According to Megh Thakkar, the CoStAAn of the Department of Visual Media (DVM), the role that his department plays for the fest is rapidly evolving from one which ‘made things for the fest’ to one which ‘works for the fest’. Although it may sound like there is no difference between the two, he insists that there is. The department, which previously did not have to interact much with others, now closely collaborates with most other departments and is getting more involved in the fest’s logistics.

Apart from the theme-release video, which was unveiled during BOSM ‘18, most of the department’s work for the fest commenced as soon as Oasis ended. The work is split among five teams, namely Front-end, Back-end, App, Design, and Video. In addition to the aforementioned theme-release video, the Video team also works on the Promo as well as the curtain raiser videos. Megh also mentioned that this year’s curtain raiser is being made completely in 3D and has been built from scratch. The Front-end, Back-end, and Design teams work together to create the various websites for the fest. These include the “PCr Admin Portal” and the “Registration software” which is used by Firewallz, RecNAcc, and Controls for registration and verification of outstation participants. In addition to this they also make the “Intro” and “Main” websites of the fest.

In keeping with the trend of adding something new every year, DVM has included an event management system in the APOGEE app. Megh, as well as the CoStAA, feel that APOGEE only works if the BITSian population participates in the various events. To incentivize students to take part in the events, an event management system is being introduced wherein those who participate in events are rewarded with tokens. These tokens can then be used to purchase items that have been provided by the sponsors in kind. Most of the App team’s work went into the making of this event management system and its integration with the “kind store”.

Megh feels the general BITSian has an unjustified negative impression of APOGEE events, which he feels are ‘sexy’. He urges BITSians to give the events a shot.