It’s that time of the year when the festival season takes off. Last year, this time, we had witnessed e-commerce players making an aggressive move – getting into the playing field to take advantage of the festivities. Flipkart announced Big Billion Days, Snapdeal set out to Unbox Diwali sale, and Amazon’s Great Indian Sale were the top-of-the-line offers. This year too, we came face-to-face with Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon as they got ready to host their pre-Diwali sales.
A festival per se, is a celebration of life. Yes, we watched the crackling fireworks display kick off, as online shoppers geared up for action this season. And, without a doubt, consumers are now totally spoilt for choice between cracker deals and attractive range of discounts on myriad online platforms. It’s proving to be an annual event that consumers look out for!
Coming to annual events that swing on to action at the appointed time, I cannot but compare the yearly shopping extravaganza to the annual communications event that has just concluded – #PRAXIS6. In fact, I would go as far as calling it the Kumbh Mela of Public Relations!
Joining me in this line of thought, are friends in the fraternity, who had come to attend this annual event at Jaipur.
“PRAXIS remains the unmissable event of the year for the communication professionals with outstanding learning and networking opportunities,” says Rishi Seth, Founder and CEO, Evoc. He goes on to add – “Going forward, I would like to hear more from outside voices that can help the community make a better sense of rapid change around us. Perspectives from academia, new media (eg. Buzzfeed, Newslaundry), consumer research, and perhaps even advertising industry would strongly complement sessions from communications stalwarts.”
Apart from the regularity, there are other parameters. “PRAXIS has set a new standard for PR conferences. I know many months of planning has gone into it and it showed,” points out Bhaskar Majumdar, Senior Group Head, Adfactors PR
It was inclusive, creative and an empowering experience. The learning curve was definitely enhanced. The sessions were hugely enlightening. The knowledge-sharing happens invariably. If you look at it, a learning curve is broadened basically by the richness of our experiences. By far, most of us are engaged in this process every day both in our professional and personal life. Theory has it that this ability to learn in the work environment can help determine your success. The activities at PRAXIS did this, for sure. “The discussions were relevant and very helpful. I especially liked the selection of speakers. Over the years the event is getting bigger and better,” notes Bhaskar.
The festive spirit was alive and vibrant throughout the two days. Celebrating communication. And, celebrating festivals can bring us closer to the joys of life. Here, it brought us face-to-face with what we, as a community experience – the width and evolving cycles of communications. Through such festivals, we acknowledge, strengthen and celebrate our connect and our responsibility towards our fraternity and to one another too. Making sure that the beauty of communication stays intact!
Experiences, learnings and acknowledging good work – the jewel in the crown was the Fulcrum Awards ceremony after the conclusion of PRAXIS. Acknowledging quality work is for sure, an uplifting experience for the winners. The entire awards process was very professionally run. As the chair of the jury, the transparency and support of PwC as an independent agency to evaluate was great, elaborates P Balaji, Director – Regulatory, External Affairs and CSR, Vodafone. He found the awards ceremony really “wonderful, as the entire PR fraternity was there to acknowledge the body of work over the past year to raise the bar further for the industry in terms of outcomes”.
The mission to empower lives by celebrating the power of communications continues, see you in 2018.
She can be reached at: @shree_la on twitter
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