Former actor Roshan Abbas at Footprints

On December 8, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication’s annual media seminar, Footprints 08, came to town. Its ninth Calcutta edition was a daylong event held at Vidya Mandir, attended by an enthusiastic audience of over 900. This year, 15 speakers from the media participated to share their views and experiences with budding media professionals and aspirants.

The event was organised by junior media trainees from SIMC after a series of successful national media seminars in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Imphal, Jammu, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Jamshedpur and Cochin. After the Calcutta chapter, Footprints is slated to go international this year with an event at Dubai.

Dean of Symbiosis International University and director, SIMC, professor Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury moderated the event, which got underway after a minute of silence observed for the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Prodeep Hui, visiting faculty from SRFTI and director Subrata Sen, chief guest for the day, spoke about the need for formal media training. RJ Arnabi added much colour to the panel.

The second session was on citizen journalism, focussing on the role of the common man in the wake of the terror threats the country is facing. To explore the issue of security, SIMC tied up with eMotions, an end-to-end security solutions provider that uses new-age technology to prevent attacks. CEO eMotions Partha Das Chowdhury spoke on how people can protect themselves from urban terrorism, and how government bodies must be more aware, for which technology can become a key weapon.

Students of media studies should utilise their talent to innovate for a successful career in the media, said Roshan Abbas, MD Emcompass Events, during the third session, also attended by brand consultant Sumit Roy; Ishan Raina, CEO, OOH Media; Arup Ghosh, manager, corporate communications, ITC and Ayan Chakraborty of Bates India. The audience especially loved this session which packed in exciting videos, presentations and ads. Roshan Abbas fans took in his educative presentation and unique perspective towards branding. “The present generation is more aware of the Internet, new technologies and electronic devices,” he said. “They can easily create something new and also share their creativity with a thousand others.”

Arup Ghosh shared how ITC’s experience of reforesting arid lands in tribal areas had not only enhanced their corporate image and but also aided the locals of the area. Ishan Raina discussed the relevance of home media and spoke of innovation in the field. Ayan Chakraborty showed unique ads and how lateral thinking can make a difference. Perhaps the most interactive session of the day was conducted by Sumit Roy, whose talk on how to “ride the branding motorcycle” went down well with the audience.

The seminar also packed in quiz, photography and film-making contests. Director Subrata Sen selected three winners for the mobile film-making contest after going through a large number of entries from enthusiastic participants. Photographer Shibnath Basu was judge for the photography contest based on the theme ‘moods of Calcutta’.

The Young Communicator Award was given to two young achievers who had excelled in their respective fields and contributed to the industry as a whole. Srijit Halder of Big 92.7 FM and Saurav Sanyal of 9X News were felicitated as the winners.