Year 2011 at a glance!!!

Himanshu, Shinod, Arunabh-The 3 Musketeers of Udaipur :)

The Journey of Blue Caramel Info Services Pvt Ltd and its various divisions have been very eventful in the Year 2011. Many new faces and characters joined the organisation and some left as well. New divisions were formed and the older ones consolidated. New areas of operation were started and a platform was created for further grow of the Blue Caramel Group in the new year 2012!

Some visual snippets of the year about to go by are here for all of us to remember and cherish!

Mehul, Sanjay-Double Trouble

The Spin Twins-Tulsi, Niharika

Guest Appearance n Special Appearance-Juhi , Pallabi

New Year Resolution1- The Price of Discipline is Less than The Cost of Regret!

In the next 2 days before the year2011 ends, I envisage to have some New Year Resolutions for Blue Caramel as a whole. These resolutions that I hope to implement have been thought of after learning from the successes and failures that Blue Caramel faced during the Year 2011.

"To Err is Human" but to repeat those mistakes are the prerogative of a Fool and Blue Caramel is not a Fool's Paradise. So these resolutions that would be enumerated in the next 2 days would be a start point for better things to come for Blue Caramel in the years to come, starting with the Year 2012!

New Year Resolution (NYR) 1-   The Price of Discipline is Always less than the Cost of Regret.

To start off, the Year 2012, All Blue Caramelers are expected to know the HR policies and adhere by them with respect to timelines and discipline. Indiscipline would not be tolerated as "A stitch in time saves nine". Only a disciplined Blue Carameler, who can foresee the bigger picture, can fuel the organisation's growth in future and hence more emphasis on Discipline would have to be there in the new year and henceforth.

A self disciplined team member is an asset but a team member who has to be disciplined on a regular basis, creates an environment which is non-conducive for a healthy work place because there is a saying that "One rotten fish can dirty the entire pond."

New Area Manager for the week-A Full Circle!

Ah, today has been a very interesting day! Himanshu and myself went to Hotel Broadway and cleared out the hotel bills on account of the RNT Goldfest. The fest in itself has been a pretty decent success for The Blue Caramelers. The general appreciation that Blue Caramel Events has been able to garner on account of the Fest has been pretty amazing. The Hotels have been quick to appreciate the professionalism of Blue Caramel and the Organizing Committee of the RNT Goldfest, quite unbelievably, too have appreciated our efforts! So, 3 cheers for all the Blue Caramelers for the same. Hip Hip Hurray!!!!!

Today, also saw the Blue Caramel office-Udaipur elect its new AM/Head of the week. After an emotionally charged deliberation, the Team Members elected the Old War Horse-Suheil as their new Head for the week. Suheil being one of the oldest Blue Carameler, now has the onus of seeing off the year 2011 and ushering in the new year 2012 with a blast of good happenings at Blue Caramel-Udaipur!! All the very best to him!

Speaking of seeing off, this meeting was also the last meeting of team members that Tulsi participated in as a Blue Carameler! Our dear "efficient Nepalese" Tulsi, our backbone of operations is getting married in January 2012, a big loss for us! But someone's loss is somebody's gain; we congratulate Tulsi and Tulsi's would be Hubby and wish both of them a very happy and blissful married life! Bon Voyage!!!

X-mas Day!

X-mas for the Blue Caramelers brought in a new Event Coordination, that of the 2 day RNT Goldfest11. This time around the responsibility was only partial. We had to cater only to the accommodation requirements of the delegates who were participating in the Alumni Meet. After much additions and deletions (coz of state wide agitation by the Govt Doctors) and our discussions with the Organising Committee of the RNT Goldfest11, 2 hotels were shortlisted for the accommodation requirements of the delegates; Alka Hotel and Hotel Broadway.

So, on Christmas, the Blue Caramelers had the task of manning these 2 hotels and seeing to it that the delegates were accommodated safely and cozily in their respective Hotels. Sanjay, Mehul and Suheil worked in tandem to facilitate this smooth operation. The Girls Brigade was stationed out of Hotel Broadway. This operation was mostly hassle free. Shinod was in Delhi to celebrate X-mas with his family and Himanshu and myself-Arunabh, after seeing through the accommodation part, went to Mr Kamal Bhandari of Alka Hotel and settled his accommodation bill (a pre-paid gesture from our side).

This uneventful handling of the first day of the RNT Goldfest, for me, was a perfect gift from Saint Nicholas aka Santa Clause on the occasion of Christmas! Though this Christmas was way too sedate with no fun and frolic for me, the fact that it went off smoothly and that too in the midst of an Event in which Blue Caramel was a partner, in effect makes this a Christmas to cherish!! Merry X-mas, HoHoHo!!!!!

O for Opportunity!!

