Date with Dean

Date : December 1st, 2007

Location : Open air Island in midst of Mumbai with sweeping mild winter waves.

Attended By : Students in assigned groups (labeled predators) namely - Crocodiles, Pythons, Dinosaurs, Dragons, Jackals, Sharks, Hawks, Wolves, King Cobras, Anaconda, Falcon and Puma.

And the captains : Dean, Dr. Sapatnekar, Faculty and Management.

The Game : * Team Building * Interact * Design strategies * Implement Tactics

Skills : * Creativity * Innovation * Leadership * Communication

And the winners: King Cobras

(Winning team members: Dr. Shaheen Sheikh, Dr. Shwetha Shetty, Dr. Smitha Giridhar, Ms. Aditi Bhat, Dr. Harshadha Shelar, Ms. Geetha Anil Kama, Dr. Seema Iskand, Ms. Bhakti Dave and Mr. Bhushan Pednekar)

On Saturday, 1 Dec. 2007 students were given the opportunity know the Dean better, through a quasi-formal dinner arrangement made for them. The students were randomly put into groups named after predators and the best team was to be the Dean’s date for the evening.

The groups were named Vultures, Crocodiles, Pythons, Dinosaurs, Dragons, Jackals, Sharks, Hawks, Wolves, King Cobras, Anaconda, Falcon and Puma. It was an ideal platform for students to showcase their “Corporate Skills”. Naming the groups as predators was metaphoric. Predators aim and achieve.

Students were given 40 minutes to understand each other’s trends. It started with a group interaction and students getting acquainted with each other, eventually followed by a discussion to come up with the groups’ USP.

Each group was very innovative and creative in their presentation, for example the Dinosaur group was a little slow in approaching the dais, and the King Cobra group came in with a hissing sound. Though the Shark is supposed to be a ferocious animal, our sharks were pretty humane and more inclined towards charity.

They all spoke and presented themselves like professionals. Since it was a war of wits and for the “survival of the fittest”, there was a tinge of predatory instinct in each group.

At the end of the final round there was a tie between two teams. It was decided with a toss of a coin and “Lady Luck” favored King Cobras. They were the Dean’s date and bagged the “pot of gold”. The winning team’s leader had to share the gold equally amongst her colleagues.