Intent of collaboration
About Manipal The Talk.net There are over 50 organizations/clubs which conduct a string of events every semester. About 10 events conducted by each club, would sum up to approximately 500 events, in a period of 150 days. Hence, several significant events on technicality associated with computers, electrical, electronics, mechanical, biology, and sociocultural events like music, drama, literature and quizzes, go completely unnoticed due to the inability to reach out to the masses and effectively publicize online. Besides, it is quite a challenge to nail the poster on every notice board or spread the pamphlet on every table. To ensure that an event organized by a particular club stands out and to expect a decent turnout, it becomes imperative to ensure maximum publicity and diffusion of the right information. Thus with an overabundance of activities, events, workshops, seminars and lectures, a necessity was felt for a common platform, where all the information could be shared. The idea of every club having a website/Facebook group of its own hasn’t had a profound impact. The reason being, one wouldn’t go to every website and individually check out the upcoming events or other activities. This marked the beginning of the web space Manipalthetalk.net (MTTN), which sought to keep the people well-informed and conscious of the happenings, by methods unimplemented by any other college-based website. Constant updates pertaining to the campus news, regular news feeds on club events, the latest buzz, outdoor activity, personal blogs, sports blogs, rumors, polls and surveys, academics, etc. form the basic constituents of the site. The minutest of the happenings have been covered and the above mentioned sections have been running with a great level of competence, therefore fulfilling the demands of every person. A follower of MTTN is fed with all the required news from every corner of the campus. A lot of effort was put forth by every individual in the team, for the website to establish supremacy in Manipal.
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Features of the website MTTN is an unofficial web space which clearly lays a stress on the fact that we are independent. There is no interference of any official authority. There is no requirement to take permission or constantly interact with the university authorities, to take a decision or implement an idea. We are free to share personal thoughts, express opinion, abhorrence of an issue and fight for a valid cause in our own way. It gives us the freedom to have sections on the site like rumors or assignments, which an official website wouldn’t possibly have. One of chief principles of MTTN is: “Even if you miss the action, catch up with us and we’ll let you know what was missed and what was learnt!” The website is divided into the categories/tabs mentioned below:-
Campus News All the inside-campus news that people are very much eager to know: Like the coverage of Manipal’s march for Lokpal bill, Campus rules menace, hostel allotment details, change of the director, outbreak of Swine flu, festival celebrations, how we celebrated India’s victory, anything and everything else of relevance to Manipal is posted here.
Events and Workshops (Event details Reminders Coverage Reviews) This is the basic formula employed to keep the people abreast with the latest developments. An idea not implemented by any other website in Manipal, MTTN has successfully been able to provide most of the required data right on time, to great effect, and has hence received mass appreciation.
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What’s Hot Personal blogs and travel logs form the basis in this section. The archive consists of all the places to eat out in Manipal, reviews of restaurants, places to chill, wander and explore.
Lost and Found An effort is made to help people who have lost their valuables or any other items. There have been some successful instances.
Sports Blitz It is a section where information in the global sporting arena is shared regularly, for people to know in a glimpse about the latest buzz. Besides, articles on sports in Manipal (Cricket, Football, Hockey, etc.) are published.
Academics This is the major part of MTTN where references to assignments, question papers, solutions, slides and notes on ALL the subjects are uploaded, which is utilized to the max by all the students. Academically, the website has played a crucial role in student welfare and development.
Polls and Surveys Frequent polls and surveys on several issues are taken to gather public opinion, which is then shared, for people to realize the current scenario. It has been used a great deal in certain mass issues, which have later been sorted due to a good response from the visitors.
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Rumors MTTN Being unofficial, we are free to express, this section is specially dedicated to all the campus news in and around Manipal. One could express his/her opinions or abhorrence on anything, a fun-filled blogging space for those who love gossiping and jabbering endlessly.
SMS Subscription People receive a lot of SPAM messages now-a-days from many clubs, which in most cases tend to irritate the receiver. This is an attempt to greatly resolve the issue. Only the people interested in getting the information, receive it. In situations where an important message regarding any issue/event is to be spread to the mass, this feature plays a vital role.
MTTN T.V Network The video featuring is a pioneering initiative to add a new dimension to the website. A brief overview is given about a particular event. A short video pertaining to it, where the response of the participants and a few words from the organizers is recorded, giving a feeling of the event that occurred, even if it was missed. It has been a very resourceful feature and one of its kind.
Facebook and Twitter pages Social networking indeed plays a fundamental role. It is the primary gateway to the website’s publicity, where all the links to the articles on the website are posted and minute details are shared, so as to stay in good relation with the fans, constantly interact, get feedbacks and develop.
