The rules of the festival state that IIM-B cannot lay claim to the Altar Vista trophy given at the end of the three-day long fete, which concluded on October 12.
Exchange student from Yale University gets prize money of Rs.1.5 lakhBangalore Vista 2008, the business fete of the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B), ended with the hosts finishing in the top spot, but awarding the Altar Vista trophy to National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai on the grounds of a technicality.
The rules of the festival state that IIM-B cannot lay claim to the Altar Vista trophy given at the end of the three-day long fete, which concluded on October 12.
The competition arena resembled the busy floor of a stock exchange, albeit before the markets took a beating; with volunteers taking registrations, issuing instructions, updating points earned and cheering their home team.
The biggest winner at Vista was Roberto Jimenez, an exchange student from Yale University, who bagged the highest prize money of Rs1,50,000 at the Numero Uno contest, held to identify future CEOs.
By his own admission, Roberto had a tough, but entertaining time matching wits with the best of Indian talent. "For one of the rounds called Money Spinner, I had to sell khadi bags and make a profit. I first tried selling the bags worth Rs65 at Rs500 standing at the lobbies of five-star hotels like the Oberoi. That didn't go down well with the administration, so I shifted to M.G. Road.
"I had better luck selling to ordinary folks because they understood and admired what the khadi concept stood for," he said. Asked what he would do with the prize money, Roberto told DNA: "I will spend some on partying with my friends on campus and the rest on travelling."
Through the various events, students got an understanding of the role and attributes leaders need to possess to succeed in the industry. Prof. Sourav Mukherjee of IIMB said: "It is not about prize money because these students will definitely earn more than this when they graduate. But winning can help their resume stand out during placements and that is important."
Some of the competitions held at Vista include Bzzwings, Sparsh, Drishtikone, and Numero Uno, which covered topics such as marketing; retail and business planning. Experts from various streams like Narayan Ramachandran of Morgan Stanley and Manab Majumdar of FICCI gave talks at Vista. Sessions with corporate leaders like Gopi Gopinath, CEO, AT&T helped initiate dialogue between industry and academia.
"I was interested in knowing how advances in telecommunications could help in educating the rural population," Prof Jose Jacob of the Xavier Institute of Management-Bangalore said.
Incidentally, a few of the judges were past contestants at Vista. "I was the first winner of Numero Uno. Travelling from IIM-C spending Rs16,000 to participate was definitely not for the prize money, which incidentally was in the range of a lakh, but for the experience. Such contests help students realise that they need to have humility, consistency and be team players to succeed," Devashish Chakravathy, CEO, Quetzal Online Pvt Ltd.
The home team's winning streak irked a few. "This year most events saw two to three teams from IIM-B participating. The odds were stacked against us. Besides all events carried a cash prize, which seems to have attracted more participation from the hosts, as compared to last year," a student from a Bangalore-based management institute said, on the condition of anonymity.
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