On X-mas Eve and a day after a Wonderful B'Day party, although late (but who cares, better late than never) given by Suheil at Lal Bagh Restaurant, I was in a reverie about the year 2011. Blue Caramel Info Service Pvt Ltd has traveled a lot in this year.

 From a very meager beginning at the start of the Year with 2 locations- Blue Caramel-Jaipur and Blue Caramel-Udaipur, now we have a Blue Caramel which is spread over areas like Jodhpur and Mumbai.

From only www.mydestination.com/rajasthan in the stable, we now have www.mydestination.com/mumbai as well. The foray into Matrix and the emergence of Blue Caramel Events have also been top notch in the year 2011. 

Now coming to the title of today's Blog, O for Opportunity, I came upon a wonderful quote today which said that the letter O which emphasizes Opportunity, is not found in "Yesterday", Once in the word "Today" and 3 times in "Tomorrow". That in a nutshell sums up how I see the progress of Blue Caramel in the new year.   The consolidation of the good work done in the year 2011 is a task that would be of utmost priority in the new Year 2012. Delhi, Gujarat and so on, offer ample Opportunities for further expansion of the Blue Caramel group and then I am sure the future beholds much  more Opportunities for Blue Caramel  to widen its presence and make every Blue Carameler even more proud in the Year 2012!!

Lets all at Blue Caramel gear up to bid a fantastic farewell to 2011 in the next week or so and usher in 2012 with a Bang and a bagful of Optimism!!!!!!

          

Stand out performer of RajRadioCon11!!

There has been a lull after the stupendous success of XX RajRadioCon, the 20th Indian Radiology and Imaging Association Conference and the IRIA Education Programme, both having been hosted by Blue Caramel Events at the Oriental Palace Resorts. The entire project was code named Op-OPR, the full form of which was Operation Oriental Palace Resorts. Each one of the Blue Caramelers of Udaipur put their best foot forward and we had a harrowing time in deciding the Stand Out Performer of Raj RadioCon11.

The first round of voting to decide the Performer of Raj RadioCon ended in a tie between Mr Event-Sanjay and Superwoman-Prerna. After that a tie breaker had to be initiated and in that Prerna was elected as the Stand Out Performer of XX Raj RadioCon11. Kudos to Prerna, Sanjay and the entire Blue Caramel Office, Udaipur for their outstanding performance during the course of the event. But, this was just the beginning and the RNT Goldfest, of which Blue Caramel Events is again a partner, is just around the corner. So, before resting on the laurels, it is again time for the Blue Caramelers to start preparing for the event and after having set the benchmark in the Raj Radio Con, it is time to better it, in the forthcoming event. RNT Goldfest-here we come!!!!!

The Super Success of Op OPR!

Julius Ceasar once famously said "Veni, Vidi, Vici" which literally means I came, I saw and I conquered, the same thing could be said by All Blue Caramels after the spectacular success of Op-OPR. The 3 day IREP and IRIA event under the banner of the XX Raj Radio Con11 was a spectacular success and the event coordinators Blue Caramel Events drew great applause from the delegates, who highly appreciated the efforts and the efficiency of Blue Caramelers.

The 3 day event was a great example of coordination between various departments of Blue Caramel and also between the various vendors who were a part of it. Every thing was smooth and the delegates and the guests of this event took with them memories to cherish for a life time. Though the event was more of an Education Program and Conference, the highlight of this State Level (IRIA) as well as National Level (IREP) event was the lavish Banquet that had a wide spread of food and gave ample opportunities to the delegates to wine and dine. The power packed performance by the live band enhanced the ambiance to a new level. As the wise men say "All work and no play makes Jake a dull boy" there never was a dull moment during the Event and the Education program, for a change, was thoroughly enjoyable.

Behind the scenes there have been great stories of dedication and smart work from all the Blue Caramelers involved in the Operation. Sanjay managed the show very efficiently and was ably supported by all the Committee members and also the new kid on the block, Pallabi, who provided support in the cultural activities. Tulsi and Niharika after having done a fantabulous job in their allotted Scientific Program, e-souvenir & Certificate and I-card Designing Committee, manned or should I say, "womanned" the registration and Help desk admirably. Mehul and Suheil were great in their Catering, Bar and Venue Management as was Srishti in her On-site Management Prerna was a superwoman in her Accommodation and Transport Committee and she exceeded all our expectations with her performance. So, all in all a very very enriching and enjoyable experience for all the Blue Caramelers and the fact that the ending was so fruitful and rewarding  was a cherry on the cake. It is said- " All is well that ends well", but in this case it is just the beginning for Blue Caramel Events.

Performer of the Week ending 26th November2011!!

The last week had been hectic to say the least and that has spilled over to this week as well and hence the delay in the post. Most of the Blue Caramelers have performed admirably during this period. The Committees have been doing their assigned tasks earnestly and the coordination too has been satisfactory. Although the focus was on Blue Caramel Events but there have been some great news from the mydestination.com/rajasthan front as well.

