With BOSM right around the corner, the atmosphere on campus is almost at fever pitch. Among the perennially busy departments, is the Department of Controls (BOSM), colloquially known as BoCo. In an interview with the BOSM English Press, Vishnu Raj, CoSSAcn for BOSM Controls, illustrated the practical side of organizing a fest, and the hurdles they faced along the way.

The Department of Controls (BOSM) is primarily in charge of handling the logistics. They serve as a link and a medium of communication between the several major entities of the fest including clubs, departments, coordinators, captains as well as the institute. “We facilitate logistical support from the institute. Whatever the clubs need, they get it through us”, says Vishnu. The other responsibilities of the department include scheduling events and managing inventory for the fest.

“The bulk of our work is during BOSM. Pre-BOSM work is more or less limited to handling requisitions for institute property such as the Auditorium, classrooms, equipment and so on”, says Vishnu. He feels that the department’s work is more or less abstract before the fest and primarily involves gathering all the data and permissions they need to function during the fest.

Scheduling is a herculean task that BoCo is responsible for. The department considers the captains’ requests for changes in fixtures and participation. These requests vary each year, that accommodating them all without clashes is quite challenging. Vishnu elaborates with a simple, yet illustrative example: “You cannot have an athletics event and a football match at the same time since they’re at the same venue. And the captains aren’t necessarily in contact with each other. So, we make sure that whatever schedule they give us, whatever patterns or changes they want to accommodate doesn’t clash with anything else.”

Elaborating on scheduling, Vishnu describes how the department makes numerous schedule templates accounting for different conditions. These templates are passed onto the captains and their inputs are taken with regard to newer event formats or event ideas. “We try to extract as much data as possible from the captains’ inputs. We extend and extrapolate to fit all likely scenarios.” The factors that BoCo need to account for include weather conditions, level of participation, unexpected events and unforeseen changes. It is only on day zero that the working schedule is finalized.

BOSM, after all, is a sports fest, so Vishnu emphasizes that the major innovations that take place each year are with regard to the tournament formats. Apart from sports, this year’s Prof Show is a performance by an Indie rock band called Naalayak. There also are other events, including Informalz events, and Rotunda events to keep the crowd sated.

Commenting on the expected footfall this year, Vishnu maintains that the pre-registration numbers aren’t really reliable as the fest is limited by how many people one can accommodate on campus. The fest is sadly forced to turn down a large number of participants due to a lack of available accommodation. “During Oasis, teams are willing to find accommodation outside but for BOSM, with the nature of its participants, it’s not very appealing to stay outside campus which also comes with a huge cost to the teams”, says Vishnu.

Vishnu takes pride that BOSM is largely self-sustaining, with minimal institute input—financial or otherwise. Most of the money is raised by BOSM Sponz, along with a few other sources such as participation, food stalls, and other events. On being asked about the software for this year’s edition, Vishnu mentioned that as fallout of last year’s events, DVM will not be working for BOSM 2018. Instead, Coding Club has taken charge of building the website, the app, and the registration software for this edition of the fest.