Workshop on Digital Marketing

On 15th February 2013, SIMSREE students got an opportunity to attend a workshop on Digital marketing conducted by speakers from Softpro. Softpro is an Internationally reputed Computer Training Institute of Mumbai, with over 15,000 student base and 20 years of reputation for imparting Quality Education in 43 different Computer Courses: Professional, Short term, Career driven, Job & Business Oriented courses for Students, Professionals, Businessmen, Homemaker, as well as for entire family in the field of Office Automation, Digital Marketing, Msoffice, Advance Excel, Internet Technology, Web Designing Courses, Graphic Designing, Autocad Training, 3D Max Training. It is a IT Training & Web Designing Company, established since 1992, with Offices at 3 prime locations of Mumbai: Fort, Dadar & Andheri. 

Mr. Dipen Mashru accompanied with Mr. Akshay from the institute had come over to conduct the workshop. Mr. Akshay, who mainly conducted the workshop, has over 12 years of experience working in the technology industry delivering world leading technology solutions across a range of business sectors. He has recently launched a Search Engine Optimization platform to top blue chip companies which provides a suite of SEO, SMO applications. Furthermore, he head's a SEO & Web Designing Company in his free time. He is one of the pioneers of Digital Marketing Training Institute. 

The knowledge of about 50 hours was tried to cover in brief within 3 hours by the speakers. The contents of the workshop revolved around marketing, digital marketing, SEO, SMO and off page and on page optimization. 

First the speaker began with Search Engine optimization and explained to us that how it is useful to make our product/ service more visible through the organic search. Then he explained the difference between off-page and on-page optimization. He covered topics like web-directory, classifieds, social bookmarks and viral marketing. He also spoke about internal linking, header tags and picture optimization. 

The world moves online and Digital Marketing principles are being adopted everywhere. So the importance of social media is increasing. Almost the entire chunk of potential customers of many brands is seen active on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest etc. So it has become very important for the brands to grab their attention there and increase visibility through those sites. This makes the Social media optimization very apt in today’s brand conscious world. The speaker thus gave us insights about the ways to market on social media sites, Google ad-words, and concept of pay per click. This was followed by an introduction to display and search networks, geo-targeting, Facebook analytics, twitter analytics. He also elicited the importance of Google analytics which is for free and can help us to obtain the details of visitors, bounce rates, filters, etc 

While telling us about affiliate marketing, he told us that it is used for promoting other brands and earn commission if sale is made; it is done by using a special link code. In this way both the advertiser and publisher are benefited. E-mail marketing, Google Ad-sense account creation and display targeting were a few other related things we learnt about. 

In this way these three hours of the workshop opened up a wide horizon for the students to learn and also left us curious encouraging us to learn more. The session was very informative and interesting and we look forward to more such sessions.

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First Ever "HOUSE CUP" at SIMSREE

SIMSREE hosted its first ever HOUSE CUP – an intra-collegiate multi-sport competition on 6th& 7th February 2013. The event, spread over two days, saw the students compete amongst themselves over a plethora of indoor and outdoor games – cricket, volleyball, football, throw ball, table tennis, carom, snooker and chess. The games were held in the college campus and the classes were divided into “houses”. The entire event was wonderfully planned & co-ordinated by the SIMSREE Student Events Committee.The flagship SIMSREE House Cup was won by the PGDBM class of 2012-14.

The games started bright & early on Wednesday morning (6th) with the group stage matches of table tennis & cricket happening simultaneously along with the other indoor games as well. There were multiple teams participating from each house – MMS1, MMS2, PG, Seniors (batch of 2011-13). The games saw participation from around 140 students. The students not only got a chance to loosen up and display their sporting abilities but also a platform to showcase their competitive streak, strategic & planning capabilities.

The enthusiasm of the students was boundless with back-to-back matches happening in each sport and the games continuing well into the evening. While the single-player games gave them an opportunity to compete & excel on an individual level, the team sports required the students to collaborate and compete as a group and develop their teamwork skills.

The participants had to follow strict rules per game which sometimes resulted in interesting appeals and counter-appeals. The match referees (volunteers & committee members) surely had a tough time containing the combative side of the students but they did a splendid job maintaining order & upholding the rules. Each player/team was spiritedly cheered on & encouraged & there was a general sense of camaraderie and friendship amongst the students in spite of the competitive nature of the event.

