The Forum and the FOCkers!!!

I always wanted to write about the Forum Of Commerce we established in my graduation days. Here's the activities of the Forum and the FOCkers during the academic year 2006-07 in our final year. What started as an 8 men team blew into proportions and nearly 100+ students worked for us at the end of the year.

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FOCkers @ Ega Theatre, Chennai ...
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INAUGURATION OF THE FORUM
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The Bertram Hall is fully occupied … What can probably be the reason??? Ovations? No! Examinations? No! Inauguration? Definitely YES!

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No other Inauguration of any department over these years in the history of Loyola College has been this big. Full capacity crowd, Overwhelming support from the teachers, Good Coordination by the students and what more, Mr. N.Ram ( Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu) as our chief guest.

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The inauguration kicked of on a flying note. The office bearers assumed office, The LOYOLITE and TRANSACTIONS logo were unveiled by our honorable chief guest and Cultural events that set the stage on fire.

TEACHER’S DAY CELEBRATIONS

The teacher’s day was celebrated with much fun and fare on Septemner 5, 2006. It was the day when the whole Forum of Commerce showed its gratitude to the professors who mould the students everyday through their valuable sessions on different subjects.

All the teachers were asked to assemble at the Department after the evening break. The occasion was marked with a cake that was cut by the coordinator Prof. Carlton Young.

Souvenirs were also distributed to show the unbound respect to all the staffs of the department. This marked the end of a very interesting and a wonderful day. What more ??? The students got to leave early as the last 2 hours of the day was suspended.

OVATIONS 2006

This mega InterDepartmental event was organized in the month of August. A lot was put into this culturals. The Forum split itself into 2 groups – B.Com SSC and B.Com Evening on one side and B.B.A and B.A Corp on the other. The talent search as promised, was conducted in a fair way and the best teams were picked for the events not only for Ovations but also the other culturals that followed during the academic year.

The dream of winning the Ovations was almost achieved. So close, yet so far, the last event was the decider for this Cultural Event. The B.Com SSC and Evening team fell short by 8 points. However, the Forum took pride as the team comprising of B.Com SSC, B.Com Evening and the team comprising of B.B.A and B.A Corp walked away with the 2nd and the 3rd place respectivey – An aggregate way higher than what any other department as a whole achieved.

JOURNAL MEETINGS

There were a number of Journal meetings that took place after the Inauguration of the forum. Each meeting had a significant importance and a continuous stream of ideas flowed with respect to the Journals.Consensus as regards to the type of articles and the features that has to be published.

With the forum concentrsting on the OVATIONS on one side, it was upto the Journal team to bring out a dream named LOYOLITE. The Passion and the Dedication for launching an entirely new genre of newsletters, ran high among the members of the Journal team.

The Journal Team

Sri Charan R
Bharat S
Abishek Vijayakumar
Ankur
Abishek Ravoor
Arun
Shray
Roger Francis Jose
Siddarth Prasanna

LAUNCH OF LOYOLITE - 1ST EDITION

The Idea behind

2005 was blessed with a remarkable change with uninterrupted rains leaving even the robust behind the doors. Though the blessing turned out to be curse as the rains scaled new heights, it was an all new scenario to be accounted. A total transformation... While all this was happening outdoors, it was hightime that the student community of Commerce Department of Loyola College arose and embarked on a different proposition indoors.

The notion of a news journal sprung up to base a launching pad for the student community to express their views, culture and lifestyle. After considerable debating out of a few names that cropped up, ‘Horizon’ was finalised, to give effect to the budding thoughts and ambitious aspirations. It was all set to board the flight to ‘Horizon’ as a part of the plans laid down by few students from major Arts colleges were to be the co-passengers.

Thus an editorial team was constituted. As the flight took off, it was not going to be a smooth flying after all. The flight had to halt only to remain grounded and not start flying again. “So close...yet so far”, the ‘Horizon’ faded away.

How things Clicked

The project left incomplete found fresh blood. This time around it was with the backing of the Forum of Commerce with a rejuvenated effect and an all new name ‘Loyolite’. The ‘Loyolite’ with its ingredients was sure to spring a surprise on the readers and serve enough variety to keep them at the edge of their seats.

