Curious minds seek guidance at TSOM alumni conference

By Anoushka Saxena

Ever wondered what the secret recipe for building a skyrocketing career is? Certainly, tons of hard-work, patience, and mentorship under the guidance of the right set of people. The engaging three-day long student-alumni conference, spearheaded by the Times School of Media at Bennett University, on 17^th, 18^th and 19^th of April was an attempt made to simplify and break down the journey of establishing a name in the media world for budding journalism and media enthusiasts.

The ‘Future Forward’ conference, as its name goes was a flight to the future, helmed by alumni members who have managed to establish a foothold in their respective professional journeys. Jivraj Kohli, Tanvi Mishra, Muskan Guliani to name a few, joined the conference as guest speakers to give a push to the aspiring novice journalists. As the alumni broke down the process of gearing up for the twists and turns that one must look out for in their corporate journey, step by step, growing enthusiasm amongst the juniors started becoming palpable.

From touching topics as crucial as the importance of internships led by Ms Reeti Agarwal and Mr Vaibhav Kulkarni to exploring the many opportunities of seeking higher educating in both India and abroad, the conference was an amalgamation of knowledge infused with a passion in the hearts of the students to turn out to be victorious in navigating their path in the world of media.

Discussions surrounding entrepreneurship were in the air to educate budding entrepreneurs on real-life situations they might encounter which would lead them to question why they chose to open a startup in the first place. This insightful session was led by Nandani Nandal as she went on to elaborate on the right business mindset and skills that make a good entrepreneur. Media professionals are born storytellers and are expected to narrate their story in a way such that it strikes a chord with the spectators in an instant. The ‘Creative Writing Chops’ workshop was one such attempt made at imparting industry insights on writing powerful ads that have a voice of their own.

“I am an advertising enthusiast. I am someone who has grown up tapping my feet to the beats of ad jingles and have always wanted to pursue advertisement as my profession. This workshop was so wholesome. I enjoyed every bit of it. I now know what kind of ads one must write to create a far-reaching impact.” Said Devika Khandelwal, a first year Journalism student.

While mass communication is a field broader beyond one could imagine, for those wondering whether insights on PR management was a part of the conference shall now have their answer. To retain a brand’s identity and enhance it further might come across as a mammoth task for a beginner but was simplified in the PR Media pitching workshop led by alumni speakers Devshree Gauri Shukla, Aadya Gupta and Vidhu Goswami. Ranging from building top notch brands to handling brand crisis, the guest speakers elucidated on meeting all these challenges with the right frame of mind and correct approach. This is not all that there was to the three-day conference, interactive games followed by joyous moments of chatter, laughter and music also came to be the highlights of this power-packed ‘Future Forward’ series.

For knowledge-seeking budding media professionals and already well-established alumni members to be brought under one roof was once in a lifetime opportunity to have been witnessed by the Times School of Media. The faculty members and students came together to put up a great show, toiling day in and out, working towards successfully running the show.

The success of the student-alumni conference 2024, invited appreciation from both ends, the learners as well as the mentors and what the Bennett University eagerly looks forward to now is another such fruitful conference in the coming future.