Manish from Jodhpur has been the star with respect to mydestination.com/rajasthan and has consolidated on a fair show last week. Blue Caramel, Jodhpur has at last pulled up a Rabbit from its basket and delivered a splendid result this week in terms of revenue. Great Perseverance and follow up, Manish, thoroughly rugged Show.

Mehul from Udaipur and Sujit from Jaipur worked in tandem to generate revenue, that had its source in Jaipur but was finally clinched in Udaipur. A great example of team work between Blue Caramel Jaipur and Blue Caramel Udaipur. Good show guys!!!

Sanjay, Niharika, Prerna, Mehul and Suheil (back in action after his bout of chicken pox) too have been earnest in their efforts. But Suheil has a lot of catching up to do with relation to his performance in Matrix. Srishti to a certain extent has been the lone black sheep in the Blue Caramel fraternity. She has to be more innovative and action oriented, to fulfill the expectations we have of her. On in all a very satisfactory week was the week ending 26th November2011 but the performer of the week for her contributions to the designing of the Op-OPR, besides her usual efficient handling of the day to day affairs of Blue Caramel-Udaipur, mydestination.com/rajasthan and mydestination.com/mumbai was the Birthday Girl (29th Nov), Tulsi. A big round of applause for her!!!!!!!

As for us, Himanshu and Shinod have gone to Jodhpur to complete the VTs that have been clinched by Manish and me, Arunabh , am completely immersed in the wave of Blue Caramel Events... Hope for a superlative power packed performance during Op-OPR!!!!

The Fielding is Set!!

Today, all the Committee members of Op-OPR of Blue Caramel, Udaipur, went and met Dr Anand, the first thing in the morning, to discuss the modalities and modus operandi of the crack team for the D-Days (8-11th Dec). The discussion between the team members and Dr Anand were quite fruitful to say the least. Now, each member had a clear cut mandate of what was expected of her/him during Op-OPR.

There was a flurry of activity at the Udaipur office after the team members came back. Various vendors came and some even went to the venue to get an idea of what was expected from them. The artistic Team of Tulsi and Niharika, in tandem with Sanjay were in an artistic overdrive for the designing of various templates for the event. The G-force of Mehul and Suheil too were onto the job and finding innovative ways for a better Venue and Catering Management. They also went about scouting for suitable "non conventional" sponsors as well. The "Flower Power" of Niharika and Srishti too provided the necessary back office support required from them, admirably.

So, on in on Blue Caramel Events has set the fielding in place for the "Big Match".

On a lighter note, Mehul gave his long due "First Salary" party today at the office.. in which even the spicy dishes tasted very sweet coz as a saying in Hindi goes " Sabr Ka Fal Meetha Hota Hai"

Op OPR!!!

The new week has already begun but we haven't had any change of guard at the Blue Caramel office-Udaipur and Prerna continues to be the Head/AM till the time, the members have their evaluation session. The reason for this delay has been the renewed focus on Op- OPR for the D-days of 9th, 10th and 11th December, the date for the first event to be held by Blue Caramel Events in Udaipur-the city of Lakes.

Various committees have been formed, each having its own Chief.
1) Scientific Programme and E-Souvenir Committee and Certificate and I-Card Designing Committee would be under the overall leadership of Tulsi with help from Niharika.

2) Accommodation, Transport and Excursion Committee head is Prerna.

3) Catering & Bar and Security, Cultural & Venue Management Committees would be headed by Mehul and Suheil.

4) Srishti would be heading the On-site and spouse Management Committee...

5) Miscellaneous and Inaugural Function Committee would be under Sanjay and Tulsi.


Sanjay would be the person responsible for the overall smooth functioning of all the committees and also for the successful organizing of the Event.

Blue Caramel office Jaipur had a pretty weak week with Sujit being here in Udaipur for some important consultations with us.

Blue Caramel-Jodhpur under Manish is showing promise but the actual deliverance of the same is still missing.

Anyway, the Elite Team in place for Blue Caramel Event, I am sure, will ensure the success of Op-OPR...

The End of a Disappointing Week!!!

Today brings this week to an end and this week, a prolonged week at that, has been a week where much was expected but very little delivered. So much Promise but so less Achievement. The different locations of Blue Caramel had everything going for them at the start of this week, but the consolidation of that, went bust by the week end.

 Blue Caramel office-Jaipur had the added advantage of Himanshu being there but besides new avenues for GoR deals and future tie-ups nothing concrete materialized. Sujit missed a chance, if one were to analyze.

Blue Caramel Office-Jodhpur started the week with a Bang! After clinching the first substantial revenue deal from that location, Manish had the best chance to establish his supremacy for the week and get into a comfortable position. But alas, he blew the chance!!!!

