Barcamp Mumbai and Blogcamp Mumbai Style

Barcamp Mumbai (barcampmumbai.org) was a fantastic unconference, as they say. It was really an unconference, i liked the unorganising thing, though it was bit problematic. No issues enjoyed a lot.....................IT was at the IIT school of Management Powai...................For all those

Barcamp Mumbai (bardcampmumbai.org) is different from Barcamp MU3(barcamp.org/barcampmu3). MU3 is the universoty edition of Barcamp. It is where Barcamp is conducted in colleges or universities, and where the target audience is limited..................

Today's Barcamp(barcamp.org) was a Mumbai chapter hence the name Barcamp Mumbai Style(barcampmumbai.org) ........... There where hell lot of topics being discussed today.................

I initially thought that I reached late, as I reached Barcamp Mumbai (bardcampmumbai.org) at around 10:30. But fortunately I was at the Barcamp(bardcampmumbai.org) when the Wiki, or the sessions where just scheduled. ..................

Todays Barcamp Mumbai Style(bardcampmumbai.org) had 4 major heads to be discussed.
1 - Startups : where new startup where demoed etc...
2 - Blogging,Web 2.o : Covering blogging, Web 2.0, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SMM etc...
3 - Tech : Covering topics on Hacking Nintendo DS, Creating Wordpress application, Facebook Apllications etc...
4 - Other (Misc) : Covering rest of the topics like Sun Startup(Sun where the major sponsors), etc....

I attended all the Pre lunch sessions at the Startup heads which was at the IRC Audi of IIT SJSOM (the venue for Barcamp Mumbai Style).................
Detail on this in the next post..............

Post lunch, i attended SEO(search engine optimization) sessions, hacking Nintendo DS, Sun Startup(http://www.sun.com/emrkt/startupessentials/index.jsp), tagg.in(tagg.in)................

We had very good lunch, coffee, tea, and fast food provided kudos to the UNorganisers.

But some issues i like to highlight are:
1 - Not all sessions planned where executed.
2 - The planning of the wiki really takes time and the breakfast should be kept simultaneously.

But no hard feelings, it happens. All and all a very fruit full day.....

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaait!!! the best part is yet to be told.........

Got many goodies like a
1 - Flex(http://www.adobe.com/products/flex) book from Brajeshwar(brajeshwar.com) himslef, 33
2 - Wikipack(contains the whole Wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org) site on a DVD) from Webaroo (webaroo.com) guys, and
3 - a T-shirt :)))

what is an MBA - part 02

As i mentioned earlier MBA is nothing but Re-learning common sense...............
Then different colleges have different rankings.............Many factors are affected when the school is ranked............ Basically its the INPUT and OUTPUT that decides the rank of the college................

Input as in what quality of students come in the school and what transformation is done within them before they are out of the school.....................

Hence we can say that Students by themselves play a very important role than all other factors............ At least most of the students in a batch should have same kind of professional maturity.....

More on the BarCamp Series

Barcamp and Blogcamp the coming...........The veneue is at IIT SJSOM on 29th April..............
The best part it is, this time there are two Barcamps..... It is a combination of Barcamp Mumbai Chapter plus the Blogcamp(Barcamp on Blogging)(http://barcamp.org/BlogCampMumbaiStyle), in the series...... This Blogcamp is the from the organisers of the First Blogcamp conducted at Pune (http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune)

After the very successful BarCampMU3 chapter, this is a quite huge one..............I think such Blogcamp Mumbai Style amd Barcamp Mumbai are a great medium for socializing, networking, marketing whatever you name it..............At least we come across some like minded people, which after college is hard to find.

Just waiting eagerly to attend it.......................
Dunno will it be possible for me, since we have our college presentations going on Research Papers.

Tuesday : Site of the Week: myDabbawla

A dabbawala (one who carries the box), sometimes spelled dabbawalla , tiffinwalla , tiffinwalla or dabbawallah, is a person in the Indian city of Mumbai whose job is to carry and deliver freshly made food from home in lunch boxes to office workers. Tiffin is an old-fashioned English word for a light lunch, and sometimes for the box it is carried in. Dabbawalas are sometimes called tiffin-wallas.

Though the work sounds simple, dabbawala is actually a highly specialized trade that is over a century old and which has become integral to Mumbai's culture.

