventional). However, I asked several people to tell me which specific model of Volkswagen was the ad for, and no one could answer. Some people could merely say it was some car company, and not even (unaided) recall the brand, forget the model ( it is ‘Vento’, just in case you need this assistance).

Alum Musings

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The second thing appalling is despite the money blown, the message is the same staid message (in content and delivery both). Imagine the signature BMW roar coming from the device and it would possibly become a collector’s item, at least for a few. Look at the message payload itself – Best in class German Engineering. So, what is the call for action? Danke. Jessie Paul points out the standalone nature of this campaign, due to which effectiveness could be questionable.

The third appalling aspect is the lack of a shut off button. After a few seconds the device is a nuisance on the table. How are they supposed to be shut off? The device batteries are supposed to die down? If

that’s the case, it’s quite crazy indeed. I could not find any instruction on how to shut it off. The damn device kept repeating the same one line ad-nauseum till I had to do this to it.

Would it have exploded if I had put this in water ? – I did not take a chance. The last concern is quite serious – environmental. I looked all through, there is no safe disposal instruction included. No talk of collection centers that would take these devices back. Also, there is no mention of the radiation coming out of the device. I would consider both these as hygiene factors in today’s environment. It was bad enough to cut so many trees to print full page ad, and it was much worse to add plastic,

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batteries, circuit board, IC Chip, magnet, wires and so on to the whole mix. Wish they had spent a few more pennies and made a reprogrammable device that for example, it could work as a media player. That would have made sure tomorrow morning garbage bins in many houses do not have this chirpy piece of hardware, as I suspect would happen in large numbers. Volkswagen Vento, thanks for coming over, but your folks let you down! More articles by Mr. Rajesh Kumar may be found here www.yaxislive.com

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Mr. Tufail Hussain Matto, Commisioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, who is an IMT Alumnus from the Class of 1987, speaks to Alumni Relationship Committee, IMT Ghaziabad. In the Q & A, Mr. Matto elaborates on importance of MBA, his life and time at college, summing up with a message for students and fellow alumni.

Q: What were your most memorable moments?

A: My most memorable moments were probably when I moved into IMT hostel. The life and the living style we had in hostel took me to a different platter in the sense that I became quite independent. Before that, I was totally dependent on my family; in fact the exposure which I received there helped me in my personality development.

Q: Anything you really loved in or about IMT?

A: What I loved about IMT was the ‘Babas Chai’ and the Bread Pakora which he used to make, especially the fresh ones. I never missed out on the paranthas that we would get at the chungi which was the nearest food eating joint for us, where truckers would normally stop. What used to happen that time was 8-15 guys would go out at night and everybody would give money and

Q and Alumnus

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ask them to bring 2 -3 paranthas for them as well. Thats how life used to go on at that time.

Q: Something you would have liked to change about IMT?

A: Nothing much only that time the hostels had very ordinary stuff, but we were happy with what we had. But, no I believe the hostels have got upgraded and have got all the finer things as required.

Q: How important has an MBA been for your career?

A: It has been the key thing in my life which took me from nothing to everything. I really value having done the same from IMT and consider it as the best thing that could have had happened to me.

Q: Back then when you got placed what was the most important goal for you?

A: At that time it was surging ahead, getting the best possible things and best possible positions in life in shortest possible time, which everyone wants i.e. getting into the top spot in shortest time

Q: What had been your most important learnings ?

A: Everything that was taught. Every bit of it has been a major part of my learning. I started in a corporate set up and ended in a sarkari job. Working for MNC, where everything was professional was very different than working for Govt where people project

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themselves as something they are not, and then surviving under such circumstances needs professional knowledge which I received from my MBA. Thats how the polishing bit was done otherwise, probably, I wouldn’t have been so much outspoken and confident.

Q: Any message for fellow alumni and present students?

A: For present students, it would be - keep up the flag. While for fellow alumni, they have been already holding the fort. IMTians are welcomed in all the companies and that is how they can take it forward or have taken it.

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Campus Shots

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The Sampark Team

Compiled By:

Yupesh Nagrani Ashutosh Bihani Aseem Sharma Mithil Jain

Nakshatra Bhatt Sandeep Rawat

For Queries and Suggestions,

Please feel free to mail us at alumni@imt.edu

Register now at www.imtgconnect.com