Reporting an event : A first for me (Part 2)...

Reporting an event : A first for me (Part 2)...

This is a continuation of  a 2 part blog sharing my pre and post event press releases of a live event, reporting under the guidance of Dr. Smita Mishra.

Post-Event Press Release                                                  

International Conference on Guru Nanak's Philosophy and Legacy

(Celebrating 550 Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak)

Venue: Master Tara Singh Auditorium(SGTB Khalsa College)

Date: 22-23 February 2019

Time: 10.00 am

Two days international conference on Guru Nanak concluded at Khalsa College

Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, University of Delhi,  under the patronage of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee successfully organized a two-day international conference on  Guru Nanak's Philosophy and Legacy  to mark and celebrate the 550^th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The event brought together  more than fifty experts and delegates from across the country and even abroad. Dr. Jaswinder Singh, Principal of the College, Delhi welcomed the esteemed guests and dignitaries. Explaining the significance of the event, he expressed his satisfaction in how the institution is playing a key role in promoting and propagating Sikh and Punjabi Studies which are a reflection of Guru Nanak’s philosophy.

Tarlochan Singh, College Governing Body and ex Rajya Sabha Member gave the chairman’s address. Honorable Chief Guest, Union Minister of State of Housing and Urban Affairs, S. Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the event.Mr. Puri addressing a packed auditorium said the sustainable development goals find resonance with the efforts taken up by the great Sikh guru, Guru Nanak more than 500 years ago. Former Ambassador, U.S.A  retired IFS S.Navtej Singh Sarna was also present to grace the occasion. In his keynote address, he stressed primarily upon the importance of actual interpretation of Guru Nanak’s philosophy teachings and ideologies and the positive impact it can have on the future generations. Former MLA and President(SGPC) Bhai Govind Singh Longowal along with S.Harmeet Singh Kalka (Acting President of DSGMC) & S.Manjinder Singh Sirsa (General Secretary of DSGMC) Amritsar were also present in the event.

The morning session started by honoring the renowned dignitaries following which the  eminent scholars gave their respective speeches on the influence of  Guru Nanak’s philosophies, theories, and principles on societies across the globe. Scholars included Prof. Himadri Banerjee, Jadavpur University, Prof.Dr Kazi Nurul Islam, President, International Association for Religious Freedom, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Professor(Retd.)Jai Bhagwan Goel from Kurukshetra University; Dr.M Muthu Mohan,Kamaraj University, Madurai; Dr Balbinder Singh Bhogal, Professor of Religion and Chairperson, Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair of Sikh Studies, Hofstra University, New York, USA, Dr. Francesca Cassio, Professor of Music Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair of Sikh Musicology Hofstra University, New York, USA.

Post lunch event  continued  with the theme ‘Guru Nanak and Traditions in Sikh Musicology’ chaired by Dr. Gurnam Singh, Chairperson, Gurmat Sangeet, Punjabi University, Patiala along with Co-chair Dr. Frencesca Cassio, New York, Dr. Kuldeep Kaur Pahwaand Dr. Vanita from SGTB Khalsa College was also present. The day’s event came to a conclusion with Sufi singer Rabbi Shergil music performance.

The 2^nd day (23^rd Feb) started with two technical sessions which emphasized primarily on Guru Nanak’s philosophy and his legacy. Renowned media critique and Hindi scholar Dr. Sudhish Pachauri, Former Pro VC, University of Delhi chaired the event along with co-chair Dr.  Mohinder Singh, Director, Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Delhi. The session with the theme ‘Guru Nanak and Philosophical Perspectives’ hosted many established scholars and philosophers in their respective domains. Dr.I.N Choudhary , Former Secretary, Sahitya Academy expressed his views on Sikhism as a religion of love, service, and sacrifice, while Dr.Harbans Singh, Associate Professor, SGTB Khalsa College laid stress on the benevolence Sikhism is associated with. Dr.Kamaljeet Singh, Associate Professor K.R.M.D.A.V College, Nakodar, on the other hand, showed an economic paper on Guru Nanak and labor economics which laid emphasis on the type of labor proposed by Guru Nanak, making the audience and the session more inquisitive. She concluded with the importance of kindness and why it is important to give something back to society. The second session with ‘Legacy of Guru Nanak’ as its theme saw esteemed guests express their valued thoughts. Starting the session as co-chair Co-Chair-Dr. Bhagwan Josh-Professor(Rtd.), JNU quoted a Punjabi poet  and explained the role of Buddha,Guru Nanak and Kabir in defining values in the societies through their preachings. S.Paramjeet Singh Sarao, Additional Secretary ,SGPC recalled the thoughts of Guru Nanak in his own words. Dr.Amanpreet Singh Gill, SGTB Khalsa College, in his thought-provoking address said that Guru Nanak was living in the phase of second globalization. His teachings are acknowledged worldwide. The conference came to a successful conclusion with a valedictory session in the end. Dr.Charan Singh RBI Chair Professor, IIM Bangaluru, Chairman, Punjab and Sind Bank chaired the concluding session of the conference along with S. Harmohinder Singh Chancellor, Central University, Himachal Pradesh as the co-chair. Notable Dignitaries from the country and abroad were present to give a fitting farewell to this grand event. These included Bhai Maninder Pal Singh, Chairman, Punjabi Parcharni Sabha, Delhi, S.Sukhi Bath , Founder, Punjab Bhawan, Surrey, Canada, and S.Sukhi Bath, Founder, Punjab Bhawan, Surrey, Canada. Dr.Charan Singh ending the session on a high and positive note expressed his valuable thoughts through his concluding address which summed up the entire conference.

