#NITTrichy Alumni Network on Twitter

I had been thinking about the leveraging the power and reach of Twitter as a tool for connecting alumni of my Alma mater, NIT Trichy. It all started with #inditweetmeet which created interest among a few from my batch. We all thought of creating something similar for NIT alumni to connect and interact. It has generated quite some interest amount fellow alumni. We started off with the hashtag #nittmeet and then thought #NITTrichy would be more relevant and useful.

I’d like to keep this ‘fire’ burning and would like to see the idea grow. It would be great to see the idea widely accepted and embraced by fellow alumni. It will add a significant web presence to RECAL, NIT Trichy’s Alumni Association.

Why Twitter?

Twitter is a medium using which one can gain access to new people, new information and new networks. Unlike Facebook, Twitter is an open medium, and hence helps you reach ‘far beyond your circle of friends’.. But there is a huge barrier to entry for those who aren’t familiar with Twitter, since it is a bit harder to get your arms around at first.

The usefulness of Twitter is not readily as obvious to some people as Facebook; although it may be more addictive once you get the hang of Tweeting; you get more immediate responses and it seems to live somewhere between the worlds of email, instant messaging and blogging.

Though I would love to see alumni from the 45 odd batches of NIT Trichy, this would be better applicable to younger alumni.

Alumni can post their networking need to twitter, the same way they might use LinkedIn, but in a broader, more casual way. Tweets are search-able, and can be tagged for others’ benefit.It is open for all and hence would be an awesome tool to connect with other alumni.

How it Works?

It is as simple as it can get.

Join Twitter and start tweeting about NITTrichy with #NITTrichy hashtag. Listen to the conversation that is already happening. Give your inputs. DOT

• Any discussion about NIT Trichy and things happening there would be tagged with the hashtag #NITTrichy by users
• Anyone can ‘listen’ to the twitter chatter by searching for #NITTrichy on Twitter search or Google Updates.
• ‘Spread the Word’ -Get more alumni aware of the existence of such a hashtag and the benefits of a virtual meet up. Get more people to join the chatter on twitter. This can be done by the word-of-mouth approach, giving information at Alumni meetings.
• As Prakash Murty suggested, we can use additional or modified hashtags for specific events. For eg, the hashtag #NITTConvo was used for Live-Tweeting during NIT Trichy’s Convocation on 9th Oct 2010.

Benefits?

‘It is not what you know, but who you know.’ This twitter network would accentuate the strength of RECAL. It helps you connect with alumni of NITT who passed out long before you entered college. Being active on Twitter #NITTrichy, gives you easy access to a good range of alumni info, wherever you are in the world, and continuing support with career and personal development.

This Twitter network would also be beneficial for non-NITTians who would like to know more about the institute. Taking advantage of an alumni network should start before you join the institute. School students can interact with current students and alumni of the institute to know more about AIEEE, admissions and so on.

How to take it forward?

We need some active volunteers who can take the initiative to bring awareness about the virtual meet to alumni groups. There are quite a few people who have twitter accounts but aren’t active. The first step would be to bring them back and get them involved in #NITTrichy.

Another step that would be simultaneously be started off is creating a flutter on facebook. Since quite a few of the recent alumni are active on it, we can get the news out on facebook and create some hype about the meet on twitter.

Then, we can contact the various alumni chapters of RECAL and send them details about the meet and seek their help in getting us connected with other alumni. We can have a mailer campaign to send information about the meet to reach alumni.

For now, you can give me links to some twitter lists with a bunch of alumni. (Like this one for eg – http://twitter.com/a4arvind/nitt2006-2010 )

What do you think?

What are your expectations from such a alumni network on twitter? How to you suggest we promote the network to other alumni? If you have any suggestions feel free to leave a comment.

Of Strikes and Protests

There have been quite a few strikes occurring happening regularly in some parts of India. Some feel it is a strong mode of appealing to the government to change an unacceptable decision. Every time I see some such news, I am reminded about the only time when I was involved (involuntarily) in a strike.

