DePP

My father and I always argue about the wallpaper on his computer. I like to think of myself as an elitist connoisseur (don’t we all love being pretentious at times? :P) and prefer elegant black-and white or sepia images pirated from Flickr, or the lovely photographs in light colours which accompany every new version of Windows for my own computer.

My old man, however prefer things on, let’s just say, the “colourful side”. Really Colourful. Like 80’s colourful with neon pink and fuchsia assaulting my eyes. Call me a Grinch, but when I saw the little sparkly red and white Santa caps on our new XPS desktop, I had it. I mean, where did he even find the obnoxious computer baubles?

So, anyway, I asked him to change the wallpaper (with a death-glare). When I came back, he triumphantly stood beside the computer saying, “Now let me see you delete my wallpaper, ‘cause it’s that official Waves thingy.” I had conveniently downloaded the Waves wallpaper and forgotten to see what it looked like. And he was right, I couldn’t delete it.

So now the Waves Wallpaper sits pretty on my dad’s computer, while I’m still sticking to the lighter colours with the Quark Wallpaper on my screen.

Now, I officially bring to you the Waves and Quark wallpapers! The Quark Wallpaper is by ze Chief Coordinator of DePP, Paddy (who’s been referred to as a dragon or some scary mythical creature in this blog :P) while the Waves one is by YL Chaitanya, who’s been instrumental in making the official festival trailers.

An amalgamation of a thousand fuzzy hues, entwining with each other to create the essence of Waves- a bright, hot summer, full of energy and BITSian enthusiasm (and loads of sweat deserves special mention)- The Waves Wallpaper.

A serene blue seeps into the wallpaper, slowly taking over it, taking the place of pride as the background of the delightful, glittery Quark logo. If this was the Renaissance, old man Leonardo would have been proud of this work of art (and a lot of other work the DePP designers do- and yes, I’m desperately trying to flatter Paddy after the dragon comment :D )- The Quark Wallpaper!

Download them fast! Limited editions wonly!

"A picture is worth a thousand words. An interface is worth a thousand pictures."- Ben Shneiderman

This was the only quote I could get for the post I was going to make. Sure, something longer,verbose and by a famous person would have adorned the post better, but I guess I'll just be searching for a needle in a haystack.

Notice I've used the word "adorned" in the above para. The main objective of the quote was to just adorn, be a herald of the things this post contains. A sincere thanks to Krushidhar, LVK Chaitanya and YL Chaitanya for making them so beautiful.Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you... The Quark, Waves and Spree Trailers.

Quark- http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=sccMrCb5wFM
Waves- http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=BDbu9YrX21k
Spree- http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=DWBm0HX68sY

You've been just hearing about them, now you can get a sneak peek at what really happens.

After that long, exhaustive and possibly boring post about QUARK, we trust you know what QUARK is all about yadda yadda yadda.

After that customary introduction, we bring some good news for those involved in QUARK and those wanting to participate in QUARK. There will be a QUARK Launch party soon. \m/ (okay, I’m trying to make it sound happy and exciting when it really isn’t).

Our Director, Professor K.E. Raman, will invite an eminent personality as a Chief Guest, who will release the QUARK teasers and posters, the official QUARK information brochure, along with the tagline and the cute mascot as well. We thank the Director for the launch party, for this constitutes a grand beginning for our festival.

This will be an exciting moment for everyone involved in QUARK, especially the ‘QUARK Control’s who’ve been working night and day for this. But hey, it’d be even better if there was food involved, especially for all BITSians *puts on best mess-starved look*.

Now getting back on track, the party is expected to be held in a few days, by mid-October at the latest. After the launch, we’ll be mailing out the first packages to all colleges to invite them for QUARK. So all those who are interested, do come…it’ll be great fun (lame publicity gimmick no.2).

Well, then until our next post…ciao!

