Reunions, lots of fun, and frolics marked ISB Solstice14

ISB Solstice weekend attracted almost 700 alumni for three days of reunion with class fellows, seniors, faculty, friends, and plenty of fun, frolic, and music. The action packed three-day event from December 19 to 21 gave alumni a chance to tap into the School’s latest thinking on subjects ranging from research to frugal innovation of India.

Academics spoke about their research, departments opened their doors for reconnecting and alumni indulged themselves in some wine tasting, had a go at grape stomping, played Rummy, and lazed around the pool. Some alumni did some shopping in flea market, while others treated themselves to yummy street food in the food stalls.

Comedy with Abhijit GanguliThe festivities sort of kick started on a wacky note with Abhijit Ganguli —the standup comic act. He ranted about almost anything and everything under the sun. The Amphitheatre roared with laughter on Friday evening.

Social Wall – At Atrium, an advanced Twitter wall was put up, which allowed the alumni to socialiase in the cyberspace. The live social wall enhanced the Solstice experience in real-time, since the participants around the campus were tweeting about #ISBSolistice14. The real-time updates helped to engage with each other as well as with the larger event. The hashtag (#) campaign accelerated the party on the social media. # ISBSolistice14 ran for barely three days, from 19 to 22 December, the tweets reached to 2,300,000 twitter users.

The top source for submissions was definitely Twitter – millions of impressions happened on Twitter alone. Social Wall inspired tweets were responsible for a whopping significant percentage of the traffic. The mind blowing part is that more than half of all traffic was direct, by students, alumni and other participants.

The live wall was put in Atrium - the area where breakfast, lunch and coffee was served. That’s why the social wall was constantly a part of the Solstice. The wall helped participants to follow what was happening ‘online’ without having to look at their phones and tablets.

High-Tea with Dr Shashi TharoorIn the evening, the corridors of Khemka auditorium was buzzing with life as the alumni gathered for High-Tea. They reconnected over cakes, samosas and of course, a refreshing cuppa. And soon they gathered inside Khemka to listen to Dr Shashi Tharoor, Honourable Member of Parliament.

Dr Tharoor inspired the present students and the alumni with his conviction, confidence, passion, intelligence and wit. Shashi Tharoor said: “More and more business graduates take up unconventional jobs and ventures and create a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. Your education should give you a better understanding of not just markets but a country as a whole. Education is not a socioeconomic issue but an issue of national security. Ethics matter. Politics also needs good managers and good leaders for good governance. Be the change you wish to see. You don’t see the change without quality. Change yourself to change the world.”

Speaking at the event, Ajit Rangnekar, the Dean of the Indian School of Business, said: “I am delighted to see so many alumni return to ISB and hope you people found the experience as invigorating and exciting as we did. Our alumni are our brand ambassadors and have always made us proud. It is a pleasure to welcome them back home. ISB is carrying out world-leading research and we think it vital we share this work with our closest ambassadors and advocates - our alumni.”

ISB Rocks - A Mobile AppOn the occasion, Dr Shashi Tharoor and Ajit Rangnekar also launched an app—ISB Rocks. This app put ISB alumni network in the palm of an alumnus’s hand. It is designed help 6200+ ISB alumni remain connected with each other and the school anytime, anywhere apart from getting regular updates. The app will serve as an alumni networking that connects ISBain alumina with friends and others who work, study and live around them. The alumni is expected use ISBRocks to keep up with old friends, find out about new opening, post job vacancies and remain connected to on campus happenings. Currently the app is available only to the android users, but eventually it will also be available to iOS and Blackberry users.

ISB Alumni Endowment Research Fellowship During the event, Professor Krishnamurthy Subramanian (aka Subbu) was felicitated with the ISB Alumni Endowment Research Fellowship. Cheers and standing applause echoed through the auditorium. Professor Subramanian, who is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Finance discussed about the importance of research. He explained that as our world grows increasingly global, intricate, and ever-changing, the role of research is becoming more and more complex and critical to economic success and stability.

Partying ISB StyleThen the Dean hosted a gala dinner on the lawns around the EH Mirror Pool. Later into the night, two music bands –Laghori and Faridkot– entertained the alumni and the students till the wee hours.

The Solstice14 was about reunion, was about nostalgia and by the end of the event a sentimental charge could probably be felt miles away.