When the crowds from colleges all over the country come bustling in this APOGEE, you will know who to thank. The APOGEE English Press caught up with Parv Panthari, the CoStAAn of Publications and Correspondence (PCr APOGEE), to understand the tireless work that his department has been putting in since last semester towards making this APOGEE a memorable one.
Participation
This year, the events of DebSoc, BITSMUN, and NSS are being held simultaneously with APOGEE. The ambit of events under APOGEE has also been broadened to include a Toastmasters event and a B-plan competition. All this means that an expected 750-800 external participants are expected to attend this APOGEE, a number that Parv proudly proclaimed was higher than ever before. Even the APOGEE specific participation (roughly 500 people) is more than the fest has had in three years.
Correspondence
Parv explained that PCr’s primary work entails corresponding with potential outstation participants to ensure as much external participation as possible. The department has four main methods of doing so—they reach out to the SUs/Organizing bodies, the heads of technical teams, the placement units, and the professors of colleges. This is because, in many colleges, professors are more involved with student technical activities than in BITS, and thus have greater influence. Placement units encourage students to participate in the competitions of APOGEE.
Apart from reusing databases of contacts from previous years, the members of the department also create a new database of colleges across the country every year. “We go region-wise and split states between members. They get the top 50-100 engineering colleges per state and get the point of contacts of their tech-fest heads, CoStAA equivalents, or managers/SU heads—people with influence who can get a mail sent out.” They also place special focus on technical teams in colleges located close to Pilani, in places like Delhi or Jaipur.
The current database was completed last semester. At the end of the semester, the department launched the registration website and reached out to the contacts in the database.
Campus Ambassador Programme
This time around, PCr has greatly revamped and streamlined their Campus Ambassador (CA) programme. Parv explained, “How it works is – we publicize the programme through various internship portals and on our Facebook page. The idea behind it is, in a college, that person can be the representative of APOGEE BITS Pilani. It becomes very easy to deal with the college that way. Because, as I said, we get the robotics teams contacts, SU heads, and so on—that’s a lot of hard work on our end.”
CAs are credible contacts who can reach out on their own. They coordinate with people and publicize APOGEE in their colleges, by using social media and getting root mails sent. When the contingent is finally ready to come, the CA leads the contingent to Pilani. Many CAs lead groups of 20-25 people. This year, PCr has set up a proper incentive structure with an online live leader-board for CAs. Different activities, such as posting on Facebook and putting up posters, each have a certain number of points associated with them. Based on their final position on the leader-board, CAs can get various prizes and even internship opportunities. Parv explained that the CA concept has been used for a few years, but this time the system is more streamlined, legitimate, and rewarding. The use of WhatsApp groups and proof-based leader-board updates have done away with the chaos of previous years’ CA programmes. In addition, referral codes have also been introduced.
Mini-Fests
For the past few years, PCr has also organized mini-fests in colleges across the country to publicize APOGEE. Parv said that the idea was carried on this year, but it faced roadblocks and delays because of Holi. However, between the 25th and 26th of March, mini-fests were conducted in UIET (Chandigarh), TIET (Patiala) and in Delhi. Mini-fests are competitions or other events with APOGEE branding. On being asked whether they were solely for publicity or for immediate participation, Parv responded, “There is a degree of conversion if a mini-fest is in a relatively closer area… Apart from that, outreach is a bigger thing. Since it’s being conducted in local colleges, the number of local participants there is good for APOGEE. In the future years, it may contribute [since people know about APOGEE]”
The future of APOGEE
Falling participation and lowered enthusiasm have plagued recent editions of APOGEE. On being asked about the potential merging of BOSM and APOGEE, Parv dismissed the idea as merely a rumour, for which no concrete work has been done. He also spoke about the viability of APOGEE.
“There’s been a drift of people’s interest from the technical fields to entertainment, or maybe non-core things. So, a lot of people don’t show that much of an interest into technical activities. It’s about the culture also. There’s a trickle-down mindset from seniors to junior batches that APOGEE is the one that you don’t need to care about. That can be revamped once you give a powerful fest, and that’s what we’re trying to do this time.”
Parv explained that this time, the fest has been scheduled at a convenient time, a week after Holi, so that BITSians aren’t likely to go home. The weather has also looked up, so Parv is hoping for great BITSian participation. Given the quality of events, exhibitions and speakers that have been scheduled, Parv hopes that this edition could be a turning point in terms of audience reception. “The best participation is indeed BITSian participation, we don’t necessarily need external people to even come here. Once the campus accepts the fest in its true quality, maybe we can see a better trend.”
Snap Prices
The prices of snaps are not revealed until well after the fests, prompting much speculation. Notably, this time around, talk of snap prices as high as Rs. 700 was in the air. Parv was quick to state that such exorbitant figures were merely rumours. He went on to clarify that the actual price is only decided after the fest, by the CRC in collaboration with the SU and PCr. Parv emphasized that they do not want to overcharge students for snaps, and so the prices for snaps are not decided beforehand. He drew an analogy to grubs on campus, and how those prices are also decided only after the event.
On being asked what factors affect the price of a snap, Parv conceded that snaps are a revenue source to compensate for fest losses, but only to a limited extent—there are other devices, such as the SU fund, to compensate those losses. The revenue requirement of the fests decides price of a snap, and the CRC in collaboration with the SU tries to minimize the snap price, subject to that requirement. A tentative idea of the price carries on between years, but it fluctuates a lot based on yearly conditions and various factors. Parv said that no hard upper limit exists, but that there is a “moral soft upper limit”, based on the trust that students put in the SU, since the SU has the student’s interests at heart. “The reason for not fixing a price beforehand is only to be able to eventually reduce it (if the fest goes into profit). The price that we charge at the end of it is the minimum, because that is what we are supposed to do, and we don’t want to charge more than that.”
Cultural Association Snaps
Cultural Association Snaps were held for the first time this semester. Parv explained that this was an SU initiative—an idea by the president. The idea was to have snaps around Founder’s Day, since Cultural Associations have no other one single event that they all work in. PCr APOGEE assisted the SU with taking the snaps, simply because they were the department working this semester, and they were familiar with the software and procedures, such as printing with Devsaria. But all the revenue from the snaps goes into the SU bank account, not the APOGEE account.
Message to BITSians
In conclusion, Parv urged BITSians, especially first years, to go out and experience the fest.“Just check out the fest… Especially for the first years, it’ll be an experience because, this time, the scale at which things are happening is unprecedented. So, it should be a very positive fest in that regard.”