Shalini

It’s 2:30 in the morning, and the retarded laughter coming from the adjacent room, punctuated at regular intervals by some degenerate sounds which give the effect of a dying bull snorting it’s last few breaths, disturb my train of thought. I’m tearing my hair and wiping sleepy eyes, trying to come up with an accurate and politically correct description of DePP.

Oh God, chuck it.

For the noobs and whatnot who may still wonder what DePP is, let me clear the confusion.

DePP = Department of Publicity and Public Relations

I can clearly remember the sequence of events which led me to be sitting on an uncomfortably unyielding chair, writing out this inspired manuscript.

So DePP had put up this poster, inviting students for initiation into their unholy syndicate. And in all their wily and cunning ways, they had made it black and red. Black and red, as you should know, are a stunningly seductive color combination, and anything that speaks in black and red cannot be denied by anyone except those with the stoniest of hearts.

Kudos to the DePP designers. They work a lot. And well.

And thus I came to find myself in an infrequently visited lecture theatre, answering decidedly suggestive questions in a vulgar way, and coming up with profane taglines in an attempt to show my ‘creative’ publicity senses.

Fast forward a few days, and one written round plus interview later (the DePP people, ironically, are pretty selective of the poor fish that they try to reel in each year), I find myself playing mafia (and badly) with my new accomplices, waiting in turn to receive a formal piece of paper declaring that I was indeed, a member of DePP, and not just lying through my teeth.

Not exactly the holy grail, but beggars can’t be choosers.

And so I came to know more about this shady collective, like the chief of our esteemed consortium, a certain ‘Paddy’, (who had been gifted with this striking basilisk gaze which would make you cover your bosom and wish you had worn an extra layer of clothing), or of the official meetings, where the best of the DePP brains would be racking their gray cells, trying to decide whether summer somehow can be associated with blood and carnage and cakes, and whether ‘Beam me up, Scottie’ was ever spoken….

You don’t say.

In all seriousness, my nerves are still getting accustomed to doing last minute work, and I still have to remember to leave my sanity in my room when I go for our inspired meetings.

But in all fairness, DePP is a lot of fun. And we get our job done

And well.

SO join us…we have candy.

Achintya

Goa. Sun. Sand. Beaches. Waves. Summer. Cultural Fest. BITS Pilani Goa Campus. If you think some of those phrases are odd ones out, don't worry. Waves summer 2009 - the cultural fest of BITS Pilani Goa Campus, slated to take place in March 2009 will provide you an amalgamation of all of them.

Are you a college student? Do you represent your college in any cultural activity? Have you been yearning to add the coveted 'kickass trip to goa' on your been-there-done-that list? All that aside, do you just want to have fun? If you've answered in affirmative to any of those questions, read on. Even if you have not, read on. You have to. You just have to.

The largest culfest in Goa - Waves, hosted by BITS Pilani Goa Campus has seen stellar growth (exponential would be a better way to describe it, but.... (note to self : must not exhibit 'engineering student' characteristics)) over the past 4 years. Waves is sponsored by most of the you-know-whos when it comes to brands and companies, and the numbers seem to be increasing. It invites participation from colleges spanning the length and breadth of the country (Waves went national, ainnit?)

Formally Waves is :
Cultural events - Dance, Drama, Music, Fashion Parade, Mr. and Ms. Waves yadda, etc, yadda, etc....

Special Nights - From the best on-the-brink-of-fame bands from all over the country participating in Sea Rock to professional performances by Musicians and DJs to (watch this space).....

Informals, Games, Food stalls - Pet Pooja, Make a fool out of yourself for a stupid t shirt/goodie, A chance to make money (okay, i'll admit that the chances of you losing are more than winning, buy hey, you do have a chance, right)

And a lot more which does not seem at the top of my head (yes, I don't dig too deep, especially while blogging for DePP).

