Day 343 - 28th November 2011

Got back to campus by 2 in the morning and slept for a good 8 hours. Had a late start to the day with a CIM lecture post lunch. The lecture covered the various sampling techniques used in qualitative research and how it is different from sampling in quantitative research. Also had a session on various the current scenario of various types of industries as a build up to the placement week. The industries discussed were retail and IT. The session went on till 9 in the night. Dinner in the mess was south indian food, which meant there was a huge exodus of people to Chota. Decided to go out to a chinese place nearby called crazy noodles, a very 'hatke' restaurant which serves decent food. Got back to campus by 11 in the night. Placecomm had a batch meet at midnight regarding the placement week. Spent the next couple of hours discussing the placement scenario with quite a few people at aamchair. Before I could realise it was nearly 4 in the morning. Have an early morning start tomorrow, hope to wake up on time!

Day 342 - 26th November 2011

Had the business conclave for the alumni today. Alumni who have done well for themselves in different industries shared their experiences after graduating from here. Most of them have spent more than 10 years in the industry and had a lot of interesting anecdotes to share. The common piece of advice that all of them gave was to read as much as possible and make the most of the facilities available in the library. Personally, I liked the idea of the conclave a lot as there was an instant connect with the alumni once they started speaking about their life at MICA. Post lunch was busy with some MCSA work. Had to pack and leave in the evening for Bombay. Going for a day for a family function. The next post will be once I am back.

Day 341 - 25th November 2011

Had a rest day today on account of the grand alumni meet. Woke up at around 1030 and did some general tp. Played box cricket in the Gulmohar courtyard with the standard 'one tip one hand' rule. Had a ppt in the afternoon which went on for nearly a couple of hours. Got done with that by around 530 after which I came back to the room and slept off. Was woken up at 620 since the buses for Natrani were supposed to leave at 630. Sankalp stages their annual play at Natrani which is an open air theatre on the banks of the Sabarmati river every winter. The play is staged on Friday. Saturday and Sunday with  the Friday performance for MICAns and the other two days for the general public. The play was pretty decent with some really good performances. Sankalp had arranged for buses to ferry the student community to and from Natrani. An important discovery was the cafe at Natrani which serves amazing sandwiches and juices. Got back to campus by 11 and caught up with some of our seniors who have come down for the alumni meet. Have another rest day tomorrow, so can take the liberty of sleeping in!

Day 340 - 24th November 2011

Had a rest day today on account of the grand alumni meet and Natrani over the  weekend. The day started off with the pgp-2 womens' cricket match. Quite a festive atmosphere at the cricket ground with quite a lot of spectators who came to witness the action. The ladies were as competitive if not more than the boys, with some brutal sledging happening on and off the field :P All in good humour though. The match was a closely fought one though with the result being decided only in the last over. Post the match MCSA work kept me busy for a good 4 hours! Had to go to the city in the evening to pick up sandals. Got back by 9, dinner was at Chota courtesy the mess food. Some of the alumni have already started coming in. More are expected over the next couple of days. Should be fun!

Day 339 -23rd November 2011

Had a late start to the day with a CIM lecture at 2 in the afternoon. The prof go us to do a role play where we were the research agency and he was the client who had come to us with a marketing problem. We had to ask relevant questions and come up with a research proposal which had to be OK with the client. The learning that came out was that while developing a  qualitative research we have to be as imaginative as possible. Had film studies class in the evening which had two film screenings - The Return a russian movie about how two brothers deal with the return of their father who deserted them 12 years back and The Barbarian Invasions a canadian french movie which shows how a man spends his last few days with his near and dear ones. The screenings got done by 1 in the morning after which came back to the room and surfed the net before calling it a day. 

Day 338 - 22nd November 2011

Had a 930 ROMI class in the morning but decided to sleep in and go for the second lecture. As has always been the case my luck in choosing classes to bunk has always backfired. Got to know that a graded assignment was being taken in class. Ishan (my neighbour) and I rushed to class to submit the assignment. After the class got over, we had a pre placement talk in the audi. Was free post lunch which meant another 3 hour siesta! Had a film screening in the evening. We were shown The Passion of Joan of Arc a silent movie which was made nearly 100 years ago in France. After the movie screening got back to reading Sacred Hoops. Finished reading the book by midnight. Harsha Bhogle had referred to this book when he had come to SAP, a good read on leadership and people management. Went to Chota for a midnight snack with Kalkar and ended up spending a good 45 minutes out there. Have a late start tomorrow with classes beginning only at 2 in the afternoon, cant wait to wake up late! :P

