MICA stands synonymous with Management in Communications – a field for which the most general descriptor is niche. Transcending across business management, marketing, advertising, research, psychology, sociology and mass media to name a few, education at MICA entails intellectual as well as professional orientation towards a host of concepts. It is imperative that this inter-disciplinary academic pursuit is balanced by thought-provoking perspective from the industry so that students are able to foster a holistic approach towards learning as well as decision making. The MICA Lecture Series acts as a conduit between these perspectives and the student community. MLS is a window for the students to look out into the industry and a platform for industry experts to acquaint themselves with MICAns. Speakers who have graced MLS in the past include Mr. Harsha Bhogle, Mr. Saugato Banerjee (ESPN) and Mr. Venugopal Iyer (Disney) amongst other illustrious names. This year we plan to bring about a multi-fold expansion in our horizons in terms of the diversity of speakers, the frequency of guest lectures and the range of topics and issues that get covered in them. The new academic year has only just started and MLS sessions have already covered some aspects such as operations in media, industry perspectives on brand management and market research, challenges in communication and media and ethics in Globalization. These interactions have also helped MICA students with recruitments in the past.
The School of Ideas would be defeating its purpose if it didn’t keep a tab on ideas at work. We wish to showcase some of this ingenuity by bringing entrepreneurs to MICA and help students to learn from the stories that they have written through their initiatives.
Then there’s that monster that has everyone’s attention - Social Media. We’re all either embracing it or cringing at its very mention. Marketers however, have more than warmed up to it. They have dived into it - Head first! MLS has been tracking the community of communication and management professionals into the wings of social media and we plan to bring it closer to the students at MICA through Twitter, Facebook and blogs.
Above anything, Team MLS shall continue to undertake efforts that will make relevant knowledge within arm’s reach of all students at MICA.
Committee Selection:
Junior MLS:
The team selection process for MLS essentially aims at gauging students’ interest and commitment towards the objectives of MLS. Ability to scope for experts and speakers, handling operations and admin, documentation of activities and marketing are some of the key issues considered. Students who express interests in MLS are asked to do some tasks given by the senior committee members. This is followed by an interview and then the junior committee is selected. There is no bias in the selection procedure.
Senior MLS:
The process is the same as for the Junior MLS except for the fact that the Outgoing committee will ask for EOIs from all students again and not limit itself to the junior team alone.
Functioning of the Committee:
The committee has not divided itself into rigid verticals so as to initiate each member to each task at hand as they all need to put in effort to organise lectures in every possible way. Committee members are expected to choose and approach speakers who can impart maximum learning and who come from diverse backgrounds, not restricting themselves to only the four areas of specialisation at MICA.
The benefits of being in a formal committee aside, the members who join the MLS have the privilege of interacting with accomplished individuals from the industry as well as other fields. The members will be actively involved in researching companies, start-ups, leaders or any other extraordinary story forged by the guests they plan to invite. The process will allow them to understand various tenets of the industry and take a closer look at the game-changers. Finally, they will learn how to plan, organise and implement important events which require high accountability, alertness and presence of mind – a test of management indeed.
