The BOSM English Press spoke to Shirish Kumaravel, the CoSSAcn of the Department of Reception and Accommodation (RecNAcc), to understand more about their work for the fest. 

RecNAcc deals with the reception of coaches, artists, and outstation participants. They help arrange in-campus accommodations for participants. The department also works with vendors to set up accommodation centers outside the campus. Apart from that, they also look after all the inventory and infrastructure requirements of the fest. Shirish added that the department would also oversee the travel arrangements of all important guests and dignitaries coming to campus, from their arrival to their departure. In this BOSM, many participants are staying outside campus because of the lack of single rooms and staff quarters available inside the campus, as opposed to the last BOSM. This, coupled with the feedback RecNAcc received from the last fest, led to the decision to host participants outside. Hence, they are also managing a shuttle service for participants staying off-campus that would drop them off for their matches in the morning and pick them back up in the evening. 

The major problem the department is facing right now is workforce constraints, Shirish said. He explained that since everyone has other commitments and varying schedules, delegating work was difficult. He also mentioned how the administration tended to be unresponsive at times.

As the conversation moved along to his experience as a member of the CoSSAc, Shirish told us that it had taught him to look at things differently. He mentioned that every suggestion that was floated in a meeting required him to check its feasibility so that the work of other clubs and departments would not be adversely affected. This was something he did not have to consider before, he acknowledged. Since the same CoSSAc had worked together to organize InterBITS last semester, he said that they all had learned to work in a team, keeping all perspectives in mind and doing right by the fest. This also led him to remark that the most rewarding aspect of his job was seeing everyone happy and enjoying the fest, as it was the tangible impact of the hard work that had gone into making it happen.

The conversation ended with Shirish saying that this edition of BOSM would not be like last year’s. With a lot of big names coming, both in the sports category as well as in the prof show, the CoSSAcn said they’re ‘pushing the boundaries of the last fest by a huge extent’, urging everyone to be there and enjoy BOSM to its fullest potential.