With the preparations for the fest ongoing in full swing, the APOGEE English Press sat down with Sachika Lala, the CoStAAn for the Department of Publications and Correspondence- APOGEE (PCr-A) to learn more about their work during this period.

As the name suggests, PCr-A’s duties comprise two main activities—publication, which involves handling the publicity of events using various means like printing banners and posters put up around campus, and correspondence, which involves reaching out to various colleges and inviting them to participate in the fest. It is also responsible for conducting the APOGEE snaps. Sachika mentioned that their work starts early in the odd semester, starting with the building and updating of their database of colleges to contact. She explained that they do this by first updating the persons of contact pertinent to certain events via call, later conducting the Campus Ambassador Program for institutions in Delhi, Chandigarh, and neighbouring areas. This establishes communication with the campus ambassador for the college, the person who then helps ‘streamline the overall communication [for them]’.

This year, the department has contacted approximately 1000 ambassadors. Sachika said that the department had focused a lot more this APOGEE on talking to specific technical teams across colleges for participation in relevant events. The actual task of contacting people was carried out by the first and second year members of PCr-A, split between them in a structured manner. Speaking about the challenges faced by the department, she talked about how it was difficult to convince invitees to invest the time, effort and money required to reach BITS due to its remote location, despite its reputation. She talked about how as the event drew closer and the ‘work trips’—trips to colleges that the department members make to pitch APOGEE as well as build a network—were made, they needed to be in constant communication with the invitees to ensure that they would attend the fest.

Since last year, PCr-A has worked on improving their database in terms of organisation as well as completion. Sachika explained that since it was the basis of their correspondence, it needed to be utilised effectively so as to not miss out on potential attendees. The department has been following the timeline they set so far. As of the interview, the negotiation meetings had been finished, the orders for printing the publications were going to be placed, and the date for the APOGEE snaps had been finalised.

Describing her experience being a part of CoStAA, Sachika explained that it involved being the head of her department, as well as ‘building a fest from scratch’. As head, she complimented her juniors and talked about how she had to deal with delegation of tasks within the department, as well as supervising them. She said that the experiences and lessons she had had so far were unusual to come across as a first or second year. Elaborating on her work as a member of CoStAA, she talked about how it involved starting from zero and creating a functional fest. When asked if this was stressful, Sachika admitted that due to the quantifiable nature of the work PCr-A did, as well as the accountability that came with it, stress was a natural byproduct of the responsibilities she had to take on. She described being a CoStAAn as interesting nonetheless.

In parting, Sachika asked the average attendee to consider the type of events being conducted. She urged the general public to check them out despite the spamming by clubs, asking them to go through the ones they found interesting. She concluded the message by saying that while the technical nature of the events might be intimidating, a lot of them involved using the knowledge already gained by the students through their coursework and would be enjoyed by the students.