Bangalore, 16 September 2018: The 2018 edition of Vista, the business summit hosted by the students of IIM Bangalore, was inaugurated on 14 September 2018 with the theme – Prism of Possibilities.
The annual event aims to drive innovation, change and growth in business and management. Vista’s portfolio of 50+ events spans the categories of marketing, finance, social responsibility, entrepreneurship, and more.
The Forum for Industrial Interaction, the organizing body of the summit, was proud to host Ajay Shah, President, Polymer Chain, Reliance Industries Limited, during the inauguration ceremony. He highlighted the importance of sustainable existence. His thoughts on creating post-consumer economy or moving from a linear to circular economy to create value were insightful.
The speaker session, ‘Unplug with Sadhguru’, session saw full house on the third day of the fest.
Keynote speakers at Vista 2018 included Parth Jindal, Managing Director, JSW Cement, and Founder & Director, JSW Sports and Sangeeta Talwar, Managing Partner, Flyvision Consulting LLP. Sangeeta Talwar has made a name in the consumer products sector in India and has spearheaded the Maggi campaign, receiving many laurels for it.
With sports becoming a growing sector in India, new avenues for management and performance measurement are coming up. The Sports conclave at Vista 2018 explored management challenges and opportunities in the sector. Key speakers included Ramky S, performance analyst with the Indian cricket team, Srinath TB, Deputy GM, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Vishal Jaison, Co-Founder at Baseline Ventures, and Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan, Presenter, Star Sports. Vivek Chandra, Director, ITW Sports, talked about management career options in sports.
On Saturday (Sep 15), the students got an opportunity to hear Madhusudan Gupta, CEO, P&G India, and Manu Kumar Jain, Global Vice President of Xiaomi. The Diversity conclave focused on inclusion in the corporate world. Speakers in this session included Prerrna P Kapoor, City Ambassador, Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Network, India Regional Chapter, Raghavendra Giriyappa, Accessibility Tech Lead, IBM, Kusuma Krishna, Delivery Analysts, IBM, and Pooja Shahani, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Goldman Sachs. They sensitized the future managers on the issues of accessibility and how companies can work towards better inclusion.
The Smart City contest encouraged students to think about the future of our cities and consciously plan for environment- and technology-driven changes occurring in the world. The first prize, in this contest, was won by Vibha Saxena, Kamni Saxena and Lata Asnani, while the second prize went to Rashmi Tholpadi, Smritinjoy Das and Kunal V Mehta.
Markguru, the marketing case study contest, challenged the participants to develop a growth strategy for a packaged grocery product. The winners of the competition were Pranjali Patil and team from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. IIM Bangalore’s Sabarish and team won the second prize.
Comedy Night by Sumit Anand, at the end of Day 2, tickled everyone’s funny bone.
Vista 2018 had opened on September 14 (Friday) with actor-director Rahul Bose encouraging students to follow their dream and think differently. Lavanya Chari, Managing Director, Deutsche Bank, & Head of Global Products & Solutions, Asia Pacific, and Raghav Bahl, Founder and CEO of BloombergQuint, told the students to take the initiative and make changes instead of waiting for things to happen.
Trojan Horse, a multi-stage strategy event, saw exciting presentations on Day 1 of the summit. The team from IIM Lucknow bagged the first prize in this event, while the team from IIM Kashipur won the second prize.
Vista 2018 also hosted workshops on topics ranging from Artificial Intelligence to Digital Marketing to Logistics and saw participants all ears when the experts held forth. The Design Thinking workshop covered “integrated thinking and a holistic approach to problem solving”. The Art of Corporate Campaign helped the participants delve into the art of branding a company in the digital age.
Alum Night, led by Team IIMBUe and IIMB’s Alumni Relations Office, provided a platform for well-known alumni of the institute to engage with current students. Saif Qureshi, the President of IIMB Alumni Association (IIMBAA), and his peers highlighted the need to strengthen the alumni network. The day drew to a close on a relaxed note with students putting up a cultural programme. Over 80 foreign students, from over 39 countries, who are here at IIMB for their exchange term, also participated in the events with enthusiasm.