*NOTE- This blog is a result of collaborative contribution of the MEDIA TEAM members of the above-mentioned event. I thank Mr. Sunil Karare, Ms.Susmita Modak, Mr.Karan Raj Singh, Mr.Yashwendra, Mr.Ravi Shankar, Mr.Ankur, Mr.Lokesh, Ms.Prableen for their hard work and dedication towards successfully reporting this event.

Content Courtesy -  Mr. Karan Raj Singh ,Ms.Susmita Modak, Mr.Yashwendra

Media Team Head & Co-ordinator - Dr. Smita Mishra

Reporting an event : A first for me (Part 1)

Reporting an event : A first for me (Part 1)….

This is a 2 part blog sharing my pre and post event press releases of a live event, reporting under the guidance of Dr. Smita Mishra.

Pre-Event Press Release                         

International Conference on Guru Nanak's Philosophy and Legacy

(Celebrating 550 Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak)

Venue: Master Tara Singh Auditorium(SGTB Khalsa College)

Date: 22-23 February 2019

Time: 10.00 am

Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, University of Delhi, is organizing a two-day International Conference on Guru Nanak's Philosophy and Legacy on 22nd-23rd February 2019 to mark and celebrate the 550^th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion who is revered throughout the world. In this conference, the college endeavors to remember his shared legacy in the sub-continent and at the same time vouch to recognize and highlight the contributions of various scholars in the field of Sikh studies.

Jointly organized by SGTB Khalsa college under the patronage of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, the event will be spread across two days (22^nd-23^rd February) comprising of various sessions. The event will feature and bring together notable scholars, diplomats‚ bureaucrats, artists, political and social thinkers from across the sub-continent.

Day 1:

On 22^nd February, Friday, the conference will commence with the inaugural session comprising of the inauguration and honoring ceremony followed by the chairman’s address. Honorable Chief Guest S. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State, Housing and Urban Affairs, GOI will address the august gathering, following which keynote address will be given by S.Navtej Singh Sarna, IFS (Rtd.), Former Ambassador, U.S.A. Bhai Gobind Singh Longowal (President of SGPC),S.Harmeet Singh Kalka (Acting President of DSGMC), S.Manjinder Singh Sirsa (General Secretary of DSGMC) and S .Roop Singh (Chief Secretary SGPC)will be the Guests of Honour. College Principal, Dr Jaswinder Singh will welcome the guests.

In the morning session notable speakers will express their views and opinions on wide arrays and domains of Sikh studies and ideologies. The session will be chaired by Dr. Jaspal Singh, Member, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, GOI and co-chaired by Prof. Himadri Banerjee Dept. of History, Jadavpur University.

The day’s event will conclude with an afternoon session post lunch with the theme ‘Guru Nanak and Traditions in Sikh Musicology’ chaired by Dr. Gurnam Singh, Chairperson, Gurmat Sangeet, Punjabi University, Patiala along with co-chair Dr. Frencesca Cassio, Chairperson, Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair of Sikh Musicology, Hofstra University, New York, USA Patiala. Eminent artist & Sufi singer Rabbi Shergil along with other renowned personalities will grace this session.

