Chennai Chapter Meet-up at Gandhinagar Club
The month of August is very close to every BITSian. In fact, it is as joyous and exciting as the month of December for the rest of the world. Wonder why? It’s because the first week of August every year marks the beginning of a new academic year at BITS. That did not just mean a new set of OHT courses and late night ghotting sessions and Cs and Ds in CDCs, but also meant getting back to the campus to lead the enthu filled life of a BITSian. So, BITSAA decided to make this month special for all the BITSians. It decided to dedicate the first Friday of August every year as a day to celebrate being a BITSian, to enjoy the nostalgia, to relive all the fun moments, and to stay connected to the BITSian community around the world. Thus was born the concept of BITSians’ Day, a celebration that is one of a kind, something never done before by any other college in India.
The first BITSians’ day celebrations in 2013 saw huge success with BITSians putting mega enthu by wearing BITSAA tshirts and meeting up fellow BITSians around the globe. BITSians met up in their work places or for a meal at a restaurant. Now the challenge for BITSAA was to make BITSians’ day 2014 as good as or even better than 2013.
The Communication and Marketing team at BITSAA had a meticulous social media campaign planned to recreate the magic. Posters that advertised the event, video teasers, email newsletters and pictures and trivia from 2013 celebrations were released on Facebook from two weeks before the event. An unplanned boon the night before 1st of August 2014 was the #BITSmemories fever that was kindled on Facebook by a BITSian. The Director of the Communication and Marketing Team at BITSAA recalls being pleasantly surprised and super excited that night to see posts from BITSians flooding Facebook. Every BITSian’s Facebook page was swamped with anecdotes, poems, senti messages and truck loads of pictures making them feel the vibe and giving them goosebumps. All the Chapter heads in coordination with the Chapter Relations Team took care of setting up venues and arranging for volunteers. Pubs and restaurants were reserved for the celebrations across the globe, food was ordered and coordinators assigned.
Thanks to all the publicity on Facebook, the meticulous arrangements made at each venue and the BITSians that volunteered to offer help with the coordination in each venue, there was a great turn out for the event. More than 4000 BITSians participated, including alumni from the 1970s and the 2000s. Meetups were held in 100 different office locations and involved 45 different chapters. The celebrations ranged from informal latchaa sessions and parties with music nights to formal dinner gatherings.
BITSians’ Day 2014 was better than the 2013 celebrations in every which way. It saw some unusual and interesting incidents. The enthu of the event percolated into remote locations like Tanzania and Ganjam, Orissa. Venues like Chennai and Mumbai were overflowing. The event gained global public attention too. Times of India covered BITSians’ Day at Udaipur and Microsoft retweeted a picture of BITSians working for the company, thus acknowledging their contribution to its growth. Very excitingly, a new chapter at Hong Kong was born out of BITSians’ Day 2014, thanks to Sneha Nandan for having taken the initiative. She gathered a group of BITS alumni at Hong Kong with the help of BITSAA to celebrate the event. Following the celebrations, they swore to keep in touch and have regular meetings and thus was born the Hong Kong chapter!
Celebrations at Microsoft Hyderabad office
For an event of this magnitude, minor setbacks were inevitable. BITSAA received complaints about the poor service provided by the Estore vendor. This year we have partnered with My Dream Store and promise to provide you a much better experience. Visit bitsaa.org/estore and order your BITSians’ Day tee now! Orders placed till the 26th of July will have guaranteed delivery before the BITSians’ Day.
BITSians, buckle up and get ready for yet another BITSians’ Day gala!
August 7th, 2015: Mark your calendars!