This incident took place just few months ago when I was in the final year of undergrad at NIT Trichy. Let me explain the situation to you first. The food in the hostel mess was pathetic and awful. Quite a few souls like mine had quit eating at the mess. Getting up late in the morning, we generally end up skipping breakfast and hurrying all the way to class in order to maintain our 75% attendance. During breaks we used to go to the bakery, juicy or snacky to fill our hungry stomachs. Then came the hot afternoons. Tired of walking all the way from my department to the mess, I end up eating lunch at the Buhari restaurant within the campus.

Dinner was almost always reserved for the roadside dhabas. Almost the entire college used to dine either at the couple of dhabas just outside our campus or at one of the restaurants in the city. We only visited the mess in rare cases when we were out of cash. Of course there were quite a few guys who found our eating habits too revolting. They too were dissatisfied with the mess food but simply couldn’t give in to spending so much cash eating outside. Even though we didn’t eat at our mess we had to pay huge sum of money which was eventually gobbled by the administration.

Coming back to the incident, it was a hot sunday, when a few guys found some insects in the food. Of course, this was a regular occurrence, but this time these guys were really in a rebellious mood and decided to forcibly enter the kitchen and inspect everything. They recorded everything using a mobile camera in the hope of showing some evidence.

Then they sent some really long text messages to everyone in our batch explaining what was happening and so on. The message was soon forwarded in bulk by the placement reps and the class reps. The news spread first among the mobiles and then among people.

So that evening we were all asked to assembled at the hostel lawn. Some guys went room by room calling every final year guy from their hostels. Of course, not many were willing to give up their gaming and movie watching experience, just for the mess, the mess where we rarely ate. The student council president was off for a volley ball tournament. There were large groups formed each discussing some random theories and coming up with the random-est suggestions. Uninterested people like me and a few others felt stupid with every passing minute just standing over there. So we formed a group amongst ourselves and started some small-talk. Soon some of the naive guys started merging all the groups and began explaining their theories. They drew up a plan of what was to be done and expected our cooperation assuming that the united force of the students would make the administration fall on our feet.

The wardens were taken aback by the turn of events and notified the admin. One guy even came to threaten us all off. Determined we were. We didn’t move and he eventually left. Soon after that, the discussion went into a further level of complexity where the corrupt administration was ultimately responsible for everything. Some suggested protest by not attending classes. A few of the guys didn’t want to lose their attendance fighting for the mess. Some didn’t want to create a bad impression in front of their profs. So it was decided and academics and hostel wouldn’t be intertwined.(duh!) Those who used to eat in the mess decided that they wouldn’t be eating in the mess till the issue was resolved and they allotted a new caterer to us. I personally would have loved to see some good food in the mess. I badly wanted to eat  in a good mess with a decent caterer because I was making a hole in my pocket eating outside all day.

The group dispersed for the night. We went back to our routine of movie-watching and gaming. Others were still out there discussing. I’m damn sure that a few of these guys even contemplated a career in politics after that day.

Alas! To our surprise, the next day morning there was a notice written by a few students asking everyone to eat in the mess! (Of course I saw it only in the afternoon). The reason was that these guys were seen by the admin when the discussion was going on the earlier night. They feared some harsh action and asked everyone to return to their normal routine. What seems to have happened is that the administration had shooed of all the allegations and even threatened students. Am not sure about these too.

There ended the only pseudo strike that I have been a part of. Basically nothing happened. I may have been politically wrong in stating the occurrences of the day. Some might have some strong disagreements with what I’ve said here. This is just my version of the story. If you know more, you are always free to correct me, reject me or whatever.

It is Festember X this year!

Though I’ve completed my course at NITT, I still have that enthusiasm when I hear about the upcoming Festember. Hardly a month to go.

Festember X

The next edition of Festember is here in true cowboy style loaded with guns, hats and wagons. This years its being called Festember X instead of the usual Festember followed by the year. Refreshing change.

Sept 24-26th.

One of India’s best college cultural festivals. It has an impressive track record of being organized every year, right from the 1975. Many celebrities have performed at NIT Trichy for Festember and that includes Maestro Ilayaraja among others.

