Most of the supporting categories of Revels ’17 have been working since last semester to make this a grand affair. But the most important element of every college fest is the crowd. All the hard-work would have gone into vain if the fest lacked participation in events and audience in concerts. And this is what Social Media does! Social Media is the team which makes a college fest feel like a festival by bringing the crowd to the fest. They have been working industriously for the last four months in order to gather participation in the fest.
For the next part of our ‘Behind-the-scenes’ series, we had a talk with the Cat-heads of Social Media (SM) to know more about their work and experience during Revels ’17.
MTTN: How did you guys react to this year’s theme, Carnaval ?
SM: The moment we got to know this year’s theme, we all were pretty excited about our work. We all felt that ‘Carnaval’ is not a very specific term and the theme can be used in a diverse manner to publicise the fest. Within a couple weeks, we had lots of creative ideas about how to implement it.
MTTN: What all publicity strategies were used and how was the reach?
SM: The first word which erupts in our minds when we hear the word ‘Carnaval’ is colors. We made abundant use of bright colours on the posters, videos, logos and everywhere else. Teaser videos were made to give hints about the theme and the response was marvellous. We had never received so many messages on the Facebook page.
Our idea was to make a video series for publicity on Social Media platforms and right from the first teaser video of Theme Launch released in January, the response has been amazing. MITians boast about their supercool director Dr. G.K. Prabhu and thus we decided to get our professors for the “Kaun Aa Raha Hai” video. Most of us never heard Maddodi sir speaking Hindi and him saying ‘Kaun Aa Raha Hai?’ became a hype inside the campus.
While we were thinking about how to reveal the ProShow artist line-up, Rotaract Club of Manipal came up with Nawaazish ’17 and it was an excellent way to gather audience for both, The Local Train and the Artist Reveal.
MTTN: Working together for a few months now, how was the team management?
SM: Whenever there is a group discussion of ideas, everyone believes their idea is the best. Social Media usually has 5 Cat-heads but this time we were seven. A bigger clash of ideas we thought initially, but in reality, our workflow improved many folds. All the Cat-heads have strong personalities and we knew though we might have differences in our thoughts, we have the same motive of making this fest a memorable one. The first day we met for working together, we agreed on not hiding anything from each-other. There were times when decision-making became challenging but all of us discussed everything beforehand and were always on the same page.
Moreover, we had such a wonderful team of organisers with us who never let us down. They have worked their level best and used every opportunity to keep the Facebook page active and alive. We all worked endlessly on the videos, posters, watermarks and now we have become a family.
MTTN: How did you manage various social media platforms for maximum reach?
SM: Quite obviously, the Facebook page is the biggest social platform for us. We divided our work into teams and brainstormed ideas to make the most out of other platforms as well. Instagram and Snapchat were regularly updated and we used various creative concepts to grab the attention of the viewers. Our twitter handle also performed well and had a good reach.
MTTN: How was the experience of working with other categories and the Student Council?
SM: Our team had to work in coordination with all the other categories & the Student Council for the promotion of the fest and its events. It was a wonderful experience working onto something with so many people and watching it become a success.
PNP has done a splendid work this time, their creative projects spread around the campus did bring a festive feel to the fest. The other categories have organised their events well and have seen a large participation. Even Outstation and Sports participation has improved this time. We believe that the Student Council has a lot upon their shoulders and in such a big fest managed majorly by the student community, some glitches are bound to happen.
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