The entire event was beautifully executed and managed by the Students Events committee with immeasurable help from the infrastructure committee and the volunteers. They did a commendable job of planning the matches, maintaining the scores & order, organizing all the necessary infra and equipment required for each game.

The event ended with the handing over of the SIMSREE House Cup winner’s trophy to the PGDBM 2012-14 batch by Prof. A. Pawaskar & Prof. R.K. Shrivastava.

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SIX SIGMA - Green Belt Certification Drive

It gives us great pleasure to announce that SIMCON – SIMSREE Consulting Club has successfully hosted Green Belt Certification drive with the help of Benchmark Six Sigma. During this workshop spanning 4 days (23rd, 24th, 26th and 27th) 24 students witnessed some amazing teaching skills from none other than CEO and Lead Facilitator of Benchmark Six Sigma, Mr. Vishwadeep Khatri.

Mr. Vishwadeep conducted all four days of the Workshop at SIMSREE. It involved entire course of green belt certification. With the help of state of the art technological teaching & practices he ensured that students are given all the knowledge and expertise needed by Six Sigma practitioner. He built on the basics of statistics that the students were already aware of, to give them a holistic knowledge of how the theory learnt could be applied when faced with complex Managerial problems. He kept the sessions interesting by keeping the students on their toes with quizzes and impromptu competitions. All in all, he ensured that all four days of learning will be remembered as pleasant & knowledgeable experience to all students. 

Mr. Vishwadeep was also pleased with the Batch's performance and quoted that with 'greater attention spans, general punctuality and willingness to learn', SIMSREE students were easily among the Top 10% of all the Green Belt Batches.

Just after conducting guest lecture by the well-known consultant of leading consultancy firm Deloitte SIMCON has taken a big forward leap by completing SIX SIGMA certification drive successfully

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Guest Lecture by Mr. Harish Hulyalkar

Over the years, Mergers and Acquisitions have helped many companies improve existing production and marketing operations to propel growth. In fact, M&A activity has become an important ingredient of business strategy.

And hence, on Sunday, 27th January, 2013, the SIMSREE Corporate Relations Committee welcomed Mr. Harish Hulyalkar - Director, Mergers & Acquisitions at Citi Investment Banking to give the students 'An overview of Mergers and Acquisitions' from a career and practitioner's perspective. He has been part of the advisory team for the Diageo-USL transaction, Wipro demerger, Vedanta group reorganisation and Moody's acquisition of Copal Partners.

Mr. Harish commenced the session by explaining some of the skill sets required to succeed in this field and where such skill sets may be applied. He gave a broad overview of the functioning of an investment bank and also showed the students how M&A fits into the business model. He then went on to highlight some of the common trends seen in M&A activity over the last two years. He noted that the recent slowdown in the Chinese economy has had a negative impact on the M&A flows into Asia in 2012. Mr. Harish then cited some of the primary reasons which drive a company to be invloved with M&A activity. Lastly, he touched upon the process followed while doing buy and sell-side transactions and showed how a financial advisor can add significant value to such transactions.

It was a very interactive and enthusiastic session and the students will surely look forward to more of such lectures in the future.

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Republic Day Celebrations

The students of SIMSREE could feel the patriotic vibes run through their body right as the Republic day celebrations kicked in with the hoisting of the tricolor marking the 63^rd anniversary of India getting its own Constitution. The rest of the day was filled with power packed action. Two heart throbbing back to back performances, a solo dance and a duet medley captured everyone’s attention to the fullest.

Following which there was a very intense and adrenaline pumping debate competition, organized by the Students Events committee. The topic for debate was “Changes in law will effectively deter exploitation  of women in India”. The debate surely raised a few eyebrows, if not many as it dwelled deeper into the shocking facts of the recent Delhi rape case, an aching wound for each and every Indian, the memories of which will always haunt the bright future of our nation. It was heartening to know that young generation sympathetically responded to the grave tragedy as they showed their deep concern by expressing their views on how to combat disrespect to Womanhood.

Judging the debate were Mr. Rohit Kumar and Ms. Aparna Dubey. Mr. Rohit Kumar, a TISS alumnus is currently leading the Service Learning Program (SLP) at the Akanksha Foundation and Ms. Aparna Dubey, our very own alumnus of ’95 batch, has worked with Reliance Group for 12 years before turning into an entrepreneur. The batch expressed their sincere condolences to the deceased rape victim by offering a minute of silence. 