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A brief history of our attainments MTTN 2.0 set in motion on March 7, 2011. The objective was as ambitious as our efforts: “While on the internet, people should log on to Manipalthetalk.net before Facebook, to check out the latest news”. The amount of articles, photographs and other initiatives are a testimony to the above tag. With 15+ websites in this educational hub, we sought to pioneering measures, that were distinctive and unthought-of, to dominate in the ‘Cyber war’. The website provided a stage for ‘free’ online publicity and events of various clubs were covered. Maybe there are only 100 participants in an event. But when the coverage is done and posted on the site, 1000’s more learn about it and appreciate, ensuring a better turnout for the events to come. We have played a chief role in adding so much glamour to the city ‘Manipal’, being one of the very few sites in the country to offer such a service. We have not only helped the public widen their perspective, but also ensured student welfare (In spite of being unofficial). All the important study packages were shared at the right time, this in a way, helping the institute to develop academically. Such approaches from our side, have indeed improved the quality of learning. ‘Find Room-mate’, for instance had been a substantial initiative. When there were 100’s of students, who could not find a room-mate, we made an initiative to pair the students who wanted to shift to a particular block/room and had other common interests. Similarly we undertook the responsibility of ‘Room-swap’, where students unhappy with the allotted rooms could shift to another students’ room in case of mutual understanding and agreement. The increase in bandwidth, addition of routers and a drastic improvement in the Wi-Fi network in the campus is primarily attributed to the former version of the website (Manipalthetalk.net 1.0), where an initiative was taken to motivate all the students to approach the admins by constantly pressurizing and sending e-mails. Taking into account the fact that students live online, this was a major breakthrough.
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The site had been functioning persistently for four months and it was widely accepted as a web space ‘For the people”. With every post made, folks throughout the campus engaged in conversations with reference our website, which made us proud undeniably! The semester had ended, we had to shift gears and focus on the freshers who were to join our college. Most of the students join the college completely blank and unaware of what’s in store for them. Just before the start of college, they go online searching for articles/ news related to Manipal. Due to constant blogging and heavy info on the site, we topped the list ‘Google search engine terms’, thus enabling students to access the website easily. We helped the students analyze their performance in the entrance test, predicted the branch they would be allotted and guided them in choosing their interests. Besides, we provided them with the tiniest spec of information from introduction to MIT, to description about the food, items to bring from home, personal experiences, places to hang around, academic tips, placement results, clubs to join and much more. All our painstaking efforts and meticulous work was noticed and organizations started approaching for collaboration. With the beginning of the odd semester, Manipalthetalk.net was declared as an ‘Official Media Partner’ of Manipal Institute of Technology’s Technical fest ‘Tech Tatva 2011’. Our logo was seen on posters and every huge banner. This is again a testament to our achievements and an indication of how BIG we are. Statistics speak sound. It is the most attention grabbing factor. Four months since the inception, we managed to get 50,000+ VIEWS* on the site. During the vacation, we worked tirelessly and managed to gather 30,000+ views (Most of them from the juniors, who were to join the college. The website presently stands at a staggering 100,000+ views & 75,000+ CLICKS, 1200+ likes on the Facebook page and 250 + articles. To accomplish so much in just 6 months of creation is definitely a remarkable factor. And with tons of ideas and the much anticipated information sprouting, the job was no more plain ‘blogging’. We were in pursuit of ‘Journalism’: Intense and professional. *HITS are different from views. In general, every time a page is refreshed or a button is clicked, a count is added to the hits. This isn’t the case in MTTN. When a person visits the site once, irrespective of the clicks and page refreshes, a count isn’t added for the next 24 hours. Besides, the author’s visitors are not counted. So, CLICKS + VEWS could be lesser than the generalized term ‘HITS’
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Benefits of an association The presence of several organizations has made it obligatory to ensure appropriate benefits for the club we are to collaborate with. Here is what we got to offer: 1. Pre-event report to be published a week before on the site. 2. Poster/ Pamphlet’s *.jpeg file to be uploaded, on the online notice board and home page. 3. Pre-event video/teaser to be embedded. (On request) 4. SMS/ e-mail updates to the subscribers. 5. Mass messages. (On request) 6. Publicity on the Facebook page. 7. Repeated publicity (i.e. Publicity a day before the event) on our page and other groups. 8. Listing of the event on the calendar. 9. Report/written article of the event. 10. Photo coverage. 11. Video coverage. (On request) 12. Polls on the site/page. (On request) 13. Mentioning of the club names on Facebook. (Welcome page and the top photo bar.) 14. Direct link to the archive of the club on the website’s sidebar. 15. Joint publicity on pamphlets/pamphlets. (On request)
* Only points 1, 2 and 6 are valid for the clubs with which we have not partnered.
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Clauses in brief Clause
Partners
Non-Partners
Pre-event report
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Poster on notice board
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Poster on home page
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Video Teaser
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SMS/e-mail
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Mass messages
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Publicity on page
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Repeated publicity
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Listing of event on calendar
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Report/Article of event
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Photo/Video coverage
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Polls
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Mention on page
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Direct link to archive
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Joint publicity
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You know better, the outcome of your collaboration with us! Website
http://www.manipalthetalk.net/
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/manipalthetalk.net/
For further discussion, mail us here
contact_us@manipalthetalk.net
So, are you ready to do ‘The Talk’?
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