It is a must-participate event for lovers of music, dance, literature and arts. Look into the official site of Festember for further details about the events. There’s also an awesome publicity video this year.

Here are links to a few interesting posts about previous editions of Festember on my blog.

• Festember 09
• Kuraloviyam at Festember 08
• First Day of Festember 08
• Tune In, Drop Out
• Festember 07 and a few pics.

Time to say Goodbye…

After four years at this hot and dry place called NIT Trichy, it is time to pack our bags and leave. This place has been my home for the past four years. This place and the time I have spent here with seniors, batch mates and juniors have been responsible for shaping me into what I  am now. During my stay here I have made a lot of friends and have had a lot of fun with them. A lot of post are pending about this campus and my life here at NIT Trichy. I’ll eventually bring all those posts from the drafts stage to the published stage. This place has also taught me a lot about life and how to tackle it.

Its is now time for me to change the ‘About Me’ stuff in various social networks. From ‘a student of NIT-T’ to ‘an alumnus of NIT-T’. It does feel different.

It is now time to say goodbye. Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simple mean that I’ll miss the place and all my friends here. We part only to meet again. Love you all.

NIT Trichy Alumni Network and the First Ever Global Alumni Meet

About a month back I got to know of a site, NIT Trichy Alumni Network which says that there’s a Global Aluni Meet happening at Bangalore on August 7th 2010.  It is a new site being developed by the RECAL which is the Alumni association of REC/NIT Trichy. It is also in the process of creating a comprehensive up-to-date database of alumni contacts. A new site at the new domain is coming soon and till then the previous RECAL site remains the official site.

Here is the link for you. If you are an Alumni of REC/NIT Trichy then register yourself at the following link to include yourself to the database. Even those students passing out of NITT in the year 2010 are requested to register themselves at the site. You can also register for the Global Alumni Meet to be held on August 7th. It is a full day event and the targeted participation is around 1500.

If you have any suggestions/questons you can mail them at alumni[at]nittrichyalumni[dot]org

Kiruba Shankar at NITT

On an uneventful Sunday I chose to attend one of the guest lectures of Currents 2010. The reason being the topic of discussion – Blogging, something which I’m very passionate about. And more importantly the speaker – Kiruba Shankar. He is probably the best example  one can give of  Personal Branding. So I went for the lecture in spite of the fact that I’m from a different dept and not many other-dept guys were present at the lecture. Though the lecture got delayed too much, it was worth the wait.

He managed to keep the audience entertained through the entire duration of the lecture, something which is not easily achieved especially at NITT. He started off with a story of two friends trying to run away from a tiger and then went on to discuss how businesses could benefit from the social media. He cited quite a few interesting examples like Dominoes Pizzas, IIPM,  Trisha etc etc to emphasize on the fact that social media can have a huge impact.Though I have read/heard most of what he said earlier, it was interesting just because of the way he presented the lecture.

Like him I too give importance to something called the digital presence. If you google for ‘Alagappan’ you are sure to find my domain name at the top. As Kiruba said during the lecture, my domain is my digital property and this simple search can be a substitute of a business card.

He also made people think on the fact that so much of data could be generated if all of us start blogging. Even his lecture at NITT could be soon forgotten unless someone writes about it. As of now there would be just a couple of tweets, a few facebook updates and this blog post which records his presence at NITT on this day.

“If only everybody starts making proper use of the various tools available to them, they can have a huge impact on this world.”

NIT Trichy is a Desert!

With the blazing hot sun, the temperatures have shot up to probably its highest ever at Trichy. And NIT Trichy with its frequent power cuts and water shortages is nothing short of a desert! Often we have to walk quite some distance just to get some water. NITT has become almost uninhabitable. Whats the point in constructing numerous hostels if you can’t provide proper electricity and water to any of them? it wont be long before this place become uninhabitable.

Amidst all this I get messages asking me to switch off lights during the earth hour. I would have happily switched off everything if it was some other ordinary place. But at NITT we have earth hours almost throughout the year that such a concept is absurd here! As one twitter update said – ‘Asking Indians to celebrate Earth Hour is like asking malnourished kids to forgo a meal because burgers are making Americans fat’..