Holistically, Waves is something inexplicable. It is a unique experience, which is beyond tangible realms (you being a BITSian or non BITSian is inconsequential).
BITSians putting in their heart and soul to make the festival a success, students from all over India battling it out during the day (or watching the battle, if you're intelligent enough to sit back and laugh at them) and chilling out at night, bitching, appreciating, fitting in tourism plans with participation, freeloading (lots of goodies to be 'won', read : doled out by sponsors), making plans to set up base in Goa (cheap alcohol has its side effects) and a lot more (actually, I just can't think of more things to write in here).

[gloat]My advice is very precious. Most people who have followed it have been extremely successful in life. I am taking the liberty of doling it out on a public blog. So... ladies and gentlemen.....behold....[/gloat]here comes my advice -
Start convincing your college authorities and parents already! Also, if possible, chalk out a nice tourism plan around your whole 'official purpose' trip. Also, do check out the WAVES website at: http://www.bits-waves.org/

Anmol

Last year, I was among the youngest at BITS-Pilani, Goa Campus, being in the first year. Obviously, a lot of us were put at ease by our very friendly (read: "Come to my room in 30 minutes or you'll be forced to hide for the rest of your college life!") seniors in a new environment. :-P Everything was pretty different, but something that particularly caught my eye was the multitude of BITS T-shirts. Some screamed choice words in Latin; while others showed the saga of BH-8 (BITSians will know what I’m talking about).


However, a particular tee stood out, which said Quark ’07-Be Fundamental (pun\m/) But then what was Quark? Quark is our Technical festival and quintessential for a premier Institute like BITS. Despite our campus being only three years old, Quark ’07 was a hit, with difficult competitions, amazing laser shows and yes, the funda-mental t-shirt.


When we came, preparation for Quark’08 was well under way. We were drawn into the ‘quarkmire’, and there was no looking back. In the first sem itself, DePP (then called the Publicity Club or more affectionately ‘Pub’) got busy with making Quark logos, posters and banners to be put up in colleges across India. This was the first time that Quark was attempting to go truly national.


However, I realized the spirit of Quark truly arrived when I walked down my corridor one day, and saw my friends trying to make a bot. Five hours, a nasty burn, and a million how-the-hell-do-you-make-a-robot calls to seniors later, they were proud of their accomplishment as the robot finally got an earthly body. Quark’08, with the tagline ‘Engineering Perfection’, and the unofficially-named robot mascot Ob became a phenomenon in campus. Even The sleeping BITSians who were taking the advantages of a 3-day holiday woke up. It was the best three days in BITS ever. There was lots of yummilicious food in the stalls (I have a predilection to barf-ka-golas, and subsequently sore throats).


Coming to participation now. We had participation from all over India, from Goa, Maharashtra, AP, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, BITS-Pilani and BITS-Dubai as well. The competitors were sporting and our thanks to them for revelling in the Spirit of Quark!


Events from every science and engineering field formed the crux of Quark and they were well-fought-out contests. But the biggest event in Quark was MATKA, the gaming event. It was huge, and every gamer decided to engage in the fight for supreme glory. Okay, maybe not supreme glory, but Rs.30,000 is a nice incentive.
Apart from these, we had great workshops, including an aeromodelling workshop, a telescope making workshop by IUCAA Pune , and a finance workshop by Reuters. Several premier companies like Bosch, Red Hat, and Schlumberger set up their stalls and conducted workshops and games for us. Nope, I’m not doing publicity, just telling ze truth.


But what is a good fest without Special nights? Entitled Aurora- we had three days of beautiful performances. There were great performances by the Drama Club, The Music Club and the Rock Club. But The performance which took our breath away was by Feeding the Fish. They are a professional group of jugglers who combine, dance, music and specially programmed props to create the most spellbinding show ever. I could find very few words to describe it, but here’s what a friend said- “The show was freaking awesome. I will spend my whole life doing nothing but watch this show.”