As the day ended with the National Anthem, all students went home with a renewed sense of belief in the system and a pledge to try and make India as was envisioned by the leaders. SIMSREE would like to thank the events committee for the wonderful experience.

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Guest Lecture By Mr. Gulzar Karim

SIMCON (SIMSREE Consulting Club) blazed its trail by helping students get a better perspective of consulting as a career options its opportunities and expectations. Mr Gulzar Karim, consultant at Deloitte Consulting LLP, USA also our Alumni from the batch 2008 proved to be a great harbinger. He threw light on the evolvement of consultancy as a career option. How the well known audit firms recognized the needs of companies requiring consultancy  mainly in the four main domains viz. Strategy, Operations, IT and HR and therefore leading firms to develop individual knowledge centres

Further the working of consultancy firms was elicited as a two dimensional “Grid Structure” depending on domain function and Industry. Consulting firm’s prime resource is Manpower and Time, so he stressed on Consultants having a perceived skill set such as Team dynamics, analytical skills to name a few. These skills are required in all the roles spanning from analyst to senior consultants, thus giving an overview of the hierarchy involved in a consulting firm. Therefore explaining career path and learning curve for a MBA graduate who looks forward for a future in consultancy firms.

Expectations always go in synchronisation with opportunities; Mr. Gulzar Karim’s showcased the perks and perils associated with working in a consulting firm. One important aspect that was discussed from the point of career option was that Consulting is not just limited to those pursuing Marketing, but many  fractions like Public Private Partnership which has gained impetus in recent times gives students having Finance as Majors a new opportunity.

A real touch was added by Mr Karim sharing his experience in this arena, leading to interesting concepts like shadow costing, feasibility study and Competitor analysis. While we reflected upon the amount of study that goes behind consulting, our discussion briefly touched upon the difference in  working of Consulting firms because of different economies, in USA and India. This is now what we call Out of Class learning without actually moving out!

The highlight being that it was an interactive brain storming session helped each one of us to have a candid picture about Consultancy as a career option. It was indeed a great start by SIMCON and we Thank Mr. Gulzar Karim for making it possible. Looking forward for many more insightful sessions in the future

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HUL presents BSA and DEWANG MEHTA AWARDS

In a salubrious milieu of Taj Lands end, Bandra, a conspicuous event was held on 24^th of November, 2012. HUL’s BSA and Dewang Mehta Award is founded by Dr R. L Bhatia, CEO of Fun and Joy at work, alumnus of SIMSREE. The Business School Affaire (BSA) started 19 years back in the form of 4 contests, but as time passed by newer contests were adapted which encouraged the budding managers to show their skills in every managerial aspect. It has been a successful journey of putting together an effort that aims at a leadership development of the generations to come. In the last 6 years the event is dedicated to the memory of Late Dewang Mehta. He was the head of NASSCOM from 1991 to 2001. He is credited with a large portion of India's momentous rise as a "software giant". His vision for India is- Young India which will shape the destiny and the Future. It’s his vision and belief in the young minds of India that forms the soul and purpose of this award.

This vision was well conceptualised, and the witness to it would be a roaring participation across pan India, including the top Management schools. The room was filled with a sense of pride for their respective colleges, and the energy that students and professors showcased was magnified throughout the function.

SIMSREE also exhibited its presence by bagging three prizes, SIMSREE known for its Student-driven approach bagged the award for "Business school which encourages innovations that lead to better development" and special kudos to our own SIMSREE-ites, Pranav Koli and Prathamesh Bhute for securing 1st Place in Presentation contest on the topic Brand Reputation-Present and future, and also to Nupur Khare and Vinit Arondekar for 2nd Place in Research based Paper Presentation on the topic Brand New World, emerging trends of marketing were well highlighted by both the teams.

At such an event it is not just about winning; it is about the participation and efforts that were put. Above all this, it mirrored the potential and new ideas we as budding managers have to offer to this industry, where it is not all about survival of the fittest!

This event was a great success because of Dr. Prasad Medury’s (Partner-AMROP India Consultants Pvt Ltd) selfless effort and dedication and the Patron Harish Mehta’s(Chairman and MD, Onward technologies) vision in developing future leaders through his efforts. This event was indeed dedicated to the spirit of Young India!

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