*The two hours scheduled  power cut was just increased in duration to three hours.!!!

Update – After 3 months.

I’ve been neglecting my supposedly ‘new’ blog for such a long time that Google still ranks my old blogspot blog ahead of the new one. The reason for the neglect might have been because of my busy schedule throughout the semester and may also be because I’ve been posting regularly at my twitter profile – @alagappanr and my facebook profile = fb/alagappanr.

My blog was crying for some fresh content. So I guess its time I start posting content on this new blog and get its ‘page rank’ up.

So by the time I’m typing this post 7 semesters of my college life are over and I’m now just a few months away from being a full engineer. For all those curious guys who want to know about NITT Placements – I’m not yet placed and I don’t intend to talk about it here.

In the past few months hundreds of things happened and that includes me writing my CAT Exam, The Great Chennai Run, a trip to Ooty+Coonoor, supposedly an agitation against the college mess, watching all seasons of 24 and TBBT, reading a lot of books among other stuff. I just feel this semester could have been a lot better and I hope the next one is.

Festember 09

Yet another festember has gone by. This one being the last one of my college life. Didn’t want to miss blogging about this. Thats why I’m back from a long hiatus.

Thanks to the heavy downpour in Trichy on Day 0, I couldn’t attend the inaugural function (in which the college presi wished everyone good morning at 6 in the evening) and I also missed a few performances by the Dance Troupe of  NITT. But I did make it to the concert by Kadri Gopalnath. He started off with a few classical ones and eventually went on to what the audience really wanted – the ‘Anjali anjali’ song. Overall it was a memorable performance. It was followed by half-an-hour long fireworks display. The sky was completely lit and the I’m sure the awesome show would have caused a few accidents in the adjacent highway due to mesmerized drivers.

A few of the other events I attended were ChoreoNite and Tarangini the major events at barn. As usual there was an uncontrollable crowd shouting every time a team performs for some ARR song. There were quite a few catchy performances from various colleges. Vijay TV’s Super Singer winner Ajesh too had come over for competing in Tarangani with his college light music team. The crowd loved his performance.

Yet again, the Dance Troupe and Music Troupe of NITT were at their best. It is a great thing for participating institutions that they don’t have to compete with the hosts in the dance and light music events. Else the best they can get is the second place.

Another popular event at Festember every year is the pattimandram type of event conducted by the Tami Mandram of NITT. This year it just got bigger, with excellent group of participants and and awesome judge, Barathi Baskaran of Sun Tv Pattimandram fame.

This Festember wouldn’t have been fun without Sushish Kamath‘s workshop. He was called in for a workshop on Independent Film making and he was at his best. He gave us tips on how NOT to make a movie. He included his own experiences making TFLW and another movie He Says, She Says. He definitely kept his audience attentive even though the workshop’s timing made many of them stay hungry.  It was indeed an enthusiatic turn-out. After all he is the best known film critic of south India.

The best of the events were saved for the final day. The ProNite show had an energetic Benny Dayal and a band called Bandish currently making waves in the music scene. Benny Dayal’s concert was simple superb, but had to be cut short as the girls were asked to leave early. Then a just-for-boys show by Bandish began enthusiatically at 11 in the night. The best thing was the absence of staff and the girls. With them in Barn, Festember wouldn’t have ended the way it did this year. Would never forget their performance I guess. They rocked the stage and the barn truly came alive with the whole crowd cheering. It ensured that Festember 09 ended on a high. Inspite of there being a few organisational glitches, and rain playing spoilsport, I would say that Festember 09 rocked. (and even kra feels the same).

It Happens Only In NIT Trichy

Photos of Class Notes

A couple of days before the cycle test, one person gets a camera and starts clicking. The properly compiled notes of a studious person(mostly a girl ;P), pages of a rare text book, etc are photographed and circulated to all students.

This method is generally easier than photocopying since it is free and can be shared on the LAN. More importantly because a digital camera is easily available(even I have one – generally used for this purpose ;P) and also because an overwhelming majority of the students own a laptop or a desktop computer.

Putting Technology to a great use.. ;P