‘Loyolite’ is bigger not only with its scope but also with the reach and its grey matter. A conscious attempt to cater to a variety of interests of the youth today characterizes the structure and content of the ‘Loyolite’. From entertainment to opportunities, college life to celebrity’s life, this newsletter has the perfect blend of variety, youthful facts and enlightening information.

The Launch

Though the Loyolite was ready as per the target set offically, due to some academic and administrative reasons, the launch got delayed. Almost a month went by, on 22nd November 2006, The Loyolite had a grand openingat Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium. The occasion was also marked with the inauguration of our department website and affiliation with CRY and Helpage India Rev. Fr. Alphonse Manickam (Vice Principal S.S.C) gave the key note address. The copies was then distributed to the popular Science and Arts college in the city.

CRY AND HELPAGE INDIA AFFILIATION

The need for the Social Concerns as regards to the activity of the forum was felt. Only then, did the Forum relate itself to CRY and HELPAGE INDIA. Why so??? There can be many explanations but the true reason was based on some humanitarian grounds of doing good to the society by standing together as unit and as only one unit.

The idea of collecting funds was primarily through the regular contribution our college students and also by the contribution of other college students in the times of any cultural events that happen.

The affiliation took place on 22nd November 2006 at Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium. It was on the same day as the Loyolite -1st edition and the web page was launched. The first donors were the Vice Principal, The Asst. Vice Principal, The Coordinator and the President of the forum.

F.O.C. ( SSC ) WEB PAGE LAUNCH

The Official web page of the Forum of Commerce was launched along with the Launch of Loyolite and The Affiliation with CRY and HelpAge India on 22nd November 2006.

It should be said worthy of Ankur who was the sole anchor behind creating the page. The launch meant a transparent functioning of the forum and better communication with the other departments and other Arts and Science Colleges in the city as well.

CEO WEEK

The CEO week was another feather to the Forum of Commerce’s hat. Eminent personalities from different fields shared their experience as how it is to be the leader. The CEO week took place between 27th November 2006 to 1st December 2006. It was held at the Yedanapalli Hall through out the week. The following was the schedule of the CEO week

27th November 2006:
Mr.Ramji – MD and CEO – Madras Auto works ( TVS Group )

28th November 2006:
Mr.Shivaram – Head, Investment Councellor – ABN Amro bank

30th November 2006:
Mr.Amresh Acharya – Head, Liabilities – Deutsche bank

1st December 2006:
Mr.Rajiv Mehrotra – Chairman – Shyam Telecoms.

The CEO week was a success not only among the students but also the professors. The important aspect that made the CEO week stand out was the willingness of the leaders to participate.

BIG BUCKS 2006

Probably the biggest Commerce festival was conducted on December 15th and 16th 2006 - BIG BUCKS it was!!! The entire idea right from the word Big Bucks was unique and different.

Renaming Perceptionz was given a long thought. The search for a new name was
even longer. Once Big Bucks was named, the need for doing it differently was the theme on which the forum worked – The reason being it was felt that Big Bucks by itself should stand a class apart from all the other commerce culturals.

The events were of different genre; if not at least the scoring system was for sure. Each team were initially given a sum of 20000 points. Each team was called a Company. With the 20000 points given, the companies had to bid according to their wish in a series of events that were absolutely unique. However a Compulsory bidding was also there were a company had to bid compulsorily in an event of their choice.

The most unique part of Big Bucks was the Business Guru. While the companies were participating in all the events on stage, one representative of each company had to participate in Business Guru – An off stage compilation of ALL the events that take place onstage. This event was isolated and held at a different location.

Many Colleges from different states participated. In the end, it was CHRIST COLLEGE from Bangalore who walked away with the overalls. This event wouldn’t have been a success but for the involvement of the office bearers, the memebers of the forum , the volunteers and most importantly, the Sponsors…

ISGBOC 2007

The long desired International Symposium on Global Business Opportunities and Challenges (ISGBOC) was held on the 15th and 16th of February 2007. This international Symposium was the first of its kind to be conducted by the Department of Commerce.

5 technical sessions took place and there were 5 functional areas that were concentrated upon. 447 papers were submitted on the fields like Marketing, Finance, Human Resource, Production and Entrepreneurship together. These sessions were happening simultaneously at Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium, Yeddanapalli hall, MRF hall and at J.D hall respectively.

