Software Freedom Day 2009 Celebration @ Technocrats Institute of Technology,Bhopal

After a long wait the SFD celebration of TIT Bhopal finally came to an end when Mr. Abhishek Kumar Sir visisted us for the final facilitation ceremony of the Software Freedom Celebration-A Java Contest.
Have a look at the image cloud of the event , click on the cloud to see the whole set of snaps:

This being the complete description of the SFD 09 Celebration in our college I would start from the very beginning.

I was in middle of formation of osum club at TIT in September ,I was going through the official business when things about SFD 09 appeared in front of me .I quickly made all the arrangements and got official permission for the event from my institute.

Thereafter it all began , I got in 16 volunteers from my osum club and then we planned the event . The idea was given birth by Mr.Abhishek Kumar Sir during his last visit to our institute. The volunteers planned out the event and we estimated a sum of 30 grand to be required for the event, the institute was not ready for such a large sponsorship.So we asked if NIIT could power our event. NIIT welcomed us with both hands and powered the complete event.


The event was an effort to promote Java skills and learning in students of Bhopal .The contest consisted of three rounds through which top 3 winners were decided.

Event : Java Contest and Workshops @ TIT.

Venue of contest and workshops: Venue of all the level tests, workshops was TIT, Bhopal campus.
Contest date:
Date of level 1 was 20th September 09
Date of Level 2 was 25th September 09
Final Level was on 28th October 09

Workshops:
Level 1 participant will be eligible for a free workshop on Java on Solaris.
Level 2 qualifiers will be eligible for a free workshop on J2ME.
NIIT took the responsibility to conduct workshops by their experienced professionals.

Test format:
Level 1:
Duration: 30 minutes
Type: Multiple Choice computer based test.
No of questions: 60
Top 35 % participants of level 1 qualify for level 2 based on merit.

Level 2:
Duration: 2 hours
Type: synopsis completion test.
No of questions: 1 synopsis
Venue: TIT Campus
Date: 25th September 09
Top 8 moved to final level based on their performance in the test.

Final Level:
Venue: TIT Campus
Type: quiz
Date: 28th October
No of Questions: Decided on the spot according to the quiz master


Report of the Contest:
There was awesome response by Bhopal students for the event.We had near 1000 registration for level 1.35% of the level 1 participants qualified for level 2 based on merit.On the basis of performance in Level 2 which was machine based test , top 8 were shortlisted to the last level.

Benefits received by those who attempted Level 1:
• The level 1 participant received a participation Certificate .
• He got an invitation to a free workshop on Java on Solaris.
• He got a discount voucher for a course of Java from NIIT .
• And a chance to attend the final round of the contest.

Benefits received by those who attempted Level 2:
They got all the benefits of level 1 and
• They received a Level 2 Certificate .
• They got an invitation to a free workshop on J2ME.
Benefits received by those who were the finalist:
They enjoyed all the benefits till level 2 and
• They received a final level Certificate .
• They got a branded bag from NIIT.

Prizes:
The winners enjoyed all the benefits till final level and got following prizes :
1. 1st in contest: Cash Prize of 3000/- , trophy, certificate, sling bag of Sun Microsystems received with SFD kit.
2. 2nd in contest: Cash Prize of 2000/- , trophy, certificate, sling bag of Sun Microsystems received with SFD Kit.
3. 3rd in contest: Cash prize of 1000/- , trophy, certificate, sling bag of Sun Microsystems received with SFD Kit.



Registration:
Registration form was obtained by student from their T & P Cell and was submitted at their nearest NIIT Center in Bhopal (there are 4 centers in various corners of Bhopal ). NIIT gave an invitation card to the contest and time to appear at the contest date 20th.the volunteers also carried the forms and the students submitted to them as well.


The facilitation ceremony and the final quiz of the contest was a grand success , Mr. Abhishek Kumar visted us on 28th October.

I picked him up from the airport at 8 in morning . We started the event at 10 30 in morning.




He was welcomed on stage in our institute where all the dignitries of our institute arrived namely our Director Sir Dr. C L Saxena , Bhupendra Verma Sir, Anuj Garg Sir ( CEO TIT ).

After the welocme ceremony he gave a tech demo on Open Solaris and some about OSUM and SAI.The round 1 participants attended the demo and TIT students also found it an opportunity to interact with Abhishek Sir and improve their knowledge, those who interacted well with him were given Open Solaris Live CD and also to those who asked questions to him.




This was followed by an on stage quiz. Later the winners were declared and they were awarded prizes by Mr. Abhishek Kumar and Mr. Amit Taneja( Director NIIT).



The audience truly enjoyed the event . The event was closed by a vote of Thanks fom TIT and right after Abhishek Sir met the Java Contest Volunteers and gave us valuable advice to keep going.


That closed the SFD Celebration in TIT , Bhopal.

Report of Facilitation Ceremony:
The Facilitation Ceremony of Software Freedom Day – A Java Contest was a very successful one. The Level 1 participants attended the final round 1 and the TIT , Bhopal students found it an opportunity to interact and increase knowledge Mr. Abhishek Kumar from Sun Microsystems.

The ceremony was attended by 1200 students and was a great success. The local newspapers as well displayed news about the java contest. The college administration is very happy with the way things went and it has raised the image of college in Bhopal.

Feedback:

1st year student: I really liked the talk on Open Solaris and it was awesome the way Abhishek Sir included even those students in quiz who did not even know J about Java. He really simplified the things and presented it in an understandable way.

Level 1 Participant: The facts and talk about open Solaris were really interesting. I don’t know why Open Solaris isn’t as much in use as windows is.

Volunteers: We were really excited meeting Abhishek Sir, till now only Parth used to tell us about his interactions with Mr. Abhishek Sir from Sun Microsystems but it was hard for us to believe him, But meeting him has really made us feel that whatever hard work we did had a meaning .And we look forward to organize similar events in future.