Godrej India Culture Lab hosts a pop up version of the INK Conference

by EVENTFAQS Bureau | Marketing | July 16, 2013 | News

Commenting on the association with TED and their similar objectives, Lakshmi Pratury, Host and Curator, INK Conference, said: "INK is an independent organization from TED. Since INK conference is a follow on to TED India, they are our strategic partners and supporters of what we do. We share a common interest to collect amazing stories, ideas and perspectives. With this event, we wanted to take the concept of INK into corporate sector. Beyond the annual conference that we host, we want to take the stories into organizations across India."

Speaking about their association with INK, Parmesh Shahani, Associate Vice President - Godrej India Culture Lab, said: "The pop up INK conference was a celebration of young and innovative India and of ideas that can create a radical change for the future. At the Godrej India Culture Lab, we believe that more than ever, now is the time where people can collaborate around silos to bring about a positive change in the world. As a TED Fellow and as someone who has attended and supported all the INK conferences in India so far, I realized that we were on the same journey together - of discovering and showcasing the best of Indian innovation. So we decided to collaborate between ourselves and do the pop up INK conference on our Godrej Vikhroli campus."

Over 200 people attended the 2-hour event, including speakers like writer Indu Sundaresan, Assamese musician Joi Barua, entrepreneur Saba Ghole, visual artist Shilo Shiv Suleman and their guests. As for the audience, the event had free entry, but in order to maintain diversity in the attendees (similar to the bigger, annual INK Conference), the organizers decided to reserve 40 seats for those who were interested in attending the event. These participants could register on the India Culture Lab website. All those registering were required to answer a few questions about themselves and offer a reason to attend this special pop up event. Hence, the organizers claim that one had to earn the opportunity to attend this event.

In order to encourage interactions between attendees, the organizers also held some networking and entertainment sessions. The evening commenced with a tea ceremony and a performance by an opera singer and ended with a performance by a folk singer. This was followed by a networking dinner.

When asked about the future of the INK Conference, Pratury said: "We are in the process of moving from an industrial economy to a creative one. What was out-of-box thinking in the past is the only recipe for success for the future. We need to create a new set of role models and new ways of being as we move into this new economy. We need to have a new imagination and have the eco system in place to turn this imagination into impact. INK is a community that is dedicated to discovering and highlighting new role models and playing an active role in turning this new imagination into reality. "

She further added: "We host events like the pop-up INK and the annual conference to highlight the new role models and encourage a new imagination. Then, we take some of the ideas and help turn them into reality. The INK conference that started as an annual conference is morphing into an INK community that is engaged throughout the year in turning the inspiration or imagination that comes out of the conference into impact. Instead of predicting the future or waiting for the future, we at INK, are writing our future together."