The dabbawala originated when a person named Mahadeo Havaji Bachche started the lunch delivery service with about 100 men.Nowadays, Indian businessmen are the main customers for the dabbawalas, and the service often includes cooking as well as delivery.

site : mydabbawala

The Dabbawala Brand - A marketting Channel

“Five thousand Dabbawalas
200,000 Dabbas
Six Sigma Certified
ISO Certified
Most are Illiterate
Lecture MBAs”

This is the welcome message on the home page of the dabbawalas’ website. It is, like the organization, deceptively simple. A “dabba,” in local Indian parlance, is a lunch box or tiffin with home cooked food; the person who delivers it is called the “dabbawala.” The name, however, has long lost its generic connotation and is associated with one of the most innovative organizations worldwide in supply chain management: the dabbawalas. With a fan club that includes Prince Charles and Richard Branson, the dabbawalas are a brand to reckon with. What started as a service during the British colonial rule has evolved into a brand that symbolizes low cost innovation, teamwork, and brilliance in operational efficiency.............


The organization has become symbolic of Mumbai’s culture, and the dabbawalas themselves have structured their own narrative as an indigenous brand that thrives on little technology and basic infrastructure. They claim to be the descendants of soldiers of the legendary Maharashtrian warrior-king Shivaji, and belong to the Malva caste—a legacy that is well in sync with their highly indigenous operations. Donning Gandhi caps and regularly getting together for cultural ceremonies, the dabbawalas both draw upon and contribute to the cultural fabric of Mumbai................


The mainstay of the entire organization is these workers-turned-shareholders. This uneducated workforce of men, with very little exposure to technology, has become the most potent brand ambassadors of the organization, with unflinching standards of teamwork and customer service. There is only one error in every 600,000 deliveries—a service standard which has earned them the Six Sigma Certification for Quality. Such has been their impact that leading business schools like Stanford and the Indian Institutes of Management (the premier Asian B Schools) invite them for lectures and workshops on supply chain management and teamwork...............


Leading brands in India—in an effort to increase their own brands' outreach and goodwill within the local consumer marketplace—have started exploring synergies with the dabbawalas. Microsoft, for example, used the dabbawalas to promote its Windows package for a campaign called “Asli PC,” meaning “Genuine PC.” Microsoft could not have found a better channel in Mumbai for reinforcing the value of authenticity associated with its brand. Media conglomerates and financial and telecom service providers have also used the dabbawalas as agents for direct marketing. Airtel, India’s leading telecom provider, used the network of dabbawalas to deliver and promote handsets, new connections, and pre-paid user cards.

According to the Trust’s President, these campaigns have been successful because “The dabbawalas are a brand that is synonymous with trust and commitment. I believe this is the reason why most reputed organizations like to associate with us.” For instance, in a gesture that underscores the trust and credibility that these workers carry on their shoulders, the Mumbai State owned Corporation Bank appointed the dabbawalas as its brand ambassadors and entrusted them with the task of account opening activities. Furthermore, Reliance, one of India's top most companies, recently used them to promote its Reliance Power IPO. ..............


Article By :


Preeti Chaturvedi is a Delhi University Topper with a Masters Degree in English Literature from Miranda House. A media and marketing enthusiast, she is currently pursuing an Executive Program in Sales and Marketing from IIM Calcutta. As a writer, she has contributed to magazines like Business and Economy, 4Ps: Business and Marketing; online portals like moneycontrol.com, BWonline.com;newspapers like The New Indian Express. She has also contributed an essay on branding to a book being published by ICFAI press. She is currently working on a research project on "Blogging in India". Her areas of special interest are marketing, popular culture and social media.She blogs at http://chaturvedipreeti.wordpress.com. She can be reached at preeti.chaturvedi@gmail.com

Detailed article on : BrandChannel
nk b hejta

What is MBA series

Hi ppl. So its end of first year of my suffering from the MBA syndrome(PUN intended)........
Enough of copy pasting on the blog, its more becoming a info sharing blog than my personal blog...............So i am starting of with posts which is probably subjective to my view point

I will be completing my first(of the 2 year course) year of my post graduate diploma in management. And its a totally different scenario............... Always wondered how it would be, being in a B school......... We always fool ourselves by entering into this wonderland of MBA. This wonderland being created by the news of only the TOP B-SCHOOLS around the world.

Frankly speaking don't know much about the TOP schools rest all are apparently at the same level of cliche.

So what is an MBA, it is nothing but RE-LEARNING common sense, yeah off course analytically and in an organized way.

Will be discussing in details what all factors are affected.

Look out for this space(tags,labels) for more......

Cyborg

Industry Times : Food Processing

New Delhi: The growth of food processing sector has nearly doubled to 13.7 per cent during the last four years, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahai said here on Wednesday.

"The food processing sector growth has reached the double digit at 13.7 per cent from 7 per cent when I took charge of the ministry (in 2004)," Sahai said at the award distribution function of the National Productivity Council.

Sahai said the ministry has set a target of growing at 20 per cent by 2015. "But to achieve it, there should be an investment of about Rs 1 lakh crore in the sector," he said while exhorting potential investors for making investment.

