Wednesday, June 4, 2008
All about "posturing"
We never realized that the changing sponsorship fortunes would have such an impact on all our decisions. One of the worst hit, of course, was the poster. We had these grandiose plans that we would have the posters ready well in advance this year; and that we would display them at every nook and corner, and also hand them out every time we contacted an organization for participation.
To be honest we did have the first cut of the poster ready rather early, thanks to Deepti and the other Sid. We, of course, didn't do anything about it. About a month back, once the diamond sponsors were confirmed, we started to look into it. We didn't really like the first draft too much, so a lot of changes were asked for. And of course, the logo of our sponsor had to appear as well.
Just as we were finalizing this, we got more sponsorships and media partners. One of our sponsors came forward to pay for printing the poster. More changes - so that we could get their logo in as well. At this point, Deepti and Rashmi came up with two designs. The more the choices the more difficult it is to make a decision, isn't it? We had the same problem. We just couldn't decide which one to choose. We deliberated, discussed and ruminated before we finally settled on one.
The final poster? Of course, that wasn't it. This is when we started to work on our media partners. We met Radio City and NTV. And then we waited for them to confirm. Radio City got back to us with an affirmation rather quickly. So the poster changed yet again.
This should have been the final one, isn't it? Not to be. This is when out of the blue Ludwig staged a coup - convinced Odyssey to step in and support us. Space was a major constraint on the poster and we weren't sure how we were going to put in all these logos. There was still NTV to confirm they would support us. We also started to get worried about the time left - did we have enough time to put the posters up?
Well, we had to do the best of the time we had left. So, with just two weeks to go, thanks to Ajit, the posters were finally ready.
Before I sign off I should, of course, express my heartfelt thanks to Deepti and Rashmi, who quietly put up with our continuous demands for changes and patiently delivered all the time. You guys truly did a great job!
For those interested, this is what the poster looks like now. Not to worry, there won't be any more changes done to this.
To be honest we did have the first cut of the poster ready rather early, thanks to Deepti and the other Sid. We, of course, didn't do anything about it. About a month back, once the diamond sponsors were confirmed, we started to look into it. We didn't really like the first draft too much, so a lot of changes were asked for. And of course, the logo of our sponsor had to appear as well.
Just as we were finalizing this, we got more sponsorships and media partners. One of our sponsors came forward to pay for printing the poster. More changes - so that we could get their logo in as well. At this point, Deepti and Rashmi came up with two designs. The more the choices the more difficult it is to make a decision, isn't it? We had the same problem. We just couldn't decide which one to choose. We deliberated, discussed and ruminated before we finally settled on one.
The final poster? Of course, that wasn't it. This is when we started to work on our media partners. We met Radio City and NTV. And then we waited for them to confirm. Radio City got back to us with an affirmation rather quickly. So the poster changed yet again.
This should have been the final one, isn't it? Not to be. This is when out of the blue Ludwig staged a coup - convinced Odyssey to step in and support us. Space was a major constraint on the poster and we weren't sure how we were going to put in all these logos. There was still NTV to confirm they would support us. We also started to get worried about the time left - did we have enough time to put the posters up?
Well, we had to do the best of the time we had left. So, with just two weeks to go, thanks to Ajit, the posters were finally ready.
Before I sign off I should, of course, express my heartfelt thanks to Deepti and Rashmi, who quietly put up with our continuous demands for changes and patiently delivered all the time. You guys truly did a great job!
For those interested, this is what the poster looks like now. Not to worry, there won't be any more changes done to this.
The deceiving clouds
Remember that song in Lagaan - Ghanana ghanana, where the entire village starts to sway and dance with glee as they notice dark, rain clouds at a distance? And remember what happens at the end of the song? - the clouds just deceive.
As Ludwig so rightly mentioned here, when it rains it does pour. But there are also times when clouds just deceive. This year just when we decided not to run after corporates for sponsorships we were inundated with calls from them offering to sponsor the event. There were moments when we were so overwhelmed that we had to tell ourselves that this indeed was happening . We even talked about putting a stop to accepting sponsorship requests.
But not all calls were converted. One fine morning we received a mail from someone from a multi-national bank with just one line: "We want to sponsor the event. Please call." We judiciously followed up; called the person, set up a meeting and went to talk to him as well. It fizzled out only because we couldn't offer them what they wanted. This was much after we had already landed our diamond sponsor. Which is probably why we weren't too worried. If it weren't for them and if we were in the same state as every year, would we have responded differently. We wouldn't know, would we?
