Press Tease: “When more than a 100 smart, intelligent young IMT-ians pit their brains against the others, pandemonium reigns.”

August 24, 2011. What a day. In fact, what a couple of days! If ever there is a play way method of learning management, this is it. Like Akanksha Sahay said, “Innovative, informative, fun and definitely a wonderful experience.” And she should know, because she was a finalist during this Press Tease organized by Corporate Communications and Media Relations Committee (CCMRC) of IMT Ghaziabad. Actually, it was a long time in the planning. Everybody waited – some with baited breath and some without. If truth be told, some wondered if it would happen at all. Because it involved Media, and whenever the M-word is mentioned, things take a turn for the unpredictable.

Anyway, getting back to the event. Turned out it was quite different from all the others – an IMT Ghaziabad hallmark. To the audience’s serious surprise, it had over a 100 whopping participants. When more than a 100 smart, intelligent young IMT-ians pit their brains against the others, pandemonium reigns. Spirits got exploited, interpersonal skills were sharpened, and brains challenged reasoning – other’s and their own.

A bit about how the event itself was planned. It had three rounds. Each of those rounds was based on – what else – but components of CCMRC. For the uninformed, they include Social Networking, Logical Deductions and of course Press Cons. Every round (at the risk of sounding like a reality show on TV) was an elimination round. The winner had to be arrived at, and elimination, we find is a good way of arriving at the best from the rest.

The final battle ground was a Press Con (as it is called by the media). It actually means Press Conference (like you did not already know!).

"The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions." Our first round in Press Tease was based on this funda. A treasure hunt of sorts, only the treasure was a human being. Using the clues, the teams had to find a particular person on campus. Social skills were called upon. And the participants proved to be highly social beings. Many stayed on, and many left.

The next round challenged the logical side of the remaining brains. Clues were emailed to the teams. They were an encoded set of words and their related clues. The clock ticked. It was like Fastest Finger First on KBC. The first nine teams who solved the code and brought it back to the operational zone of the event were given free passes into the final nail biting, stress inducing round.

Called Being the Devil’s Advocate, the title was daunting. It had a huge audience. Team members were juggled around. Comfort zones were tossed into oblivion. Themes given made ‘controversial’ seem like baby talk. Each newly formed team had to defend their theme at a Press Con, convincing the judges and the audience their theme was the best theme ever.

Chosen for its professional ambience, the Kapil Mohan auditorium is quite an intimidating formal environment. Perfect for a formal Press Conference. Its very aura demands the participants put their best feet forward, and watch their Ps and Qs or be sent into a loser’s oblivion. Oh how they fought. Each of them battled valiantly to save their hides, bruises and wounds notwithstanding. Brutal questioning from the media and the judges demanded supreme self control and confidence.

Ms. Bhavna Bhalla judged the final round. She is an eminent communications faculty at IMT Ghaziabad. Nobody envied her job during Press Tease. It was nerve racking and a huge responsibility. Yet she stood the travails of judging, marking each participant fairly and quite efficiently.

A huge sigh of relief preceded thunderous applause. The winners were announced. Allolika, Arijit and Saurabh stole the thunder by efficiently and dramatically defending their stand during their Press Conference. They announced and introduced a new reality show, with Salman Khan, despite his jaw surgery, as their brand ambassador. Of course, the man is known for his appearances on reality shows, but their press conference was the hero here, and they did a brilliant job.

Yes, the event ended. But the requests for more such events did not. Looks like the CCMRC team will be at their organizing best as more shows and events come out of their boxes to infuse a breath of freshness into an otherwise humdrum daily existence.

Institute of Management Technology

Raj Nagar
Post Box No. 137
Ghaziabad 201001, India

This release was published on openPR.