Day 2:

The 2^nd day (23^rd February)will start with two technical sessions emphasizing primarily on Guru Nanak’s philosophy and his legacy. The first session with the theme ‘Guru Nanak and Philosophical Perspectives’ will  be chaired by Dr. Sudhish Pachauri, Former Pro VC, University of Delhi and along with co- chair Dr.  Mohinder Singh, Director, Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Delhi. The second session with ‘Legacy of Guru Nanak’  as its theme will be chaired by Dr.Mridula Mukherjee, former Director, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi with co-chair Dr. Bhagwan Josh, Professor (Rtd.), JNU. Renowned Scholars and professors will be sharing their conclusive point of view and express their valued thoughts with the gathered audience on their respective themes.

The conference will conclude with a valedictory session in the esteemed presence of Dr. Charan Singh RBI Chair Professor, IIM Bangaluru, Chairman, Punjab and Sind Bank chairing the session along with S. Harmohinder Singh Chancellor, Central University, Himachal Pradesh as the co-chair.

*NOTE- This blog is a result of collaborative contribution of the MEDIA TEAM members of the above-mentioned event. I thank Mr. Sunil Karare, Ms.Susmita Modak, Mr.Karan Raj Singh, Mr.Yashwendra, Mr.Ravi Shankar, Mr.Ankur, Mr.Lokesh, Ms.Prableen for their hard work and dedication towards successfully reporting this event.

Content Courtesy -  Mr. Karan Raj Singh, Ms.Susmita Modak, Mr.Yashwendra

Media Team Head & Co-ordinator - Dr. Smita Mishra

Digital Marketing : An Effective Marketing Tool in the Film Business

Filmein sirf teen cheezon ki wajah se chalti hain.. 

Entertainment, Entertainment aur Digital Marketing….!!

With the increasing rise of Over the top (OTT) platforms and a multitude of activities for the youth to participate in on a weekend, ensuring that people come to watch a box-office release has become a challenge. With an average time of 3-4 weeks a film screens(gaining particularly on weekends) in the theatres, reaching the right set of audience and making them turn up and make it a box-office success requires keeping them excited and involved in the film right from the days of the making to post-launch. And this is where Digital Marketing can play a pivotal role. 

Digital Marketing comprises a plethora of activities like live streaming of music launches, hang out with the crew, film-based games, social media contests, YouTube Videos, Live chats, and digital interviews and a lot more. All this does not only help in keeping the audience engaged but it also develops an emotional bond. But, the best advantage of Digital marketing is that it’s ROI(return on investment) can be effectively measured and the strategy can be dynamically adjusted.

Different platforms can be leveraged in different ways. YouTube is the biggest platform that can be used for film promotions. It reaches to millions of video watching audience every day. It is a cost-effective way to reach to a specified target audience. Teasers & Trailers are just the tip of the iceberg. Actors sharing their views in press conferences and giving interviews to a multitude of Bollywood channels can hold the attention of the audience. Film based games can only add to the fun and let people experience the characters.

With the highest number of active users just from India, Facebook (313 Million) and YouTube(281 Million) are the most popular active digital platforms to market your product. It is one of the best ways to create awareness and reach to an audience before the release of a film. Following are some things that the marketing team of a film does :

1) Pre-release Video Advertising - Teasers and song videos play a huge role. Teasers are small glimpse and snapshots of a film which keeps the audience excited, usually launched months before the release. Songs play an immense role in gaining popularity for a film and also subconsciously keeps the audience aware of the film through radio and audio streaming platforms.

2) Engaging Audience during the making of the film - posting photos and videos of shooting locations , actor' outfits, making-of videos, and other content through popular platforms like Instagram and Snapchat .They are not only entertaining but keeps the audience hooked.

3) Let audience experience the film - posting stills of many scenes or actors with captions. This makes people play the guessing game and they started to predict the film’s plot.

4) Fun Activities - Challenge videos, Tik-Tok competitions and selfie dare’s are some example. This can help keep people engaged post the film’s  release as well. A recent example being Gully Boy promoting the film by asking people to rap on the film’s soundtracks which gained huge popularity.

5) Contests and Quiz - contests like meet the star casts of the film and social media quizzes are all part of digital marketing engaging more and more people.

6) Endorsements by other actors - every actor has their own fan following on social media platforms. Any positive word by them always garners a positive response. These platforms can especially be leveraged to extend the life of a film beyond the 70mm screens.

So, we see that digital marketing is not limited in scope to products and services. It has started seeping into different domains – any domain where a reach to the audience or consumer is required. Traditional marketing is not enough for the promotion to be complete. To reach your target segment effectively you need to follow a 360⁰ approach, one which is incomplete without the ambit of digital marketing and especially social media.

GAME ON….!!

GAME ON….!!

