While Xpressions 2005 was scheduled to officially start on the 3rd of October 2005, it was from the early hours of the 2nd that the visitors from all over the country had started to arrive. Thanks to an intricately and carefully designed control system, each participant was properly received and taken to their hostel rooms by their “buddies” from XIM. Budding managers from all over the nation were beginning to converge on the lovely XIM campus.
After the inauguration ceremony on the morning of the 3rd, Xpressions 2005 officially kicked off with the Conclave… a ceremony which saw the coming together of some of the India’s best and most influential people to discuss a key issue. The issue being discussed this year was FDI, and how essential or important FDI is for the development of a nation. The chief guest was Mr. Praful Patel, the union minister for civil aviation. Other guests included Mr. Mahesh Murty (CEO, Passionfund), Mr. B.J. Panda (Rajya Sabha MP from Orissa), and Jagi Mangat Panda (Director, Ortel Communications). Not only did the conclave feature lively speeches by all the guests, it also saw some very relevant and thought-provoking questions from the audience (a fact acknowledged and appreciated by all the panelists).
The two biggest events of Xpressions, Kurukshetra and Skillcity were massive hits this time with greater participation from everyone. Skillcity, called “The hardest test of your softest skills”, had a separate corporate round this time which saw the likes of Infosys taking part. It is a well known fact that soft skills go a long way in the making of an effective manager, and the game paid tribute to that fact.
If Skillcity was a roaring success, Kurukshetra was no difference. Teams from all over India matched their wits against each other in possibly the toughest and most lifelike test of their Business acumen and hard skills. In the end, it was an enjoyable and enlightening experience for one and all.
Quizzing has always been an integral part of the XIMB culture, and this fact was clearly evident during Xpressions 2005. There were a large number of choices available to any quizzing enthusiast, as Xpressions 2005 saw four different quizzing events spanning over different fields of study. Besides the general quiz, there was Brand Equity (quiz on brands), Finomenon (Finance quiz), and Interface (IT quiz).
For all fans of Rock Music, Xpressions 2005 proved to be the ideal hangout as the rock competition ‘Decibelz‘ took place on the evening of the 4th. Teams from Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, XLRI and Darjeeling participated in the event and made it a grand success. The team from Darjeeling bagged the first prize, while the team from XLRI (Bodhi Tree) came second. Bodhi Tree was widely appreciated for their song about ‘too many potatoes in the mess’. Atul of ‘Silk Route’ was the judge for the evening.
The IT Seminar held on the evening of the 5th proved to be a really educative and interesting adventure as various viewpoints were presented as to whether India should strive to achieve in the field of product development, or stick to services. Professor G.K. Nayak of XIM, Mr. Vishal Dev (Govt. Of Orissa), and Mr. Sanyal (Satyam) put forward their thoughts on the issue and also answered various questions which arose. The questions were interesting and ranged from issues like red-tapism to whether Indians were better suited for product development than services.
The event came to a conclusion with an amazing performance by the famous band ‘Indian Ocean‘. It was widely appreciated and enjoyed by everyone.