At first when I was asked to do it, I said NO! Why? Can this be done in words? I believed that I cannot write down everything in words and I dint wanted to share an incomplete experience. But one argument convinced me that it's worth writing something than not writing at all. It's not about what I write, it's about how much you gain; it's not about whether it's complete or not, it's about giving you the maximum.
As many say and I believe, "Priorities with change time." What Techfest was to me when I was working may be completely different from what it is now. I may be prejudiced in writing whatever is here. But believe me the passion, the zeal has not faded completely, its still there. IT CAN NEVER GO. IT NEVER WILL.
What does Handing Over means? Handing Over of what? Not Techfest Certainly. Every year Techfest family grows, new members are added. But it's not just the responsibility of the incumbent team, it's of each and every member associated with Techfest. In principle the oldies should not interfere and the new team should show its mettle. But if something goes grossly amiss, believe me it's us who will cry the most. And hence it sometimes becomes necessary to show the correct way out.
Handing over is of Values, Legacy, Experience and innumerable other things. All of you should dwell upon these questions -
The answers to these questions may not be straight forward and there may be multiple answers. But they will help you a lot and you should keep looking for them from time to time. While deciding the content of the Fest, it's important to keep in mind things like Aim, Target Audience etc.
Moving ahead, my association with Techfest in the Freshie year was limited to watching movies (why is that with most of the IITians?). I do regret that. In the Sophie year I started working just 20-25 days before the fest. The reason - I had nothing else to do. But I made one of the most significant decisions there. I learned in those 3 days what I hadn't in 3 semesters. I am thankful to Jankit for giving me the responsibilities and showing trust in me. This is very important. You should trust your coordis and they must be given responsibilities. "Act like a Manager".
The initial stages are of conceptualization and are of utmost importance. If you do this stage well, more or less you are done. Of course execution is important, to convert ideas into realities. But if you get conceptualization wrong, you are in deep trouble. There is nothing that can save you. Here there is one important point I would like to mention. The admin guys should not only give ideas but work on them too. It's insufficient to give some idea and expect the event managers to find details about them. In the initial stages all of you are "Event Managers". Its very disturbing when some people are involved and some going relaxed, doing nothing.
Keep you senses open to all information, from all media. Keep talking to people in the institute as well as outside, get the best and most innovative ideas. Try and be as afresh as you can. "Everything is possible." Try and fight it out. Even if it doesn't happen, believe me you would have learned a lot. Things that others would never see or know. This is one of the biggest incentives. You learn so much!
Mohit Mittal
Manager Events
Techfest 2003