Owing to her hectic schedule, it took considerable effort for the APOGEE English Press to catch up with Anushka Pathak, the CoStAAn of the Department of Sponsorship and Marketing (Sponz), for a quick talk. Among the several tasks that Sponz handles, perhaps the most important one would be that of raising funds for the fest by attracting sponsorship. They are also responsible for setting up food stalls and handling related finances.

Anushka explained that the Sponz’s work for Oasis and APOGEE was somewhat similar. Since both fests took place in the same financial year, the department had the same window to work on them. For APOGEE, however, Anushka said that Sponz had focused more on acquiring sponsors who might happen to scout for potential recruits—a strategy that she expects will benefit students and companies alike.

Planning well in advance has been quite important in Sponz’s line of work. The department ensured that they met their targets a month before the mid-semester exams, and so the holidays in the previous week did not affect their work to a great extent. In the days leading up to the fest however, Sponz members have been busy at work putting up banners and standees, as demanded by the sponsors.

Around a decade ago, APOGEE apparently raked in more sponsorship than Oasis and was a fest of quite a large scale. While it has fallen behind since, Anushka feels that it is slowly catching up again. This year, the department has received approximately ₹17.5L worth of sponsorship funds in just cash.

As the first female CoStAAn from Sponz, Anushka realized that the absence of a female role model was proving to be slightly challenging. Moreover, APOGEE’s tendency to end with the finances in the red only made the job a harder one to take up. However, with careful planning and sincere efforts from the department, Anushka said that she has found her work quite rewarding.