In early February 1998, I was asked to appear for an interview at the office of Canco Advertising, owned by the then president of the Advertising Club, Ramesh Narayan. After a detailed interview with him, two other sessions followed - one with Kaushik Roy, the association’s Vice President and MV Devraj, its treasurer. I was asked to join on March 1,1998. I received a duly signed appointment letter from Ramesh Narayan.
At that time, the Ad Club Secretariat never had stability. People joined and left. The main event of the Ad Club then was the Abby Awards. It was truly a big event, termed as the Oscars of the creative world - an industry night that was attended by 1,500 die-hard advertising enthusiasts.
My first target was to bring automation at the Ad Club Secretariat and make the staff computer-savvy. There was also a huge challenge of getting all the statutory documents in place and lend solid and stable leadership to the Secretariat. It was not easy as every committee member was a stalwart. To convince all of them was a task. However, I was relentless in my pursuit and gradually things started falling in place.
Ad Club has grown
Over a period of time, the Advertising Club has gone from being a one-event association to a body that organizes the finest and biggest events of the country, be it the Effies, Emvies, Marquees, Ad Asia, Goafest, Vice & Versa, D- CODE and more, that can match global standards. Today, when it comes to organizing gigantic events, the Ad Club is surely at the forefront.
In my 25 years, I am happy that I have contributed substantially to the Ad Club not only by way of organizing 23 Effies, 23 Emvies, 10 Abbys, 15 Goafests and 12 Ad Asia editions, but have notched up to my credit 850+ overall events for the industry at large. I’m sure by lending stability to the Ad Club Secretariat, I have lent stability to the industry itself in a way.
I believe in doing things in a different way and never ever hesitate to make suggestions to the Managing Committee. I’m happy to give confidence and comfort to them. My pro-activeness, punctuality, innovativeness, resourcefulness and ability to revert fast have helped me a lot.
My Ad Club job never came in the way of pursuing my other interests of organizing musical programmes, compering and mimicry, which I love since my college days. The ManCom members encouraged me and appreciated my skills. Thus I could build my own musical brand ‘Khumaar’, author a book called Khumaar, produce a supplement called Khumaar and write some lines on Sachin Tendulkar for which the Bharat Ratna has sent me a letter of appreciation. Once, I also compered a show where Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was performing.
More with less
At the Ad Club Secretariat, I do not have big team. However, I have invested sufficient time and energy in training them, so that they have become capable of doing big events, as has been proved in the last 25 years.
I have to thank present and past presidents and ManCom members of the Ad Club, as well as staff members for standing firmly behind me. The freedom given to me to do my job has worked wonders.
I look back with lots of satisfaction at my 25 years with the Ad Club. I am happy that most industry professionals consider me their friend, and trust and confide in me.
(Bipin Pandit is the COO of The Advertising Club, Mumbai)
Ramesh Narayan, Founder of Canco Advertising |
‘Bipin is my gift to the Advertising Club’
Ramesh Narayan, Founder of Canco Advertising, who hired Bipin Pandit for the Advertising Club during his tenure as its President, says, “I am actually teleported to 25 years ago, when the Advertising Club used to hire retired personnel to help them in their activities. There came a time when we thought we had to think bigger and a little better maybe… so we decided to hire a full-time executive secretary for the Advertising Club. To cut a long story short, people wonder as to why an IT expert with no advertising experience at all had been selected by me for the job. I am glad that 25 years after that incident, people are actually thanking me for what I did. Bipin Pandit has grown almost synonymously with the Advertising Club over the last 25 years. He is larger than life, at times over the top, friendly, amiable, helpful and efficient - all the attributes that large associations like the Advertising Club would need. I am absolutely delighted that he has been able to develop himself so well, and if anybody asks me what have I done for the Advertising Club, I always say my gift to it at that time was Bipin Pandit. Keep going, Bipin – all the very best!”
