Sunday 22 December 2013

Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa students grab top honors on the global stage; win the Accor Take Off Challenge

In a major achievement, students from Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa (LEH), were declared winners in the Accor Take Off Challenge 2013 at Singapore.  Third year students - Chaitanya Adgaonkar, Sagar Neve and Dushyant Periwal represented LEH in this competition
 
‘Novotel Reinvented 2020’– was the theme for this year’s Accor Take Off Challenge. In this annual contest teams had to imagine the next generation of Novotel hotels in terms of products & services to match the expectations of the guests in 2020 keeping in line with the brand DNA. The contest which began on 16th September, 2013 had 3 rounds under which students were judged on their creativity, approach and innovation.
 
This competition comprised of three rounds- An online collage submission, a two minute video showcasing Novotel 2020 “services” concept and a finale in Singapore with a presentation to Accor Executive Committee.  
 
The trio from LEH created ‘NOVA’ - Novotel's Own Virtual Assistant, where a guest can check in, ask questions, open doors and customize their experience as per their needs. The jury selected their project titled ‘InNOVAte’ amongst top 50 entries from 120 entries worldwide as they moved to the second round. The Accor jury then chose 20 entries for the second round where they had to express their ideas through a video. The students from LEH excelled in the second round too and were amongst the top 5 teams that were invited to present at the Finale. The final round was held at Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore where the students from LEH were declared winners. 
 
The team exhilarated by their performance said, “We are incredibly thrilled to win Accor Take Off 2013. The journey from first round online to the finale in Singapore has been really exciting. It was a great learning experience at every level. Competing on a global level was really inspiring and brought out the best of us.  We are really grateful to Accor for giving us the platform to showcase our ideas. We think it's amazing that a hospitality leader like Accor is valuing ideas from students. We want to thank our college Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa for the immense encouragement and support they have given us.”
 
Mr. Rony Kurien, Chief Operating Officer, Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa said, “This award is a testimony to the talent that is being nurtured at Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa. Our students are not only trained for their chosen fields but they are also mentored to become accomplished individuals.’
 
LEH recently celebrated the convocation of the first batch of its students. The four year hospitality management programme of LEH is one of the most comprehensive hospitality education programs being offered by any institute in India. The students are exposed to best in class industry practices and the entire focus of the program is to develop students as hospitality leaders and entrepreneurs. The rigorous curriculum based on this unique pedagogy puts the students through a rigorous self learning process and lays emphasis on practical training.
About Lavasa
Lavasa is India’s first hill city where people can live, work, learn and play in harmony with nature. Lavasa, an inclusive city being developed by HCC (Hindustan Construction Company) over 10,000 hectares, is based on the principles of New Urbanism. It takes three hours from Mumbai and one hour from Pune to reach Lavasa by road. Lavasa will host a multitude of global leaders in hospitality, tourism, education, health care, business research and industry. The hill city provides a combination of contemporary and timeless architectural designs, with multiple options for housing including rental housing, apartments and villas. With state-of-the-art infrastructure and amenities, the city enables people to live life in full.
 