India- the next e-gaming hub?

India, one of the fastest paced countries on earth has always been in light due to its active participation in almost every field. But is it really much into the gaming industry that has its deep roots in almost every developed country?

The first thing that contributes is the crowd that is targeted by a sector, which in this case is youth. India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. So is it all that a market need, I guess not because an economy of a country is also a clamp that needs to be taken care of. And in this case, India has always been struggling.

Gaming as an entertainment needs gadgetry that could loosen up some pockets, so for some it was a nightmare. But this was taken care of, when some popular games like PUBG(players unknown battleground), Clash of Clans and other battle royale games were introduced on mobile platform.

                           

Acknowledging India's increasing contribution in gaming, now companies are trying to syringe the Indian themed games into the market like "Teen Patti" and rummy. This is a new era in gaming that allowed gamers to participate in PVP(player vs player) battles and acted as a catalyst and jump-started the sector.

According to a recent KPMG report - a significant population of heavy gamer(s) uses mobile phones as the primary device to play online games. Higher tendency to recreate and utilize idle time through gaming drives this trend. So the analysis of device preference was plotted as

• MOBILE - 88 %
• PC/LAPTOP -  10 %
• TABLETS  -  2 %

This demographic strengthens the point of mobile devices that are dominant among online gamers. Larger screen size in low-cost mobile devices increased the compatibility of games with mobile screens and mobility factor are key reasons for the popularity of mobile phone gaming in India. This further boosted when some of the mobile manufacturing companies like Xiaomi, realme, and others were able to make quick fortunes by serving cheaper handsets with optimized performance for gaming.

Gamification ( gaming applications used in non-gaming activities) is a trend among some corporate industries, which are trying to use games as a tool to create simulations of real-life scenarios to enhance the operations and employee to customer relations. In India, gamification has opened windows for the gaming industries to develop a new genre of games. Globally gamification has proved a valuable platform for companies, some examples include

• E-commerce sector used games such as spin a wheel, bid price and many more to engage with customers and employees.
• Technology companies use simulation games to interact with employees to enhance their skills.
• Many Education portals use games to improve teaching methods.
• Simulation-based games provide an interaction with the scenarios like driving, military operations or even healthcare to be conducted more efficiently.

The next phase of Indian online gaming will comprise of an ecosystem of engaged gamers and designers, investments empowered developers and marketers working together to make India a global success through locally themed games. Along term success will be with excellence in graphics and adoption to upcoming innovations in smartphones.

The true face of the so-called Egalitarian Politics.

The true face of the so-called Egalitarian                                Politics.

   

Just like a menu card of an overhyped restaurant looks like, lush with delicious food items and delicacies, but far from what is being served, the politics of India, or more appropriately the politicians of our country have a lot to say but little to offer. They are like those seasoned birds of the far north which just emerge out of their comfortable natural habitat (the government provided larger than life accommodations) for a brief period of time (pre-election campaigns) to go out in the  wilderness far from their home(their constituencies) to mate(interact with the aam “Janta”) or lay their eggs(instill their false ideologies and promises in the minds of innocent people).The war of words broken between any two political parties during this honeymoon period has grown to an extent where there are no limitations and boundaries as to what is moral and ethical. The acrimonious debates and speeches have an objective to demean the opponent rather than confront with legitimate data.

Recently the politics of India has taken a different form and shape when compared to the earlier ones , where the war was played on ground and screens rather than in personal life of politicians. Earlier, political party leaders though lambasting their rivals with objective criticism , always had a certain degree of respect towards each other . But how this politics has taken a sudden new profile, which is much more unethical and heading towards a politics of polarization is a question into perspective. Adverse results of which are shaping up in a scenario where the political parties are trying to polarize the voters and trying to form a name for their party as a symbol of a particular caste or religion. Today our nation has many examples of such kind of parties that try to divide our country. When these parties come into power they try to do good for their symbolic caste or creed an example of this was the implementation of reservation for minorities.

The media has tons of records where such derogatory comments were served in public. The fundamental problem lies in viewing voting as a purpose of self-interest, but we should be aware that is it ethically and constitutionally a better choice. Our constitution has provided with such a framework that a person without having any educational qualifications could savor the powers(perhaps the standard of language), thus such people try every means to gain votes. Either we talk about giving money in return for votes or playing the religion or caste cards. Politics must be carried out in such a way that it could serve as a platform of learning to youngsters but rather it has grown vile enough that it's better to refrain from it.

Thus a suggestion could be to follow a selective policy instead of elective one.