The birth of Jesus Christ was marked by the arrival of the Magi, three wise men, who had gone to bless the newly born, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The ceremonial “birth” of the first batch of the students of Corporate Communications at BESC was equally blessed – by three wise men from the field of Corporate Communications. Dhrubajyoti Nandi – a doyen of business journalism in the vernacular media and the head of Corporate Communications of a city based Multinational; Basav Bhattacharyya – one of the most respected names in the world of pink papers and now the head of the eastern chapter of PRCAI; and Ambar Singh Roy – once the star reporter of the Economic Times and the Hindu Business Line, now the head of Corporate Communications in Tata Steel.
Genia Giri set the ball rolling with an impromptu speech – on the course and how it has impacted her life.
Twinkle Sinolia was the MC for the event, deciding to take on the onerous responsibility literally in the 11th hour and sailed through with customary élan.
Prof. Dlip Shah, the Dean of Student Affairs, the Bhawanipur Education Society College (BESC) welcomed the assembled guests in his inimitable style, explaining the rationale behind the three month diploma course and explained his delight in the way the course has taken shape. As a matter of fact, he used the opportunity to declare the second edition of the course slated to start from January 2017. Jenia Giri, followed up with a moving reminiscence of the classes and highlighted the need for more students to join in.
Prakcha Ranka and Aman Bubna presented a wonderfully crafted powerpoint through which they took the audience on a tour of the course that, according to them, was so exciting that not only did the students attended classes during the Durga Puja holidays, but had also asked for, and got an extension. They also pointed out the fact that all the students of the course have been offered placements, detailing the organisations who have shown interest in absorbing the CorpComm cubs of BESC. They also highlighted in details, the various achievements of the students of the group in the brief interlude – participations in exercises aimed at branding Bengal (with the Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal and Shah Rukh Khan); writing about the efficacies of the PM’s pet Make in India programme in all the editions of a National Daily and about creating the entire content of a magazine on the BFSI, to mention a few.
The Prakcha-Aman coup de grace was a request to the college authorities, on behalf of the students – to allow them to join the next batch of students for a repeat performance.
The students went on to honour Dhrubajyoti Nandi, Basav Bhattacharya and Ambar Singh Roy by conferring them with the Life Time Achievement Awards, for their contribution to the faculty of Corporate Communications. The three respected guests then addressed the students – goading them to set off on their individual searches for excellence even as they dipped into the cornucopia of their experience and shared nuggets of wisdom. Talking about the Emerging trends in Corporate Communications they explained how and why the times are as exciting as they feel, how the emergence of the new (read social) media is playing disrupter even as the traditional media prepares for a last stand and conversations around brands become instant.
In keeping with the spirit of the course, which has been non-conformist to a fault, the certificates were handed over to the successful candidates by the mentors of their choice – friends, parents and in one particular case, the fiancée. In all of the 25 students who had joined the course, 24 made it to the finish line, with, as was mentioned earlier, all the successful candidates having ready job offers to slip into.
The high point of the ceremony however, was when the Prakcha-Aman duo thanked the man behind the scene – Chawm Ganguly, who had conceived, created and conducted the course and is an acknowledged expert in the field (as each of the honoured guests made it a point to mention). Addressing him as a “buddy”, they spoke for all the students, when they thanked him for making them better human beings than anything else.
(Viddhi Parekh, a student of Corporate Communications in BESC is seriously considering making CorpComm a career option and is actively pursuing options to give the faculty her full blast. She has already imbibed skills that make her a well-appreciated digital artist which, she feels, will be an additional qualification in her career as a communicator. She is fascinated with the way brands communicate and evolve and wants to be a part of the team that helps brands refurbish their salience, highlight their attributes and talk of their relative strengths and prowess. “The course has been a huge step forward for me and I hope that I will be able to make the difference that I always have wanted to, armed with what I have learnt here” she said.)
To join Corporate Communications was one of the best decisions of my life. It was an exposure to a totally different world. A great learning experience 🙂