|
Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) as part of its week long Orientation Programme for PGP 19 batch 2012-14 conducted an experiential learning course titled The Photonovel Company.
From Right to Left - Prof Nagesh Rao (Director, MICA), Rahul Kansal (Executive President, BCCL
The course uses the “classroom-as-organisation (CAO)” model to deliver learning on the basics of management, communication, and marketing. As part of simulation, the students produced photonovels on a variety of social themes such as sexual harassment, female foeticide, child abuse, ragging, peer pressure, road rage, etc. In all, 12 photonovels were produced in a short span of 3 days. Students also enjoyed the reflection sessions on the fourth day trying to connect their immediate experiences to relevant theoretical frameworks.
Photonovel is a medium similar to graphic novels except that the drawings are replaced by photos. This medium takes away the pain of reading and is more engaging than traditional texts. As a genre of literature, it is relatively new in India but has been around for significant time in countries like USA, Mexico, Spain, France, South Africa, etc.
The 19th batch of PGDM(C) in the Mani Iyer auditorium
The course was coordinated by MICA professors Shubhra Gaur, Hemant Trivedi, and Kallol Das. As part of the course, the students were designated as managers in a simulated social organisation called The Photonovel Company. Further, they had to select relevant social issues targetted at the urban youth, develop scripts that educate and entertain, shoot photos, direct, compose pages, and publish. The students also did extensive marketing through dedicated website and various social networking platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. The marketing department comprising 32 students perfomed exceedingly well and was led by Sidharth Uchil, who has 4 years of experience in the sales function.
Rahul Kansal explaining the three waves in the evolution of marketing
The course also acted as a great ice breaker and helped students know each other’s strengths, work as a team, and enhance their communication skills, creativity and critical thinking and leadership abilities. Mr. Rahul Kansal, Executive Director, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, unveiled the 12 photonovels and gave away the awards for individual excellence. The best photonovel award went to the photonovel titled Heroisme. This is the story of an interesting character - Nari Man –the saviour of girl child, the issue being female foeticide. This was won by the team led by Kushagra Saurav and Manveer Sood.
|