The minister said state governments should initiate steps for promoting the food processing sector, which caters to almost 70 per cent of the country's population. "The Centre has brought down duties on food packaging and other allied activities to zero level. State governments too should slash duties and taxes (Value Added Tax) to give a further fillip," he said.

According to Sahai, farmers could reap the benefits of industrialisation only if potential investors treated their products as raw material. This, if done, would improve the bargaining capacity of farmers, he added.

Sahai said the food processing sector is in turmoil at present because of the mismatch in agricultural production and processing.

Earlier speaking at the function, food processing secretary, P I Suvrathan said 80 per cent of the ideas envisaged for promotion of the sector "falls by the wayside" and does not fructify in becoming a product.

Source : IBEF

Sites of the Week

Site number One
WHO ARE WE ?
We are a Delhi - Chandigarh based online service offering you the convenience and quality of in-house and in-business legal consultancy service and other facilities in the field of law. Through our service, we give you the opportunity to get answers to all your legal questions, for which you would not go to a lawyer.
Arrow(1).gif (520 bytes)

OUR UNIQUE SELLING POINT
Our uniqueness comes from providing you with direct access to a written opinion from our panel of lawyers practicing in your requested area of law. The responses to your questions given by the lawyers in vakilno1.com are not stock answers - they are personalized replies tailored to your specific situation. Our system provides you with information that enables you to make decisions.
Site : http://www.vakilno1.com/

Site number Two
A number of well renowned and experienced Senior Advocates, retired judges, Chartered Accountants and other experts in law and taxation in India have come together to create a reliable and yet an affordable platform to provide quality legal services and advice on Indian law. Often, your work, family and other social commitments do not permit you the time to sort out your legal issues. You can now entrust your legal work from the comfort of your office or home to the safe and well-qualified MyVakil Panel-your online network of Indian lawyers. This nation-wide network of lawyers, knowledgeable in diverse fields, have come together to harness the convenience and power of the Internet to provide legal services in various parts of the country. MyVakil's lawyer panel will draft legal documents, deeds and forms and provide you with opinions and information on Indian law. MyVakil will also communicate with lawyers all over India to register and file your forms and documents with the relevant authorities. Or, you may just browse through the legal news, read articles on current law related topics, chat with an expert on law,tax and related fields, store your important legal documents online for easy access.
site : http://www.myvakil.com/

Tuesday : Site of the Week : Planningcommision.nic.in

The Planning Commission was set up by a Resolution of the Government of India in March 1950 in pursuance of declared objectives of the Government to promote a rapid rise in the standard of living of the people by efficient exploitation of the resources of the country, increasing production and offering opportunities to all for employment in the service of the community. The Planning Commission was charged with the responsibility of making assessment of all resources of the country, augmenting deficient resources, formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilisation of resources and determining priorities. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Planning Commission.

The first Five-year Plan was launched in 1951 and two subsequent five-year plans were formulated till 1965, when there was a break because of the Indo-Pakistan Conflict. Two successive years of drought, devaluation of the currency, a general rise in prices and erosion of resources disrupted the planning process and after three Annual Plans between 1966 and 1969, the fourth Five-year plan was started in 1969.

The Eighth Plan could not take off in 1990 due to the fast changing political situation at the Centre and the years 1990-91 and 1991-92 were treated as Annual Plans. The Eighth Plan was finally launched in 1992 after the initiation of structural adjustment policies.

For the first eight Plans the emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive investments in basic and heavy industries, but since the launch of the Ninth Plan in 1997, the emphasis on the public sector has become less pronounced and the current thinking on planning in the country, in general, is that it should increasingly be of an indicative nature.

The site : planningcommission

Pulsar Mania

Bajaj Pulsar has defined the performance bike category in India. Ever since its launch, Pulsar's communication too has always focused on building a distinct identity and attitude for the brand. After it's last "FreeBiking" campaign aired in April 2007, this new campaign is the most spectacular the brand has ever done. Tagged as "PulsarMania", the campaign demonstrates thePulsar 's power, aggression and grace in a never seen before manner. Shot in Cape Town, the stunt team comprises the best riders across the world including AC Farias (World No.2), Matte Griffin etc.



Client: Bajaj Auto Ltd.
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai
Creative Team: Abhijit Avasthi, Manoj Shetty, Rajneesh Ramakrishnan
Production House: Velocity Films, South Africa
Director: Lourens Van Rensburg
Music: Paul Norwood, Audio Militia

Lord Macaulay on India in 1835

This image i got through a forward

friday : quiz time

1 -
2 -
3 - 4 -
Answers through Comments

The best sites for Open Source

http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/industryinfo.php
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/

Please bookmark these sites.

