Events. Fun. Prizes. Excitement. Competition. Games. Meeting new people. Music. Food. Euphoria.
Where do all of these words come together in one place? What comes to your mind when you think about all of them together? What is the perfect mix of intense competition with the same amount of fun? You guessed it right! A FEST!
We all have either been to, witnessed or heard of a fest in the course of our lifetimes. Ever wondered how it all actually happens? Who are the people working tirelessly to execute a big event? What nuts and bolts need to come together to get the clock ticking perfectly?
Today you get the unique opportunity to know how a national fest is organised, specifically a management fest. You get the chance to witness the unraveling of the tapestry of the biggest marketing festival in India - MICANVAS!
MICANVAS is the flagship event of MICA Ahmedabad - one of the premier B-Schools in India which is renowned for strategic marketing & communications. MICANVAS is the biggest Marketing festival in India. Known for its perfect mix of challenging events, fun competitions and enthralling artists, MICANVAS promises you the experience of a lifetime, this year from the 21st to the 23rd of November.
Wondering who the artist is this year? Or should it be said more accurately - artist(s)?
Ah ah ah! Not yet. Good things come to those who wait, young Padawan.
Anyway, moving on, let's begin where all roads lead to - no not Rome but rather the money.
That’s right let’s know about the MMSA & IPR vertical of Team MICANVAS.
MMSA & IPR - the words sound a bit daunting and confusing don’t they? What do they mean? What that do these spazzy acronyms signify? And why is this one of the most crucial functions for the entire fest?
First things first, MMSA stands for Media, Marketing, Sponsorships & Artist Management while IPR stands for Internal Public Relations. Big words aren’t they?
Though they sound like 2 different things but in reality, are not 2 separate verticals but rather function as one big vertical together. Comprising of 12 people from both years of MBA, this is the biggest vertical in the entire committee.
As heavy and intrinsic the vertical name sounds, equally tasking and detailed the job role is. From finding relevant sponsors and partners to make the event a reality, to actually convincing them to be on board and strike the relevance of their association, all come under their purview.
The job of the MMSA + IPR vertical simply put is to curate, uphold and present the image of the MICANVAS to its various stakeholders. It involves promoting the fest by collaborating with Media partners, making the fest more attractive by Marketing it right, to students of various B - schools (it is a school of ideas after all), getting the moolah to make the fest happen and finally the most anticipated - arranging for the biggest and the best artists for MICANVAS.
And it’s not just the external stakeholders that they are responsible for but also perhaps the most important one as well - the internal MICAn community.
One of the many responsibilities of this vertical is to build engagement with the MICAn community and ensure excitement for MICANVAS. Engaging a community of 400+ students who are brilliant, creatively inclined and have high expectations from the biggest event and committee on campus is a tough task but one which the entire MICANVAS team for 2019 has accomplished admirably. One of the ways that this is achieved is through activations, which are conducted to engage people on campus in intriguing and witty ways and get them talking about MICANVAS. There were no bounds to the creativity exhibited this year as the team performed a flash mob, formulated an entire narrative with fake crime scenes and finally revealed the artists to the MICAn community by organising a mini-concert complete with laser lights and glow bands.
This results in students going nuts for MICANVAS and volunteering for it (I mean 200 is a big number ya know, just saying). And the goodie bags which are given to the volunteers a sign of gratitude for their help is also the responsibility of this very vertical.
So you might wonder how does a day in the life of a member of this vertical look like? Simply put, imagine the hectic life of a B- school student and multiply by 5. Nope, not exaggerating! From staying up late at night because of meetings, to rushing to class seconds before the door closes, to pretending to listen in class while actually sending out mails, to religiously making checklists upon checklists upon checklists, trying to sneak in as many calls as possible during the meagre breaks to spontaneously falling asleep anywhere and everywhere (seriously, it's a talent), it's no easy task.
In addition to all that, factor in the difficulty of actually getting sponsors on board because sometimes the calls don't connect, or people give an outright no, or a deal that you've been trying to close keeps getting stretched on and on while juggling a million things such as classes, assignments, tests and whatnot. It seems like a herculean task.
But the best part is that it's equally rewarding too.
That sigh of relief when the first sponsorship call goes well (after over 30 mins of prep for a 2 min call), to the happiness when someone says, "Sounds interesting, tell me more", to the sheer joy when you actually close a sponsor to the feeling of contentment you experience when you see the signed MoU, it's a rollercoaster of emotions in the best possible way.
One of the best takeaways from being a part of this vertical is learning how to work in teams as bringing sponsors is not an individual effort. It's about understanding how to manage conversations internally within a team while recognising and working with everyone's strengths and weaknesses.
So this is the tale of the MMSA & IPR vertical of MICANVAS.
And yes now we come to the most awaited news that is the artist reveal.
Cue drumroll…
And the artist line-up for MICANVAS 2019 is:
Ankur Tewari and the Ghalat Family on 22nd Nov
Sunburn featuring Ritviz on 22nd Nov
And finally Benny Dayal and Funktuation ft. Horn Flakes on 23rd Nov!
Cue mic drop!
See y'all at the MICA campus on 21st Nov!