Forging Invictus | Sponsorships and Hospitality

Getting sponsors for a huge fest like Invictus is no mean feat. Anushka Nair, General Secretary of the Student Council tells us of her experience – replete with ups and downs, and how it was all worth it in the end. Read on for a morsel of insight into what working for sponsorships entails.

MTTN: What was your experience like? Did you enjoy it?

Anushka: Sponsorship is something I haven’t worked with before. The Student Council started work towards Invictus two months prior. It has been a really hectic and long process. But I’ve enjoyed every moment of it, as it has been a great learning experience into the way minds outside medicine work.

MTTN: How did you get sponsors? Was it a tougher or easier job than you imagined? What did you learn?

Anushka: The major challenge we faced was a paucity for sufficient time to build a connection with the companies we were approaching. We had to follow a more ‘hit or miss’ approach with them.

What I’ve learnt after this, is how to gauge mindset and tailor our pitch to suit a particular company.

MTTN: What did your work consist of?

Anushka: We first had to prepare a list of companies to be approached. We had a ‘Sponsors tracker’ which my team used to update contact information and status.

The next task was to get the contacts of the companies. Basically, you might have to call 5-6 people before you reach the right person and this is worth the trouble, because what I’ve realized is that getting the right person can make a huge difference on whether or not you close the deal.

Once they showed even the slightest glimpse of interest in our idea of association, we sent them a Proposal for Association through email – a beautiful document our Editorial Board helped us with – or if possible, met them personally and pitched our idea.

Another part of what I was in charge of was to ensure the setup of food stalls at Greens for the event.

It took a lot of appointments and tremendous planning. We did pull it off though. We have eight stalls up right now – Pizza Hut, BakeStudio, Yummy’s Kitchen, Mughal Garden, Mini Melts, SnackBox and Coca Cola.

 

In any fest, it is of paramount importance to ensure that all the guests have a great time and leave with a suitcase full of warm, happy memories and a certain fondness for KMC and its lively inhabitants. Kartikeya Atrey gives us a sneak-peek into his experience working for Hospitality.

MTTN: What was your experience of handling Hospitality like? Did you enjoy it?

Kartikeya: Hospitality was real fun. Helping others and making them happy is a noble job after all.

Being a relatively less risky field, there were no problems, as such, faced by our team. The Proshow artists were very friendly guests. The supply was lovely too, and thanks to Coca Cola, we never fell short of refreshments.

MTTN: What exactly did your work consist of?

Kartikeya: We just got to implement the concept of ‘Athithi Devo Bhavah’. Our main job was to make sure that the host college treats the guest, judges and the artists well and caters to all their needs.

MTTN: What do you think of the fest currently? Are you satisfied with the outcome of your efforts? If you could, what would you do differently?

Kartikeya: Invictus being in its maiden year, has turned out exceptionally well. With an already stable sports front, we’ve now entered the cultural front too. And yes. The effort, blood and sweat we put into it has definitely paid off. It has seen participation better than any fest KMC has seen so far.

This being its first year, Invictus definitely saw some turndowns and a lot of last minute rundowns. One thing I’d like to advise the coming councils is a more organized administrative approach and timely steps.

 

– As said to Niharika Dixith

Photo Courtesy: Shriya Dhaundiyal

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