The Best GreenPeace Ads - Courtesy AgencyFaqs

Probably the best use of creativity

Tuesday - Site of the Week : India.Gov.In

India.Gov.In is the Official Portal of the Indian Government, designed, developed and hosted by National Informatics Centre (NIC), the premier ICT Organisation of the Government of India under the aegis of Department of Information Technology , Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.

India.Gov.In has been developed as a Mission Mode Project under the National E-Governance Plan of the Government. The objective behind India.Gov.In is to provide a single window access to the information and services being provided by the Indian Government for the citizens and other stakeholders. An attempt has been made through India.Gov.In to provide comprehensive, accurate, reliable and one stop source of information about India and its various facets. Links at various places, too, have been provided to other Indian Government Portals/websites.

The content in India.Gov.In is the result of a collaborative effort of various Indian Government Ministries and Departments, at the Central/State/District level. It is our endeavor to continue the enhancement and enrichment of this Portal in terms of content coverage, design and technology on a regular basis.

India

barcampMu3 - part 02

Snaps for the post below : D day Barcamp


One Laptop Per Child
same
THE lappy
Mr Renaud

Barcamp

BarcampMU3 Snaps from my side - part 01

Snaps for the post : D day Barcamp

session on Windows Server 2008
same
ruby Asterixsame
A non IT Plan on Solar Panels

Barcamp

D day - barcampmu3

So we are into bar camp now. Fortunate enough i got the first slot to speak.......
Talked about open source and it as a biz model..........
You can check more on this on my htpp://lampblog.blogspot.com

Currently the session going on is Windows 2008 Server Demo..........
It was really really good. knowing before hand whats happening in MS satble.

Then came this lady Sheetal talking about Ruby on Rails and Asterix............ A tool for making IVR using open source. Fortunate enough for me when I started the session on OS.............. Good work.

Then we had this lunch break. Frankly speaking i never knew the lunch will be so good. Nice Parathas and Cholle chana, delicious...................

The post break session was supposed to be theeeeeeeee best session of its kind throught my life........
It covered topic Solar Cells, Solar Voltic Cells, One Laptop Per Child Project by MIT The power of Community for Open Source and Vakao a Web 2.0 startup....

The best part i got to see the OLPC lappy, it was damn good..... It runs on Linux, has a integrated camera, supports Wi Mesh and only contains children games. The cost of the Laptop is around $100

I will be covering the detail about all this in next posts.

Bar camp on Innovation

BarCamp is catching up big time

Well currently feeling BarCamp is catching up big time..................
Probably a best platform for enggs and techies.............

Never knew had barcamp for different things like:
Blog
OpenSource
Innovation
MBA

Trying to follow up know.

speaking my mind.......

Really having this dilemma goin on in my mind.
Being very emotional has its problems......
many career options..................
being aggressive????
Thinking of goin back to IT, as it looks I am not fit for anything else.
But then what in IT....................

Thought of starting something on my own.................... But is it the right time.
They say as early as, it is good, some say experience counts....................
I think this education has made me complacent.

Then is this social points growing in my mind - WORK-LIFE Balance.
Probably being more influenced than required.
Actually i am a too much of a thinker, taking everybody's opnion into consideration. And Always try to balance out.

But yes atleast i will be trying to follow BarCamps to get atleast some kind of an acquaintance. Hope this may give me competition.

End of the day decisions are all about make choices and then you have to follow the decision to the last limit

Tuesday : Site of the Week : IBEF

Heard about Indian brand. Yes certainly everyone has. For that matter we are living the Brand itself.

But how successful it is we never know. But they say currently India has became a brand in Telecom, IT and Retail.

It is even said that in US and UK if you say IT they see India. Such a reach has been there.

Certainly till date there is no organization which measures the brand equity of a country. But yes we have a site that caters to all the facts and figures necessary to promote India as a brand and at least to make us proud

To promote India as probably the :
"Fastest Growing Free Market Democracy"

IBEF is a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, and the Confederation of Indian Industry. IBEF aims to effectively present the India business perspective and leverage business partnerships in a globalising market-place.

India, today, is well established as a credible business partner, preferred investment destination, rapidly growing market, provider of quality services and manufactured products; and, stands on the threshold of years of unprecedented growth.

India’s Talent, Markets, Growth and Opportunity drive Brand India.

IBEF is a resource centre for global investors, international policy-makers and world media seeking updated, accurate and comprehensive information on the Indian economy, states and sectors. IBEF regularly tracks government announcements in policy, foreign investment, macroeconomic indicators and business trends.

The site is: IBEF

Tibet snaps

Click on the Images to see all the content


Chambal District
Tibet - 03
Tibet - 02
Tibet - 01

Europe images - by my friend photoraphers

Click on the Images to see all the content

Stuttgart
Amsterdam
Brussels
Frankfurt - Munich
Heidelrberg

Paris