For Media Enquiries:
Lavasa Corporation Limited
 
Ashwin Shetty - 99670 24293
 
Ankul Bhavsar - 9820168842
 
Adfactors PR
 
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Warm Regards,
 
Neelam Naik

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MICA OPENS ADMISSION FOR THEIR PGCP IN CRAFTING CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Calling All Intellectually Curious, Imaginative Applicants For Crafting Creative Communications
Ahmedabad, December 10, 2013: Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) has declared open the admission application process for its one year PGCP in creative communications, “Crafting Creative Communications”. The admission procedure for this one-year certificate programme includes an online email test and personal interview.
The certificate course offers a specialisation in Crafting Copywriting or Art Direction, depending on the module chosen by the student. The programme primarily intends to develop students into high calibre professionals for creative careers in marketing communications. CCC churns out highly skilled individuals, ready to be absorbed into the industry. Successful Crafting Creative Communications (CCC) MICAns go out into the world as copywriters, art directors and TV commercial makers.
Students of previous programmes have acquired positions with leading advertising agencies, portals and organisations such as O&M, JWT, Bates, Lowe, Leo Burnett, Draft-FCB-Ulka, Mudra Advertising, Ambience Publicis and Wizcraft, amongst others.
While this course does not require participants to clear the CAT (Common Admission Test), a Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent qualification in any discipline recognized by the Association of Indian Universities is requisite. For participants in the Crafting Creative Communications - Art Direction (Module B), an equivalent diploma/degree in Fine Arts or Applied Arts is mandatory.
IMPORTANT DATES
Last date for submission of forms: March 15, 2014
Date for online written test: March 19, 2014
Personal Interview: April 21 - 23, 2014
Final list of the candidates: April 28, 2014
Last date for Submission of Fee: May 20, 2014
Programme Commencement: End of June 2014
 
 
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Shwetambara Shertukde
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Adfactors PR Pvt Ltd

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MICA Announces a Programme on Winning Customers in a World of ‘Big Data’

Ahmedabad, December 20, 2013:  Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA), India's premier Communications Management Institute, announced today a three-day residential management development programme (MDP) on ‘Winning Over the Minds and Hearts of Customers’ at their campus, from January 22-24, 2014.
This cutting-edge programme will be delivered by Prof. Luis Huete, using the latest tools and techniques for gaining more dialed-in customers and building more powerful brands in a world of "big data" with smartphones, tablets and social networks. Prof. Luis Huete, a Professor at IESE Business School (University of Navarra, Madrid), is a top management consultant, speaker, author and executive coach. According to the Institute for International Research (IRR), three out of four executives consider him as “the best Spanish management guru”. He has provided training and consulting services to more than 700 companies in 70 countries, including 50% of the firms listed in Spain’s Ibex 35 stock market index.
“Sales and marketing departments are being transformed by the convergence of three phenomena, viz. ‘big data’ available through various channels including online; the boom of smartphones and tablets capable of handling transactions and value-added communications; the key role of social networks in the lives of many consumers,” said Prof. Luis Huete.
“Technology is transforming the profession, though the challenge remains the same: to create brands that are attractive, manage the customer experience through different channels and screens and ultimately gain loyal customers. New technologies open up a world of new possibilities for winning over customers' minds and hearts. Companies today need to ensure that their brand promise, customer experience and the values that underpin their culture are a coherent whole that will enrich the brand in a positive way,” Prof. Huete added.
The objective of MICA MDP is to sensitize managers about gaining and retaining today’s dialed-in customers and building more powerful brands in a world of “big data” with Smartphone, tablets and social networks. The MICA MDP on ‘Winning Over the Minds and Hearts of Customers’ will focus on the following:
·         Knowing the key aspects of management for winning over the minds and hearts of customers in a world buzzing with social networks, smartphones and tools for analyzing massive amounts of data.
·         Working to redesign the customer experience through different channels, by observing emotional reactions with empathy.
·         Knowing the inherent possibilities of using the brand's attributes to shape the customer experience and the cultural values of the company.
·         Lay the groundwork so that the participants can instill a culture of customer service as well as internal and external cooperation to improve the value proposition and the customers' perceived value.
 
Commenting on the upcoming MDP, Dr. Nagesh Rao, President and Director, MICA said, “Working professionals need to understand the latest in their field as well as in all other areas on the periphery that impact their business decisions directly or indirectly. There is an urgent need for managers to update and upgrade their knowledge in all areas of their businesses.”
 
“Each MICA MDP is designed to equip participants with new thinking, new tools and new techniques. With this whole brain thinking, management teams in an organization can take business challenges head on – in an innovative manner,” added Dr. Nagesh Rao.
 