On the whole, Quark’08 was exhilarating. It was the first time I had witnessed such a fest, and it was great. Though the aspect of Test-2 coming up a week after Quark was not really appealing,(and not good for my already stellar CGPA), I did have fun, and a lot of golas, and food, and work…
Preparations for Quark’09 have already started now. All the Depts have started their work, and we already have a tagline (Technical Renaissance) and a cute li’l mascot (Q-BOT). Registrations are open at the QUARK website: http://www.bits-quark.org/


Now for the hell load of work to come our way….*runs*


Shalini

Come March, and summer dawns on us. Summer in India usually means staying indoors, and drinking iced water by the gallon. However, summer in Goa is a part of the tourist season. Summer is when Goa truly comes alive. Goa is the land of sun and sand, and what would these be without sun-kissed waters, and hot babes on the beach?


So during March, we have two of our fests at BITS-Goa, early March plays host to Waves, while late March sees Spree take place, our sports fest. Spree had pretty humble beginnings in 2007 as a series of games in Waves’ 07. After that, there was no looking back, for Spree grew exponentially. With the tagline ‘You Game?’ given by DePP, Spree had 15 colleges participating. Guys and gals of PCCE, GEC, Chowgule College, RIEIT (Goa), RVCE and Jain College (Bangalore), DJ Sanghvi (Mumbai) and MIT (Manipal), thanks for participating and making our fest fun. And sorry if I’ve missed out any college!


I remember watching my first live football match during Spree, the exhibition match between Vasco De Gama and Sporting Club de Goa. Watching Brazil demolish opposition in World Cup matches is awesome, but nothing rivalled seeing a live match.


As for the actual thing, we had eight events ranging from football to caroms. It was fun to watch basketball especially...well, actually the cute guys more than the game itself. ;-)


Spree saw some hard-fought battles; some easy wins, but a lot of sporting spirit. But it literally rained on our parade, when the last few matches of Spree were cancelled due to unseasonal heavy rains. Ahh, not to worry, we’ll be back in full force this year.


Spree’s supposed to start off with a grand marathon. In last year’s marathon, most people gave it up half-way, but they did enjoy the run, and hopefully burnt off a few annoying fat cells. The Spree teaser is out already. And guess what, we’re having cricket too!


Anywho, the Spree tagline and posters should be out soon (DePP is still working on it) and we’ll mail to your colleges soon. Do come to Goa for Spree’09, if not for the sports, then at least for the beach babes!


Shalini

P.S. The Spree website is up and running at http://www.bits-spree.org/

The Department of Publicity and Public Relations handles and inititates the brand marketing of all three

Campus festivals i.e. QUARK the technical festival, WAVES the cultural festival and SPREE the sports festival of BITS -Pilani, Goa Campus in order to make people aware of the presence of our campus, the quality and the standard that we maintain and follow. The festivals seek to be the best in India, competing with the IITs and leaving the other festivals to dirt.

The mission statement of the department is to provide products and solutions beyond excellence in a professional environment. Work done in this department reaches Corporate Houses, Celebrities, our peers in other reputed institutes across India. The art work and design elements have been appreciated by the media and other authorities like MTV, Kala Academy Goa and other individuals. The outlook provide by our department helps improve the image amongst various MNC's and other organizations that provides better placement for all students of the campus.

Members of the department constitute the elite in campus, working together and gathering exposure in the ever expanding domain of the department. DePP gives you a real time simulation of what corporate executives see in their marketing and advertising boardroom meetings. Parameters such as time constraints, team work, real time problem solving , effective and efficient decision making shape the individuals who work with this department which also goes along to strengthen their resume for an MBA interview and campus placements. Along with this professional environment one also seeks to quench the thirst for creative, innovative and lateral thinking. Thinking out of the box is not an option but a thumb rule!

In a nut shell the most creative, innovative and enterprising people come together to take this campus to greater heights.

Hey Guys,
Sole Purpose of this blog : To Discuss various issues regarding department work easily while we are at home.

If you are a member of DePP, BITS Pilani, Goa Campus, send me your email id and i'll add you to the authors list...you can comment here or email me at sevenaces[at].com.

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Regards
Parag Gupta