Day 337 - 21st November 2011

Had a 930 start today with a double session on CIM which was about a qualitative research is designed. The prof. gave a few cases that had the problems faced by clients and he took us through how the research question and the accompanying methodology could be formulated. Didnt have any classes after CIM, which meant I came back to the room and slept off for a good 2 hours. By the time I woke up, lunch time at the mess was over so had to settle for lunch at Chota. Started reading a book which I had ordered last week and was delivered today. Its called Sacred Hoops and is written by Phil Jackson, the former coach of the Chicago Bulls in which he writes about the techniques he used to get the Chicago Bulls together during their purple patch in the early 90's. He also speaks about how spirituality helped him in some of the techniques he used. Read the book for a good 3-4 hours.

Sankalp's annual performance at Natrani is scheduled to happen this weekend and in an effort to creating buzz around the play they got the mess decorated during dinner time in tune with the name of the play 'The Party' with the actors performing one of the scenes from the play. Post dinner continued reading and took a break for a 'C-9' session ;-) More about C-9 in a later post. Have an early morning start tomorrow so but the afternoon sleep will ensure that I dont sleep before 4 in the night/morning.

Day 336 - 20th November 2011

Had our make or break MCL game in the morning, which we ended up losing by 14 runs. So that marks the end of the MCL for the Chatur Chachas. Had a full day of classes line up after that. BA continued with behavioural sciences and how the brain functions and its application in retail marketing. It was also the last session of the course. Caught up on some sleep in the lunch break between BA and the course on FMCG branding. Had missed the first half of the FMCG branding course since I was travelling on FIF1 work. The course was conducted by a brand manager from HUL who took us through the brand management framework used by them. The thing I liked about the course was that apart from showing what worked in the market, he also took us through campaigns that bombed in the market. Learning from mistakes is a highly effective method. Got done with classes by 6 post which was doing general tp and reading some stuff off the net. Have a lot of books in the pipeline which I want to read, should start sometime soon. MCSA work took over after dinner, which incidentally was quite good today with Hot and Sour soup being the highlight. Saw a couple of episodes of Futurama before calling it a day. 

Day 335 - 19th November 2011

Managed to wake up on time for the BA class in the morning. But the lack of sleep meant that though the class was interesting, had to keep fighting sleep to pay attention. The sessions continued from where we had left off last week. How the brain functions and how we construct ideas/memory based on a context that is prevalent. Some examples from certain marketing gimmicks were explained as to how one option was made to look superior compared to another. Class got done by 1145 after which I was free for the rest of the day. Had a 3 hour long siesta, could have been longer had it not been for a phone call. Played cricket in the evening for a good hour and a half. Have an MCL game tomorrow which is a sudden death match. The match is at 7 in the morning followed by classes till 8 in the night! And we thought Sunday's were there to relax.

Day 334 - 18th November 2011

Had a very early start to the day with a pre placement talk at 830 in the morning. Wore formals after nearly 5 months! The talk lasted for about an hour and was followed by a class on ROMI which dealt with various brand valuation models. Came back to the room and caught up on some sleep. Had to do that since there was a 6 hour marathon class on EBM. The sessions today dealt with the radio industry. The visiting faculty had worked with Radio Mirchi for 7 years and shared a lot of information and insights about how the radio business works. The business of running a radio station was explained pretty well. There is tremendous scope for growth  of this medium in India, which we should see over the next 3-4 years. At the beginning what looked like a daunting 6 hour session actually moved like quite a breeze. Some innovative marketing campaigns through radio which involved telecom, automobile, FMCG and even and media and entertainment channels were discussed. All in all a pretty good session.

Dinner was at Havmor in Bopal with Sania. Discovered a new dish called 'Tapri Chilli Paneer', its Paneer Tikka which is then cooked in Schezwan sauce. Got back to campus by 11, a little MCSA work had to be taken care of. Have BA lectures again tomorrow, will call it a day soon.

Day 333 - 17th November 2011

Had only two lectures today starting at 930. After keeping an alarm for 830 and snoozing it once, I ended up waking up at 940! It meant I missed the first lecture of ROMI. Made it on time for the second lecture which covered brand valuation. Was free for the rest of the day once class was done. Had bought a book in June on the IPL which was about the Modi Tharoor saga and all the behind the scene happenings that transpired during IPL3 which led to both their downfalls. Written by a journalist who experienced the entire episode first hand, it felt like reading a fast paced novel. As is the case with most books that I like, finished this one in one sitting.

