2021-22
School of Communications Symposium 2022
The School of Communication hosted “Xtraordinaire 2022”, a symposium that focused on the scope of media in the age of the consumer revolution. The event featured four prominent industry experts who delivered insightful talks and interacted with the audience.
The guest speakers included Mr. Amitabh Biswas, the Marketing Head of Times Chronicles, Times Influence, and Zoom TV, Ms. Anita Balachandran, an accomplished animation filmmaker, author, and illustrator, Ms. Pooja Tolani, a contemporary screenwriter who was part of the writer’s room for Sacred Games season 2, and Mr. Prasad Karat, the Vice President at The PRactice with over 12 years of experience.
The event was well-planned and executed, with enthusiastic students posing their questions to the guest speakers, who were equally enthusiastic in answering them. It was heartening to see such young and driven students engaging themselves and actively participating in the symposium.
2020-21
School of Communications Symposium 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift towards dynamic behavior, such as social distancing, work from home, and virtual meetings, which further resulted in increased demand for ‘at-home’ digital media and online classrooms. The School of Communications organized a virtual conference called “Xtraordinaire 2021 – A web symposium” on the 18th of September, to explore media opportunities in a post-pandemic world.
These sessions were led by industry professionals such as Mr. Rana Mathew (Head of Brand Support and Communications, MRF India), Ms. Sangeeta Sampath (Group Creative Head, 83.5 Communications, Ogilvy Group), Ms. Archita Kashyap (Communication Consultant – Yash Raj Films, Entertainment Journalist, and Blogger) and Mr. Baudhhayan Mukherji (Film Maker and Producer, Little Lamb Films).
Students from across India registered as participants in the conference, making it a fruitful discussion that threw light on the emerging post-pandemic era and the media’s role within it. The web symposium provided an opportunity to be part of stimulating conversations and interactive sessions, making it a great learning experience for all.
2019-20
School of Communications Symposium 2019
School of Communications, organized its 2nd edition of Symposium on August 17, 2019. The theme chosen for the Symposium was “Digital Innovation: Opportunities and Challenges”. The event featured industry stalwarts from fields like Event Management, Public Relations, Advertising, Journalism, Film making etc.
Inaugural session was graced by Fr. Donald D’ Silva, SJ, the Acting Vice Chancellor of XIM University and the Dean, School of Communications, and the, Prof. Fr. E. A. Augustine SJ, the Registrar and the keynote speaker of the symposium, Mr. Siddhartha Roy, Head of Strategic Planning at 82.5 Communications of the Ogilvy Group. The session began with the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries and student representatives. Fr. Alwyn Rodrigues SJ, Coordinator of School of Communications Symposium 2019 delivered the welcome address.
Mr. Siddhartha Roy, the Keynote Speaker on this occasion shared insights on Brand Communication – 2020 and beyond. He spoke about how digital innovation is helping brands connect with the audience on a ‘one to one’ basis. “Consumers have an attention span less than that of a goldfish.” He mentioned that to excel in the era of digital explosion, brands need to focus on creativity, co-creation and consumer engagement.
The first plenary session was on the theme, “Digital PR and Event Management in the Convergence Era’. The panellists of this session were Ms. Sharmistha Goswami, Group Manager- Brand Communications, Madison PR and Ms. Rima Ghosal, Senior Manager Production and Programming, Teamworks Art Pvt. Ltd. The theme of the second plenary session was ‘Digital innovation: The Journey from broadcast to narrowcast’. Ms. Vasudha Sinha, Senior Producer, Editorji and Ms. Poonam Agarwal, Associate Editor (Investigation), The Quint were the speakers of the session. The third plenary session involved an interesting discussion on the theme, ‘Digital Advertising and Documentary Film Making.’ Ms Amrita Dey, Associate Creative Director, The Glitch and Mr Raju Hittalamani, Independent Filmmaker, Kabes Media were the panellists.
The Symposium witnessed an active participation from students and faculty with an intriguing Q&A session at the end of each plenary session. This event was attended by not only the students and faculty members of School of Communications and XIM University, but also school students and teachers from 12 schools of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Fr. Donald D’ Silva, SJ, distributed the certificates to the participating Teachers and Students from the twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. School of Communications Symposium 2019 ended with vote of thanks proposed by Mr. Shakti Mishra, a student of School of Communications. The whole event was coordinated by Fr. Alwyn Rodrigues SJ and Prof. Arpita Saha.
2018-19
School of Communications Symposium 2018
The School of Communications hosted School of Communications Symposium 2018 on the theme ‘Passions & Pursuits: Bridging the gap between learners and practitioners’ on September 7, 2018. Ten eminent media professionals from various media industries such as 1) Public Relations and Advertising; Photography, Cinematography, Television Production and Journalism were invited to share their experiences and educate our students.
The keynote speaker Ms. Rachana Panda, the Chief Communication Officer of GE, South Asia, focused on the ideas and qualities a person needs to be in the field of communication and public relations. She interacted with the students at three levels: innovation for change, energy for things that matter and being first to challenge oneself. Participants were inspired by the eloquent and inspiring words of Ms Panda.
The three plenary sessions followed by the inaugural session were on media specific themes to help students explore nuances of the industry and bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry expectations. The expert panelists represented wide range of media and communication fields to help the students explore their field of interest and future career. The eminent professionals who generously extended their support to School of Communications were Mr. Sujoy Roy, the Managing Partner (Creative) of Ogilvy & Mathers Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata; Dr. Samir Kapur, Senior Vice-President and Branch Head, Adfactors PR, New Delhi; Mr. Kartik Iyer, Chief Executive Officer – Happy McGarrybowen, Bengaluru; Mr. S. Chokalingum, Creative Director – OPN Advertising, Chennai; Mr. Venkat Raman, Executive Producer – Mirror Now, Mumbai; Ms. Rathika Ramasamy, Wildlife Photographer; Mr. S. Soundar Rajan, a well-known Cinematographer; Ms. Anwesha Banerjee, the Assistant Editor of Ei Samay, a Bengali daily of Times of India Group, Kolkata and Ms. Monobina Gupta, the Managing Editor of The Wire, New Delhi. Students and other guest participants benefited from the interactive sessions conducted by all the speakers. It was a day well spent redefining one’s passion aiming at Magis in pursuits.