With APOGEE right around the corner, the CoStAAn of the Department of Sponsorship and Marketing (Sponz), Sahil Shah, took some time out of his busy schedule and sat down with the APOGEE English Press to have a conversation about the department’s workings during the fest.

Sponz oversees food stalls and works towards bringing in cash and in-kind sponsorships for every fest. Amidst an ongoing recession, the department brought in a lot more in-kind sponsorships this year, compared to previous years. Sahil stated that since APOGEE was a more skill set focused fair, the department specifically targeted recruiters. Companies will be sponsoring various competitions that will happen throughout the fest. In return, they get to tailor the competitions’ questions to meet their requirements and receive the database of the winners. The data will further be reviewed by the companies to decide whether they want to offer the winners an internship, hire them, or fund their projects, among others.

Sahil shared that there have been quite a few positive changes following the department’s probationary period. He noted that earlier Sponz was reluctant to work with other departments because they felt that others were not as well informed about their work. Bringing a change in their operation, this year they catered to sponsor recommendations that they received from other departments and clubs as well. The department also became more open to collaborations, especially due to the ‘critical state’ of the market.

Sahil said that despite the market condition getting worse than anticipated, the department still managed to get close to their initial pitch in revenue. Although he could not give a definite answer due to ongoing negotiations, he mentioned that Tata Motors might act as the title sponsor this year. After the negotiations are finalised, the department works towards meeting the deliverables promised to the sponsors. This is done by ensuring they are branded effectively during the fest and their food stalls or workshops get enough traction. This is a crucial task for the department since most of the payment is done post-fest if the companies are satisfied with the exposure they received. ‘Our department members are always on their feet,’ he added.

Sponz has been working for APOGEE since December. This mainly involved contacting companies. He noted that work slowed down during February, not just for Sponz but for every department, due to the first years being off campus.

When asked about his experience of being a CoStAAn, he remarked that it had been a great experience  and everyone had worked incredibly hard towards reviving the ‘tech culture’ in BITS Pilani. However, he was a little disappointed that the market crash had to happen during his tenure. On a parting note, he asked the BITSians to not go home but to stay and enjoy the fest. He assured that it will ‘remind them of why they took engineering in the first place.’