Post dinner Sankalp had organized Khula Aasma with 4 plays staged in the audi. That went on till 1 in the night. Have another early morning start tomorrow, cant afford to wake up late again!

Day 332 - 16th November 2011

Had a late start to the day which meant it was one of the few days of the term when I could wake up at 1030. The course on Electronic Broadcast Media (EBM) started today. A visting faculty from mindshare came to take the course. She focused mainly on television and took us through the evolution of the television broadcast industry in India. Upcoming technologies and services like DTH and HD were also discussed with some interesting data about adopting these trends. Organization structures in a television broadcast company were also discussed. Towards the end of the class we were taken through two distinct marketing campaigns for the launch of 2 channels, one which succeeded and the other didn't. At the end of the day it all comes down to the cliche, content is king!

Had our first pre-placement talk of the season which was a video conference which went on for an hour. That was followed by a CIM class which picked up from yesterday's class on FGDs. Mess food was avoidable for the third consecutive day which again meant that Chota did brisk business. Spent the rest of the night taking care of some MCSA work and watching Futurama. Have a 930 class tomorrow, hope to wake up on time.

Day 331 - 15th November 2011

Had a pretty relaxed day today with only 2 classes to attended. So decided to make the most of the free time by getting the bike repaired, that was on the to do list for way too long. Went to Bopal for a haircut as well. The CIM lecture was supposed to take place at 12 which got pushed back to 2 in the afternoon. The session was about ethnographic research, it also dealt with the ethical issues that arise from ethnographic research. Had a class on B2B marketing after that which dealt with market entry strategies. Not too great a class, mos of what was discussed seemed pretty obvious. 

The mess food was quite sad tonight as well, but have been having too many meals at Chota so had to settle for dal chawal. Since the bike is in working condition now, went to Bopal for an ice cream post dinner. Came back by 1030 following which there was some MCSA work that had to be done. Will see a couple of episodes of Futurama before calling it a night!

Day 330 - 14th November 2011

Third straight day of 930 class in the morning. Had two sessions of ROMI which covered the brand equity and customer equity school of thought. ROMI is a hotly contested topic in the industry nowadays especially when it comes to justifying marketing spends. Sometimes it is even referred to as an investment but the justification for the same is done through various models with each one giving a radically different outcome. Nonetheless, at least there is some theory in place. After the session on ROMI we were supposed to have a session on CCRM which got cancelled which meant we were free for the rest of the day. Made the most of this free time by taking an hour long siesta. Played cricket in the evening for about an hour and a half. MCSA work kept me busy pre and post dinner. Dinner in the mess was quite sad which saw a huge exodus of people to Chota for dinner! Have been watching Futurama for the past hour or so, have a late start tomorrow. Looking forward to sleeping in!

Day 329 - 13th November 2011

Had the second session on BA today. The session was more about how the human brain functions and also how context plays an important role for the brain to process information. Another interesting fact was that the brain reconstructs and doesn't retrieve information from memory. The sessions on BA were followed by Corporate Communications and Reputation Management (CCRM). There was a visiting faculty who was conducting this course. He was with Cadburys during the worm infested chocolate controversy. He gave a brief  theoretical setting before going into discussing how Cadburys tackled the issue. An important learning was how they tackled the issue internally as well, by sharing all information with employees and keeping their morale high.  That was followed by a session on media training called media training 101. It dealt what needs to prepare for if he/she is the spokesperson for his/her company. The session also had a few mock interviews which were quite interesting and some good learnings came out of it. Classes got done by 530, didnt have much to do after that. Have been watching futurama over the past couple of days. Munched on some midnight snacks from MICARE, continued watching futurama before calling it a day.

Day 328 - 12th November 2011

Had our first session on behaviour architecture (BA) today. The course is introduces the concept of neural marketing and how consumer behaviour can be influenced by marketers. Today's session was more about how the human brain functions. How much of our conscious and unconscious mind is used in making decisions was illustrated through a Sachin Tendulkar interview in which he explains even he doesnt know how he reacts and plays an incoming leather ball at 150 kmph. A good session overall.

Post lunch Kore, Kalkar, Apar and I went to the old city to meet a vendor for sweatshirts. The nights are becoming cooler now and sweatshirts will be required soon. Got back to campus by 5. Played a little cricket in the evening. Post dinner have been reading articles on the net about the prevailing airline crisis. Have also started watching Futurama. Will watch a couple of episodes before calling it a day. 