The Key note address was given by Dr.Lodewijk J.J. Berlage, C.E.S. from Katholieke Universiteit leuven, Belgium. The Chief Guest for the day was Shri.R.Sellamuthu, I.A.S., the Secretary to Govt. of TamilNadu, Housing and Urban Development Department.

15th Feb 2007:

The registration process started at sharp 9am in the morning. Souvenirs were distributed simultaneously to the participants. The inauguration was slightly held up because of the detail registration process that occurred and started at 10.30am. The felicitations then took place in the presence of the Rector, Secretary, Principal, Vice Principal (SSC) and the Head of the Department of Commerce.

There were 3 sessions that were conducted from 12 noon to 6.30pm with a lunch break in-between. Different chairpersons took the stage in each of the technical sessions. Certificates were distributed to the participants and paper presenters of the first two sessions.

The evening saw a cultural program that enthralled the viewers. Dance, Songs and Mimicries formed the contents of this event. The dinner was served at 8 pm after the cultural event.

16th Feb 2007:

The second and the last day of the ISGBOC 2007 started at 9.30am after a brief registration process. As usual Souvenirs were distributed to the registered participants at the registration desk.

Though there were some problems with the electricity, the forum managed to pull off 2 technical sessions on the above areas before the lunch time. The lunch time was then succeeded by the Ratification session. It was headed by Shri. T.N.Seshan, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India.

After the ratification session, the valedictory Session took place. The Welcome address was given by the Asst. vice Principal. Prizes were then distributed for the best papers that were presented. The Vote of thanks was then given by Prof Arockiyasamy, the Convener of the ISGBOC 2007. The International Symposium signed off with the National Anthem.

LAUNCH OF TRANSACTIONS

The Annual Commerce Magazine namely the TRANSACTIONS, was released on 16th March 2007 along with the 2nd edition of LOYOLITE at Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium. Rev. Fr. Alphonse Manickam headed the function.

While the 2nd and 1st Years were very busy with the Loyolite – 2nd edition, this magazine was entirely dependent on the contributions by the 3rd years. With the help of the staff of the Department of Commerce, the magazine turned out to be an interesting and an entertaining one. The articles from the staff and the students were the base for this Magazine.

As usual, Unusual can be attributued to this Edition of TRANSACTIONS. The Edition was a mixed bag of articles from different fields – Most of which are unique to the field of commerce. It also featured a report on detailed achievements of the FORUM OF COMMERCE during the academic year 2007-

The focus of this magazine was primarily not on different fields, but as to how Commerce reflects itself in all the areas that we usually encounter in our everyday life.

LAUNCH OF LOYOLITE - 2ND EDITION

The 2nd edition of LOYOLITE was released simultaneously with the TRANSACTIONS on 16th March 2007 at Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium . The Function was attended by all the office bearers, members, students and the staffs of the Department of Commerce. It was headed by Rev.Fr. Alphonse Manickam.

This piece of beauty was mostly handled by the 2nd years and the 1st years of the Journal Team. The Idea behind this type of work allocation is that, the LOYOLITE should go on for the forthcoming years as well.

The commitment shown by the students clearly indicate a very positive impact on the publication of this Newsletter – LOYOLITE in the forthcoming years as well. This newsletter has gone places in its first year of publication and is surely cross the HORIZON.

VALEDICTORY FUNCTION

The Valedictory Function was conducted along with the launch of Loyolite – 2nd Edition and Transactions on 16th March at the Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium. It was headed by the Vice Principal (SSC). The valedictory function saw the felicitations of the Office bearers and the Executive members of the Forum.

Furthermore, one very dynamic aspect of this Function was the presentation of the activity report of the Forum of Commerce activities during the academic year 2006-07. The Sincere efforts of all the people, teaching Staffs, Non-Teaching staffs, the Forum were acknowledged. An eventful year came to a close. The satisfaction of fulfilling all the promises was relished by the Forum.

The Forum of Commerce was the best thing that happened in my life in any educational institute I’ve studied earlier. What more I along with few were conferred the title of Star of Commerce. What more can I ask for??? I'm proud to be a FOCker any day.