And then there was another, a corporate to whom we had only sent the participation details. The lady who called asked us to send her all the sponsorship package details. We did. And never heard from her again (we probably should take a closer look at the sponsorship document to see if there is anything that puts off people). A couple of reminder emails later, she at least confirmed that one team would participate.
We also wrote to a few companies outside of Hyderabad - again, for participation. One person we heard from was wonderful - he said he couldn't send outstation teams because of the travel costs involved; but he would definitely look into some kind of sponsorship support. Promptly the sponsorship package details went to him. He wrote back, thankfully - putting us on to the HR at their Hyderabad office. Well, they didn't really agree to "sponsor" the event, but upped their participation from 3 teams last year to 6 this year. Better still, they actually qualified for the early bird offer, but when they made the cheque they plain forgot about it. We pointed out the mistake, but they weren't too worried about it. We had no complaints, of course!
As Ludwig so rightly mentioned here, when it rains it does pour. But there are also times when clouds just deceive. This year just when we decided not to run after corporates for sponsorships we were inundated with calls from them offering to sponsor the event. There were moments when we were so overwhelmed that we had to tell ourselves that this indeed was happening . We even talked about putting a stop to accepting sponsorship requests.
But not all calls were converted. One fine morning we received a mail from someone from a multi-national bank with just one line: "We want to sponsor the event. Please call." We judiciously followed up; called the person, set up a meeting and went to talk to him as well. It fizzled out only because we couldn't offer them what they wanted. This was much after we had already landed our diamond sponsor. Which is probably why we weren't too worried. If it weren't for them and if we were in the same state as every year, would we have responded differently. We wouldn't know, would we?
And then there was another, a corporate to whom we had only sent the participation details. The lady who called asked us to send her all the sponsorship package details. We did. And never heard from her again (we probably should take a closer look at the sponsorship document to see if there is anything that puts off people). A couple of reminder emails later, she at least confirmed that one team would participate.
We also wrote to a few companies outside of Hyderabad - again, for participation. One person we heard from was wonderful - he said he couldn't send outstation teams because of the travel costs involved; but he would definitely look into some kind of sponsorship support. Promptly the sponsorship package details went to him. He wrote back, thankfully - putting us on to the HR at their Hyderabad office. Well, they didn't really agree to "sponsor" the event, but upped their participation from 3 teams last year to 6 this year. Better still, they actually qualified for the early bird offer, but when they made the cheque they plain forgot about it. We pointed out the mistake, but they weren't too worried about it. We had no complaints, of course!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
ACE 2020 - a preview
Hardly 3 weeks left till the start of the quiz and so many things left to do. Making a list here so that nothing gets missed...
1. Need to create more awareness in Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. Last year we had only one team from Oz.
2. The team from GE, Brazil has sent their DNA and a request for 4 live ports. Someone needs to scan the samples and create avatars.
3. Need to ask someone to pick up the trophy on the way back from Mexico. Hope they dont get us confused with the Oscar Awards again this year. We still have some statuettes lying in Major's apartment.
4. Space TV has also shown interest in becoming the media partner. Their best offer is to beam our name over the Atlantic. Need to check with Galactic Broadcasting Corporation if they have a better offer.
5. The venue has not yet been confirmed yet. Voice signals are not being responded to.
6. Personal - need to watch the taping of this years Champions League finals again. Especially Sir Alex's rantings at the poor refs. Hilarious it was esp. the stick waving.
1. Need to create more awareness in Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. Last year we had only one team from Oz.
2. The team from GE, Brazil has sent their DNA and a request for 4 live ports. Someone needs to scan the samples and create avatars.
3. Need to ask someone to pick up the trophy on the way back from Mexico. Hope they dont get us confused with the Oscar Awards again this year. We still have some statuettes lying in Major's apartment.
4. Space TV has also shown interest in becoming the media partner. Their best offer is to beam our name over the Atlantic. Need to check with Galactic Broadcasting Corporation if they have a better offer.
5. The venue has not yet been confirmed yet. Voice signals are not being responded to.
6. Personal - need to watch the taping of this years Champions League finals again. Especially Sir Alex's rantings at the poor refs. Hilarious it was esp. the stick waving.
Monday, June 2, 2008
When It Rains, It Pours
And this isn't even a post on the weather, Subir's got that covered.
