Avenues- The annual business extravaganza organised by the students of Shailesh J.Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay which provides a platform for the brightest minds from the best B-Schools across the country to compete in some of the most challenging and thought provoking competitions designed to not only stimulate the students but also to let them grow.
Avenues /ˈav(ə)njuː/ meaning a way of approaching a problem or making progress towards something and Avenues 2013 doing justice to its name with the underlying theme “sustain to succeed” was conducted on 25th and 26th of October which saw participation from over 200 colleges. The fest continued with its strong industry presence with State Bank of India our associate sponsor. eBAY, Canara Bank, SCNext, TEPP, F&D to name a few as our event sponsors. Avenues 2013 also attracted international competition as Washington University in St. Louis partnered with us as their case study partner.
Avenues with 4 Flagship events, 6 Domain events, 4 online events along with a number of On the spot events kept the participants enthralled. The festival was inaugurated by Mr Rajit Kapur a respected veteran in the field of arts and cinema who were also the first speaker at Alankar- The leadership lecture series which is a major crowd attraction. The festival was also graced by the presence of Mr Alyque Padamsee also known as the brand father of Indian advertising and the guru of English Theatre in India. Mr Padamsee speaking at Alankar mesmerized the audience with his vast experience and his suave style. We also had the Ballad King of India- Mr Lucky Ali to grace the stage at Alankar who won over the crowd by his witty humour and timeless hits.
Mahayodha-a flagship event continued to be a favourite of the budding managers across colleges garnering participation from over 300 candidates who fight it out over 48 hours to earn the title of the ultimate leader. Navonmesh – the b-plan contest directed to add significant skills to the budding entrepreneurs and kindle the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst them. Ashwamedh, a unique 2-day event involving strategy mash-up for varied problems, also garnered huge participation
The festival also saw a series of domain specific events specifically designed to test the practical business acumen of the participants. Events like Abhyuthaan for the marketing enthusiasts, Leagile for the masters of Operation, Strategia, Prakalp, Pratimaan-where participants address live business problems and get to interact with the concerned corporates. The festival had events for the budding shutter bugs, a story writing competition and LAN gaming along with a series of On the Spot events.
After months of preparation by the organizers and rigorous yet fun filled two days the festival draw to a close with the Avenues-Pronite where everyone gathered to enjoy the cultural night by the ‘Bawraas’ featuring Vikram Sathaye, Swanand Kirkire and Shantanu Moitra.
Avenues 2013 witnessed participation from around 15000 students across India with over 80 B-schools participating across 18 events for the prize money over Rs. 10 lakh. On the online publicity front it witnessed the highest weekly reach of 2.7 lakh and the Avenues page on Facebook breached the 2000 likes mark.
Thus Avenues 2013 concluded successfully setting new benchmarks for industry interaction, event competitiveness and student participation establishing Avenues as one of the most sought after business events in the country.