I was running late and this is what I hate. A Rodinhoods meet-up is like that interesting movie which you don’t want to miss for even a minute. You want to be there from the very start and become a part of it from the very first scene.
On reaching, I saw a closed door, inside which I was informed were the rodinhooders gathered for the evening.
I was amazed at the silence I sensed outside. “Had there been no turn-outs”, I asked myself. But as I pushed the door open and took a gradual look, I was surprised to see a 60+ audience seated on chairs with two presenters in front trying to get the technical aspects right and a few others standing on all sides, waiting for the show to begin. Entrepreneurs, known for denying worldly rules to get their ideas ahead, surprised me with the discipline – as if this is what they had been waiting for – and that nothing should get in between them and the Rodinhooding evening – not even their own whispers!
I looked at the back and managed to spot a seat. I grabbed it and opened my laptop, to take notes. It’s not a class, but I knew that it certainly would leave me with lessons – some real ones.
The theme for the meet-up was “How to utilize PR effectively for your start-up”. And as per the agenda, we would be having 2 start-ups talking about their PR experiences, two start-up demos and a pitch by those who have got this awesome opportunity to present their start-ups in front of other rodinhooders and invite questions from them.
“PR IS AYURVEDIC IN NATURE RATHER THAN ALLOPATHIC!” – Karan Bhujbal, 20:20 Media
It started with Karan Bhujbal giving us some hands on guidelines about how PR works for start-ups. He reinforced the significance of content when it comes to going with any PR activity and believed that like ayurveda, Public Relation demands time and patience with ones efforts before expecting valid results. From Narendra Modi story about touching his forehead before entering the PM office to Rabbit-Tortoise tale, Karan had some really interesting examples to make his point clear to us. Know more about him here.
“A MADE UP STORY PUBLISHED ABOUT US WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE GOT ME PHONE CALLS FOR SURE, BUT NOT ANY RESULTS” – Ramanuj Mukherjee, iPleaders
The next Presenter to put more light on how PR worked w.r.t his start-up was Ramanuj from iPleaders. The highlights of his presentation was some clean points that touched chord with everyone. According to him, PR should never be for vanity, but for some definite purpose that can help your business in some way. Moreover one should never mistake getting media attention synonymous to success for your start-up. It’s a myth. You should also ask whether or not you need PR. In B2B, for example, it’s not about the product but also about how people perceive you as a brand.
As a law firm, it was a pleasure to know that he also runs a portal for Sexual harassment of any kind and shares with his readers some key points, law-wise, to keep in mind.
The Q&A session, the cross questioning and active participation of the rodinhooders made way for added learnings, quite unplanned.
After the heavy weight PR gyan presented so skillfully by these amazing rodinhooders, we were ready for start-up demos and the pitch lined up for the evening!
While Nishant from Vidoomail presented his product that helps you embed a running video in your mail, Varun from Grindkey ensured to unlock our life squeezed in many tasks and mails by consolidating it all with a product that also helps you manage your projects efficiently.
If it’s FIFA fever for you, you can cross promote your brand by having a minor tweaking in your game application that resonates with the widespread football virus! This was how Arpit pitched for his product GreedyGame Media that lets you do just that!
It’s always good to see rodinhooders open to share their expertise with us. So when Amit Mishra agreed to come with some case studies and twitter tips for us, he did just that in a very casual yet crucial manner. From an interesting video that 
helped us connect with how twitter works to some real life examples of how twitter changed the world for many, this was a session that got the most questions from eager ones. Connect with him @amitkmishra.
The host for the evening who made his co-working space available for the event was Pranav Bhatia. Spread across four floors and with start-ups working on all, Stirring Minds had the perfect vibes required for a meet-up like this. The hot samosas just added to our experience!
While I met some new faces and missed some old ones, I came back with many ideas for myself that often crop up when you are amidst like-minded souls.
There are always a few people who make this happen. And so this time, we are thankful to Abhik Prasad who was in charge of connecting the dots, Amit Arora who anchored the evening with his evergreen smile and Tarun Jangid for capturing the energy with his camera.
View all the pictures of the evening here.
We learn with each meet-up, and so we also improve. Hope to see you all next time with more and more.
Before I sign off, a rodinhooder mistook me as Asha ji at the meet-up. While I clarified, I also took it as a compliment! 😉
“Under-Promise & Over-Deliver” – Sachin Bansal, Flipkart
asha chaudhry
thank you for being you anamika.
the fact that someone mistook you for me merely shows how involved you are and the kind of ownership you show!!!
alok once said something very interesting to me – “every rodinhooder is a co-founder of therodinhoods”
🙂
Darshan Bhambiru
Wonderful Round up and detailed to the TEEE 🙂
Kudos Anamika!!! Thanks for replaying the whole Meetup just as it happened.
Anamika Joshi
It’s this freedom that makes us so connected to this community!! Long LIve Rodinhoods!
Anamika Joshi
Thanks a lot Darshan!! Tried my best.. though I know that it’s nowhere equal to being there and experiencing it all!
Mohammed Sirajuddin
Well I am the one who mistook you for Asha Chaudhry…It was my first Rodinhood Meetup and I had never seen Asha in person but was following her mails since long time so was eager to meet her. You were so involved in the proceedings, one of only few women in Rodinhood T Shirt, also almost everyone seemed to know you. So, I don’t blame myself for confusing you with Asha.
asha chaudhry
mohammed,
i’m exactly an email away – asha@rodinhood.com
so even if i’m not in delhi – you can still e-meet me!!
🙂
Darshan Bhambiru
Welcome to TRHS Mohammed, Ramadan Mubarak, Ramadan Kareem to you and your Family and Friends!!
Abhik Prasad had already wished for an Asha Clone some time back in April, guess this answers it too, hence my Mention to the TEE in my earlier comment as well in this regards 😛
Meet the Rodinhood Tee that Anamika won and the story on how you get to win one!
Anamika Joshi
@Mohammed: 🙂 You won’t believe but once I mistook someone as Asha ji at an open house in Delhi.. I was keen to meet Asha ji offline as we had had many conversations online… so I kept going to her and introducing myself .. but she seemed to be little interested.. disappointed I came back and guess what.. i received a message from Asha ji saying, why you didn’t come and meet me?? That was when I realized that I was mistaken… To hide my blunder, I said that she was busy and that i just couldn’t approach her.. which in a way was right coz even though i had no idea that she was asha ji, I still wanted to meet her too.
@Ashaji: Ye mera confession hai.. aaj tak aapko bhi nahi bataya 😉 😉 Don’t ask me whom I mistook as you.. You will laugh at me:-D
Anamika Joshi
@Darshan: You are truly a wikipedia of trhs… ! Thanks for reminding us of things we have done..It inspires to do more… 🙂
asha chaudhry
anamika…. u might’ve forgotten, but u shared this with me the first time i called you!
i was touched by your disappointment. and i will always remember that phone call 🙂
Anamika Joshi
Did i?? :)) I am a chalta-firta blunder girl 🙂
Mohammed Sirajuddin
Thank You…Will surely stay in touch
Mohammed Sirajuddin
Ramadan Mubarak to you too Darshan. Thanks a lot for the warm wishes
Mohammed Sirajuddin
Lol….So I am not the only one. You must have been even more amused when I mistook you for Ashaji as you had earlier mistook someone else for Ashaji .
asha chaudhry
before i met anamika…..the only ji i had heard of was Kenny G!
:))))
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Next time, wait and watch, I’m gonna sneak in and sit in a corner :))))