I'm talking about sponsorship and publicity for ACE. In 2006 and 2007, we started talking about and planning for ACE pretty early. Emails went out in early March, the first meetings more or less corresponded with the death anniversary of Julius Caesar, and by the time early April rolled around (bright eyed and bushy tailed) we would shoot off emails and phone calls to all and sundari (who was utterly mystified) asking them to sponsorship.
Then started struggle. Why? Mails sent, calls made, sponsors absent. Sooner or later, we (i.e. the hapless Asha Hyd volunteers) would go into a sort of With Or Without You mode as far as sponsors were concerned. In 2007, we lucked out in the nick of time, thanks to the generosity of unexpected well-wishers and all said and done were nicely covered by the day of the event.
This year was different right from the start. The perseverance of the last few years at Asha Hyderabad seems to have paid off, our Diamond Sponsor found us, rather than the other way round, and so far we seem to gel nicely with each other. The beginnings of a beautiful friendship? These guys have been in town for a while, but now want to be proactive about being seen as a socially responsible and intellectually oriented corporate. And thanks to the kindness of friends and strangers, we have Hyderabad's top site, one of India's top FM radio channels, and one of India's top bookstores involved.
Which explains the title of this post. This should be the biggest and bestest ACE yet, but we'll know in 2 weeks, won't we?
I'm talking about sponsorship and publicity for ACE. In 2006 and 2007, we started talking about and planning for ACE pretty early. Emails went out in early March, the first meetings more or less corresponded with the death anniversary of Julius Caesar, and by the time early April rolled around (bright eyed and bushy tailed) we would shoot off emails and phone calls to all and sundari (who was utterly mystified) asking them to sponsorship.
Then started struggle. Why? Mails sent, calls made, sponsors absent. Sooner or later, we (i.e. the hapless Asha Hyd volunteers) would go into a sort of With Or Without You mode as far as sponsors were concerned. In 2007, we lucked out in the nick of time, thanks to the generosity of unexpected well-wishers and all said and done were nicely covered by the day of the event.
This year was different right from the start. The perseverance of the last few years at Asha Hyderabad seems to have paid off, our Diamond Sponsor found us, rather than the other way round, and so far we seem to gel nicely with each other. The beginnings of a beautiful friendship? These guys have been in town for a while, but now want to be proactive about being seen as a socially responsible and intellectually oriented corporate. And thanks to the kindness of friends and strangers, we have Hyderabad's top site, one of India's top FM radio channels, and one of India's top bookstores involved.
Which explains the title of this post. This should be the biggest and bestest ACE yet, but we'll know in 2 weeks, won't we?
Question of the day.
In the context of Indian quizzing, 2 gentlemen have done more to popularize the game more than anyone else. Both Siddhartha Basu & Derek O'Brien are household names, the former starting with Doordarshan & the latter via BQC. Mr.Basu always seems to bestow a certain dignity to the quiz with his formality. No one who spends 5 minutes watching him conduct a quiz would doubt that a serious sport is going on. Its interesting though that he was the brain behind the mega-popular KBC. On the other hand, with his trademark enthusiasm & unending wisecracks, Derek manages to create a bond with everyone present. Having had the pleasure of seeing him work first hand, i can assure that he knows the pulse of the audience. But if you had to, which one would choose as the best quiz master of Indian television?
Stay tuned for an update on the teams who have signed up so far for ACE 2008.
Stay tuned for an update on the teams who have signed up so far for ACE 2008.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Its raining in Kerela!
No, we are not playing favorite-movie-quotes type of thing here. :)
Since it has started raining in God's own country, the wise men in the weather dept. have declared that the annual south-west monsoon is here. And peering into their fancy crystal balls (or their supercomputer screens, if you don't believe in prophecies) they expect rains in Hyderabad by the start of next week. This should surely help in bringing the mercury down in time for the quiz. Don't expect things to be any cooler inside the auditorium, though! The best quizzing brains are just getting warmed up for the event. Till then, so long sunshine, wilkommen water..
Since it has started raining in God's own country, the wise men in the weather dept. have declared that the annual south-west monsoon is here. And peering into their fancy crystal balls (or their supercomputer screens, if you don't believe in prophecies) they expect rains in Hyderabad by the start of next week. This should surely help in bringing the mercury down in time for the quiz. Don't expect things to be any cooler inside the auditorium, though! The best quizzing brains are just getting warmed up for the event. Till then, so long sunshine, wilkommen water..
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