The programme ‘Winning Over the Minds and Hearts of Customers’ will be useful for Senior and middle level managers in  sales, marketing, customer service , customer relationship, branding, communications, planning and research- from manufacturing and service sectors - including FMCG, consumer durables, telecommunications, technology, auto, airlines, travel, hospitality, real estate, furniture, transportation, logistics, banks, financial services, retail, clothing, tourism, media, entertainment, oil and energy, pharmaceuticals, hospitals and healthcare, among others.
 
More information on the programme is available on MICA website at: http://www.mica.ac.in/mode/mdp/sub/detail/MdpId/59
More About

Prof. Luis Huete
Professor, IESE Business School (University of Navarra, Madrid)
Top Management Consultant · Speaker ·Author · Executive Coach
 
Prof. Luis Huete holds a Law Degree, an MBA from IESE Business School and a DBA from Boston University. He was a Fulbright Scholar and his dissertation on commercial banks’ services strategy was awarded by the Decision Science Institute Award as the best dissertation of the year in 1988. He has worked as a researcher at Harvard Business School developing scientific material and taking part in a research project sponsored by Bell Communications.
 
He has been a professor at IESE Business School since 1982 and has lectured in Harvard Business School’s Achieving Breakthrough Service and Advanced Management programmes. As a visiting lecturer, Prof. Huete regularly participates in advanced management programmes at prestigious business schools such as ESMT (Germany), ISEM Fashion Business School (Spain), Louvain (Belgium) and Deusto Business School (Spain) among many others. In addition, he collaborates with the corporate universities of Bupa (U.K.), ISS (Denmark), Omnicom (USA), Telefónica (Spain), etc.
 
Prof. Luis Huete is the author of ten top management books in Spain and his articles are regularly published in business publications. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and industry gatherings and has provided training and consulting services to more than 700 companies in 70 countries, including 50% of the firms listed in Spain’s Ibex 35 stock market index.
 
He has worked together with CEOs and their teams to define organisation structures and major transformation projects for companies such as Banco Santander, BBVA, IBM, Oracle, McDonald ́s, Adecco, Intercom Group, Opel, Iberostar, Grupo Pascual, Ricoh, Loewe, Campofrío, Lilly, Vodafone, Gilead, Six Senses (Thailand), Banesto, Larrain-Vial (Chile), ISS (Denmark), Telesp (Brazil), Movistar (Argentina, Chile and Central America), Grupo Brescia (Perú), Grupo Romero (Perú), Grupo Consenso (Ecuador) and Banco de Galicia (Argentina) among others.
 
Prof. Luis Huete also serves on the boards of companies such as Epikurean Hospitality in Thailand and Altia Consultores, Corporación Financiera ARCO and Ecointegral in Spain. He also belongs to the Global Advisory Board of the Oxford Leadership Academy (UK), IBS (México), VipScan (Spain), Abypersonalize (Spain) and is a patron of the Modern Art Foundation NMAC (Spain).
 
He has received three awards from the Actualidad Económica magazine for best 100 business ideas of the year. According to the Institute for International Research (IRR), three out of four executives consider him as “the best Spanish management guru”. The publication Who’s who en el Management Español highlights Prof. Huete as one of the most influential players in this field.
 
Prof. Huete lives in Madrid with his wife Maria and their four children.
 
 
 
About Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA)
The Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) was established in 1991. MICA is the first residential institute in the country and perhaps in the Asia- Pacific region, dedicated to meeting the integrated marketing communication needs of the industry, government and community.
The institute provides specialists in the field of communications management. Its spirit lies in its grasping of contemporariness, addressing the needs of an ever-changing environment. The MICA brand assures the delivery of current, reliable and cost-effective communication management skills.
Today, it is the alma mater of professionals serving in leadership positions in some of the best known companies in India and the world, in marketing, brand management, research & analytics, advertising, media, digital and other communication-driven businesses.
 

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Sushmita Sarkar
Adfactors Public Relations Pvt. Ltd.
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