National Cyber Media Conclave- 09

Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC), Pune organised National Cyber Media Conclave ’09, a media seminar on the 28th of March, in its Lavale campus. The event explored various aspects of the cyber medium and its vast potential. It was a first of its kind initiative by any educational institution.National Cyber Media Conclave ’09 focused on undergraduate and post graduate students from all over India, who are interested in pursuing careers in the cyber media, giving them a chance to interact with the stalwarts of the industry.
The Indian cyber media industry has evolved over the years and is today replete with innovative ideas and ventures. National Cyber Media Conclave ’09 was one such avenue which allowed students and aspiring media professionals to explore such opportunities. Interactive sessions with the leaders and pioneers from the industry provided the students with valuable insights, thus influencing and moulding future careers in the field of Media & Communication. The National Cyber Media Conclave hosted two panels of speakers on two different themes: First on the Potency of cyber media for knowledge sharing- Mr. Kiruba Shankar (Co-founder, The Knowledge Foundation) spoke on how twitter, podcasts,blogs, wikis have become a part of everyday life.
Ms. Jasmeen Bhateja, (Founder, The Blank Noise Project) familiarised the audience with the her project Blank Noise that was initiated in 2003 and fought against street sexual harassment, Mr. Shivam Vij (renowned blogger, Delhi and Tehelka journalist): spoke about how people and organisations mess up their image by asking bloggers to take their posts off and/ or sue, Mr. Shiv Bhaskar (CEO, The Viewspaper) enlightened the students on the ultimate fourth estate- Media who he also called the guardians of democracy and power of this medium, and the second session was based on Social change and networking and the emergence of the web as a medium for branding and marketing had Mr. Rajesh Lalwani(Founder and CEO, Blogworks.com) who spoke on Broadcast, Narrowcast, Random Clusters, Tribes by choice, Sales Pitch and other markting jargons, Mr. Atul Chitnis (Senior Vice-President, Geodesic Information Systems) who spoke about Open source softwares and hpw life would become impossible without them as most of the electronic gadgets we use daily work on open source softwares, Mr. Namit Bimbhat (CEO, Switch Media Services India Pvt. Ltd.) who apoke about the video sharing and the revolution that has taken place in that arena and Ms. Rashmi Dhanwani (Breakthrough) who shared the wonderful Bell Bajao campaign against Domestic Violence.
This was followed by a workshop conducted by Mr. Rajesh Lalwani (Founder and CEO, Blogworks.com), and ‘Web Wunderkind’, a contest on the presentation of a business plan for the cyber medium. The winners of the contest won cash prizes worth Rs. 15,000/-.All in all, it was a fun filled event with lots of knowledge and insight!!