Day 327 - 11th November 2011

Another day with not too many classes. Had 2 classes of B2B marketing followed by a session of BFSI. The BFSI sessions covered non banking finance companies and their business models. Got done by 430 after which we played cricket. With winters setting in it gets dark quite early nowadays and the last2 over of the match were played in near darkness. Post the match, an impromptu plan was made to watch Tintin in 3D. Haven't read any of the comics but the movie was quite nice, never a dull moment and amazing graphics. This was followed by dinner at McDonalds in Himalaya Mall. Got back to campus by midnight. Have been doing general tp and listening to some music. Have a 930 start tomorrow, will call it a night early.

Day 326 - 10th November 2011

Classes started at 2 in the afternoon today so could take the liberty of waking up late. Had to complete the pre read for the BFSI class though, which took a couple of hours. The prof. teaches the subject really well, if only he were there to teach FA, balance sheets wouldn't be a source of many a nightmare! Today's sessions were on the banking system in India. The history of the system was discussed alongwith buzz words prevalent in the industry. Got done by 430 in the evening so decided to play tennis after ages. Realised today that ever since Ive come back, I haven't out even once because of which dinner was at Mirch Masala. A welcome change. Got back and did general tp before calling it a night. Such kind of days are very few, need to make the most of it :P

Day 325 - 9th November 2011

Had the second session of the semiotics workshop today. The faculty member discussed the rebranding exercises for Tanishq and Titan which he had worked on. The differences in rebranding for a jewelry brand and a watch brand were discussed. All in all a pretty interesting class. Had our first session on BFSI, we had an intro to the basics of a financial system. Was relatively free after the class was done. MCSA work took over in the evening. Post dinner had to get down to assignment submissions. Had a EM submission, the assignment was to come up with a storyline around a product/brand, wrote a story around blackberry messenger. The brief was not to make an advertisement for the product but to make the story revolve around it. Have a pre read for BFSI tomorrow, the class begins at 2 so will wake up in the morning and complete it. 

Day 324 - 8th November 2011

Didnt have the best of days on the field today during our MCL game. Managed to score only 6 runs with the bat and after bowling 2 good overs, 22 runs were conceded of my 3rd over which turned the run chase in the opposition's favour. We ended up losing the game by 7 wickets with a couple of overs to spare. Not all is lost though, we still have one more group game which is do or die for us, the good thing is there is no dependency on the net run rate. The morning classes were sessions on Semiotics taken by a visiting faculty. He led most of the discussions through case studies that he has worked on. Film studies in the post lunch session started with the screening of a Japanese movie, Departures. Liked the movie a lot, especially the way it dealt with death. The soundtrack of the movie also was very good. The classroom session was a case study on Iranian cinema and the changes it has gone through since the 1979 revolution and how women have used cinema as an effective medium of communication.  Post dinner had to do the pre reads for a course thats starting tomorrow - Business of Communication in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance sector (BFSI). This would ideally be the last finance subject to be taught at MICA. 

Day 323 - 7th November 2011

Had our first lecture on Return On Marketing Investment (ROMI) today. The course outline seems pretty interesting and I could find a lot of terms that are used in the business dailies. This was followed by B2B marketing which was case presentations made by different groups. These cases were shared with the class a couple of weeks in advance and people had to present their analysis of the case to the prof and the class. The session on Film Studies started with a movie screening The Shop on Main Street, which served as an example of East European cinema. Couldnt attend the classroom session that followed since there was some MCSA work that kept us occupied. Post dinner a french movie was screened He loves me he loves me not. The movie had a very interesting story and the Prof. had said while laying the context that it was a very difficult movie to make. Had a batch meet after the movie which got done by 1 in the night. Have a MCL match tomorrow, need to wake up at 630 for that!

Days 317 - 322 - 1st to 6th November 2011

Back to campus after a two week stint for FIF1. Had the opportunity to go to Silverstone and the Indian GP as well. Feels a little strange to get back to classes as a full time student now. Had the 10th edition of MICANVAS from 3rd to 5th. Managed to get the FIF1 show car for the event. There were two concerts - Avial on 4th and Salim Sulaiman on 5th. Most of the time was spent either at the food court or guarding the car! Had a rest day on 6th which was spent in sending the car back to Bombay and taking stock of the subjects coming up over the next couple of weeks.