Note: The Coordinator was interviewed before HAS found out that they would not be organising N2O during this year’s APOGEE.

The APOGEE English Press (AEP) sat down with Deepansh Malhan, APOGEE Coordinator for Hindi Activities Society (HAS), to gain insight into the events they have in store for us.

Speaking about the preparations for this year’s APOGEE, he mentioned that the club would be organising two events this time– MindKraft, their annual quiz and BITS Got Latent (BGL), in collaboration with ComHub. He explained that the work meets had started half a month before APOGEE and that the preparations had been going well and were on track. Apart from that, he added that N2O, a kernel event, had been held for more than ten years now at the end of every fest. Since it had received an overwhelming response in the last two fests, he expected the same for APOGEE as well. When asked who would perform at N2O, he chose to keep it under wraps. 

On his collaboration for BGL, he said that Comhub handled the selection of speakers and panellists, whereas HAS managed ticketing, marketing and the rest of the logistics. 

He added that his batchmates and juniors had been enjoying working for the fest and were looking forward to a good fest.

Regarding the difference between working for Oasis and APOGEE, he noted that the workforce was smaller compared to Oasis, comprising only two batches. He added that their batch was responsible for handling the logistics, while the junior batch handled all the groundwork assigned to them by the seniors. Despite the workload being heavier, he acknowledged that the club members had managed it quite well.

Regarding the process of selecting artists for N2O, he elaborated that HAS chose a few artists based on their performances at other colleges, while also taking into consideration the crowd response they had received. These artists were then pitched to the CoStAA, who, along with the club, decided which artists would perform at N2O, based on their availability. 

He further stated that HAS was also entrusted with the hospitality for some of the artists performing during the fest. He remarked that the best part of hospitality was meeting and interacting with these artists. He added that it was fun to see that ‘these famous people also lived a simple life at the end of the day’. However, he did note that the artists sometimes have requests that are difficult to fulfil in a place like Pilani. Speaking about his experience working with the CoStAA, he noted that there were a few setbacks, but it had been resolved.

He concluded that being the coordinator had been a ‘really fun’ experience. He said he had experienced a few ups and downs but was grateful to his seniors for their help, support and guidance. To his juniors, he advised that there were many fun things to look forward to in APOGEE, so they should make the most of it.