The fest hosted its flagship event, Reliance White Knight 2008 – an event that is conceptually unique across all B-school fests, where discussions were held on the theme ‘Urban Development’. Some of the interesting ideas which emerged during the presentations of the finalists focused on improving healthcare, transportation infrastructure and waste management. The panel of judges included Ms. Rohini Nilekani and Mr. Prakash Gurbaxani, the CEO of QVC Realty. The fest also included a media contest in collaboration with Sony Entertainment Television. This contest was successful in churning out new concepts for innovative shows including ideas for reality shows and new age comedies. A few chosen concepts among these will be implemented by Sony Entertainment Network’s youth channel, SAB for its forth-coming shows.
Backwaters, this year, also featured a new business simulation game, spread across all verticals and organized in collaboration with Gold Simulations, a US based firm. Labyrinth, an online treasure hunt, held as a precursor to the fest was huge success with thounds of hits and hundreds of participants from around the world. ‘Deloitte Deal with it’ was a game which required participants to value the fictional firms based the financials given to them and negotiate deals based on their analyses. Various other informal in-campus games and cultural events also marked the three day extravaganza. The annual IIMK alumni reunion called ‘Nostalgia’ saw alumni from all over the world converge and interact with the students here. Another first for Backwaters this year was K-Dio (the in house IIMK radio) going live on the net; this is the first time in Indian B-School history that a campus has gone live on the web. Apart from live quizzes, songs and other fun activities, K-Dio also served as a channel through which alumni, who were not able to come to the campus, were able to participate in ‘Nostalgia’. Kolossus – the rock concert, served as the the grand finale to Backwaters with ‘Parikrama’, one of India’s biggest and most sought after rock bands enthralling a jubilant crowd.
Backwaters 2008 was sponsored by Reliance Industries, Freudenberg, Deloitte, Bristlecone, CapGemini, TCS, Vodafone, Lenovo, ONGC, RPG, Gold Simulations, SET and Paymate. The Week was the official print media partner while Pagalguy was the online media partner for the event.