By Ismiat Zerin
“You have so much free time in your hands. Why don’t you do something productive?”
Young people, mostly undergrads, trying to figure out what they really want to do with life, are tired of hearing this. Amid this upheaval, while everything is struggling to stay in place, undergrads are losing track of time staying home for months not knowing what to do anymore.
Gathering courage and driven by the will to give the undergrads a way to shine beyond this quandary, East West University Business Club returned with BriefCase 2.0.
Nation’s First Virtual Competition
Legacy of East West University Business Club lives on with its members every year and the bar of standard keeps rising. While the world panicked, EWUBC wanted to stand by the students and came up with a business strategy competition, BriefCase 2.0-Inter-University Business Strategy Competition sponsored by DARAZ Bangladesh Limited. Pioneering the very first virtual competition in the country, this club not only left a huge impact but also pulled it off with striking success.
Disclosure of Potential
“May the odds be in your favour.” Effie Trinket, The Hunger Games.
Grasping an opportunity and holding onto it is the bravest thing to do. Undergrads around the country believed in themselves and this led to a record-breaking number of 515 registered teams. After a weeklong registration process, the online round began on 25th June. Students from 50 distinct universities came up with marvellous ideas for businesses to survive in this pandemic.
The chosen 50 teams with the best strategies made it to the Semi-Final round and worked on ‘DARAZ Online EID Campaign’. This round ended on 5th July following a 5-day campaigning process. The entire time, participants kept learning more about the real businesses and exploring their potential and odds to really win after all.
The Beginning Ends
10th July 2020.
Grand Finale was about to start. Top 10 teams who made it this far were prepared to give their best to win the final battle. Judges were ready as well. NurIbna Saeed from DARAZ and Risalat Siddique from Analyzen, being in the judging panel, decided who gained the Golden Snitch.
It was one intense final. Every team was brilliant and it was hard to choose the winners. But eventually, every beginning needs an end. Team KAR-98, Team AGUN and Team GREY MATTERS respectively secured the titles of the Champion, the 1st Runner Up and the 2nd Runner Up. Along with the titles, the teams achieved monetary prizes of BDT 25k, BDT 15k and BDT 10k.
Partners in Support
Every support for something is support for achieving another thing. Promising partnerships with different partners have made BriefCase 2.0 come to life. They have expressed their positivity and encouragement throughout the journey. BriefCase 2.0 had Torun as Youth Content Partner, Radio Today as Radio Partner, Jago FM as Coverage Partner, Financial Express as English Online Media Partner, Samakal as Online Media Partner and ICE Business Times as Knowledge Partner.
Inspiring the youth, the future of our nation, has been the purpose of East West University Business Club since the beginning. Each and every member of the club worked tirelessly and dedicatedly to organize yet another successful event amidst th3 chaos. Take a leap of faith and take some risks because in the end it’s worth it.
*The writer can be reached at ismiat.zee@gmail.com
