IAA Young Turks Forum hosts mentorship programme

The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter played host to 25 leaders from across Indian industry to mentor 720 students at the first ever mentorship programme conducted under the aegis of the IAA Young Turks Forum. Sangita Jindal, Chairperson of JSW Foundation launched the initiative on Friday, September 19 at the Bombay Stock Exchange’s International Convention Hall. Hailing the initiative, Sangita scored the importance of mentorship for young professionals.

Earlier, an interactive session with the theme “Engaging with the Audience – Lessons from the Entertainment Industry” was held with R. Balki, film-maker and Chairman, Lowe Lintas & Stefan Haves, well-known Hollywood director and entertainer. Theatre personality and author Anish Trivedi moderated the discussion.
“There is no need to panic in the race to achieve things,” advised Balki. He also added, “Chill, it’ll happen. Don’t panic.”

Highlighting the difference between a great juggler and a not-so-great juggler, Stefan said, “A great juggler has dropped the balls more and made more mistakes in public.” Underscoring the need to not fight shy and be scared of going in front of people, Stefan said, “doing public discourse feeds your own soul and that of people around you”.

HBO South Asia was the Presenting Partner and Mahindra Special Services Group and NASSCOM are the knowledge partners of the IAA Young Turks Forum. The event was conducted with the support of Bombay Stock Exchange. Youngsters from select colleges, the Nasscom 10000 entrepreneurs programme and BSE Incubation Centre were part of the IAA mentorship programme.

Said Srinivasan K. Swamy, President IAA India Chapter & Vice President, Development, Asia/Pacific region of IAA, “It was heartening to see so many industry leaders spare their precious time to come and mentor youngsters. I am delighted that so many individuals came forward to avail this opportunity. I am also thankful to both Balki and Stefan Haves for talking about their craft and offering true words of wisdom to the 1000-plus audience”.

“We at HBO encourage and value youth engagement opportunities. Our channels have a significant youth connect and we are delighted to have partnered with IAA for this event which had a particularly interesting mix of an interactive session and mentorship programme,” said Monica Tata, Managing Director HBO South Asia, Presenting Partner of the IAA Young Turks Forum. Manish Advani, Head – Marketing and Public Relations, Mahindra Special Services Group, who is Chair of the IAA Young Turks Forum said, “This was the third edition of the IAA Young Turks Forum and the fact that we had over a thousand youngsters present speaks a lot for the need to have such events.”