Blue Caramel Office-Udaipur probably fared the worse among all the 3 locations with virtually no momentum as a Team. Though there were individual sparks but the members as a TEAM failed quite spectacularly on all fronts, be it meeting of targets (esp revenue based) or with respect to Discipline. Prerna, the first Lady AM/Head of Blue Caramel could neither repeat her previous week's individual performance nor could she lead the team in the way desired. The fact that this was her first experience in a Leadership role might be a reason for the miserable performance. On the Events front, Sanjay's performance was steady but nothing great. Matrix was a dead meat as Suheil continued to be out of action with Chicken Pox. mydestination.com/rajasthan under Mehul continued to be a complete "Disaster" this week. He needs to pull up his socks pretty fast otherwise he might land up in a soup. The Girl's Brigade was the only bright spot from Udaipur in an otherwise disappointing week with Tulsi being the perfect driving force for the Brigade. Prerna was additionally given the task of co-ordinator for Jodhpur while Niharika and Srishti were entrusted upon with Jaipur.

Coz of Mehul and Suheil's absence, the review meet will be held on Monday, in which both Sujit and Himanshu are also expected to be a part, besides Shinod and of course  myself, Arunabh!!!!

Mid Week Blues!!

It is the middle of the week and AM/Head Prerna has been at the helm of affairs at Blue Caramel-Udaipur for the last week or so.. Good news have rolled in this week, though not from Udaipur but from Jodhpur. The Area Manager of Jodhpur has atlast delivered on the promise that he holds and what we have expected of him from a very long time.

AM-Jodhpur, Manish, has been able to crack a deal which has resulted in the first substantial revenue from the Blue Caramel Office-Jodhpur. For that, a round of applause for him. The phrase Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit seems to be applicable to him, for the time being, as he has risen like the Phoenix from the ashes and from the brink and delivered quite a bit on his commitment. We hope this is just the tip of the iceberg for much better things that await us in Jodhpur.

At Udaipur much is still expected from our first Lady AM/Head-Prerna but the days of her reign are fast elapsing. Though on a lighter note, Manish at Jodhpur cracked the deal on the day, Prerna was deputed additionally as a Co-ordinator for Jodhpur. So, maybe Jodhpur has a Lady Luck with it, though she is based out of Udaipur. 

Some Firsts at the Team Members Meet @ Blue Caramel-Udaipur

So, we have a new AM/Head for the current period in Prerna and also we have the performer of the preceding week in Sanjay. But in having them we have some firsts at the Blue Caramel Office in Udaipur.

Prerna after her election as the new AM/Head for the current period becomes the First Female AM/Head at Blue Caramel Udaipur and Sanjay, on the other hand, became the first current AM/Head to have bagged the Best Performer award. So, Kudos to the duo again for a good work done and also for setting up of a new benchmark for the members at Blue Caramel Udaipur.

How the team members fare under a new Lady Boss or rather does the feminine touch create any wonders at Blue Caramel, Udaipur, only time will tell------ Saturday, 19th November, Ahoy!!!!!!!

Performer of the Week till 10th Nov11!!!

The Blue Caramelers of Team Udaipur made a slight change in the schedule for the evaluation for their performance for the preceding week. AM/Head for the week, Sanjay initiated the meeting which was also attended by Shinod this week. Suheil, though was indisposed as he had Chicken Pox.

It was agreed at the meeting that the performance last week left a lot to be desired not in the intent of endeavors but the actual outcome of the endeavors.  Mehul's mydestination.com/rajasthan and Suheil's Matrix needed to come up the curve, quickly. Srishti still had a lot of things to learn and was a bundle for improvement. Tulsi continued to be an effective manager but not a leader of the "Girls' Brigade". Niharika, the last Performer of the Week lost out on her crown this time around. The 2 top contenders for the coveted Performer of the Week were Sanjay and Prerna and it was a tough decision for all to choose between the two. Prerna had one of the most improved performances for the last week. She consciously stepped out of her "Comfort Zone" and went in and Fixed appointments, took interviews and tried hard to garner some revenue. But she was also involved in a serious lapse of judgement and for this she lost out to Sanjay, who went to Jaipur and Kota for the event and also continued to be the AM/Head for the week. On account of this Sanjay was voted as the performer of the week till 10th Nov11. 


Prerna, on the other hand, was voted unanimously as the new AM/Head till the week ending 19th Nov!!
Congrats to Sanjay for getting the cash prize for the best performer from the new AM/Head-Prerna and all the very best-Prerna!!!! It sure is going to be a very exciting 10days or so!!!

With Every Day you Have a Night as Well!!

The last week has been a very quite week with respect to the Blue Caramelers. Sujit who had come to Udaipur for the Diwali break, went to Kanpur to get his wife settled, she incidently has joined a Medical School as a Principal, there. Manish hardly made an impact in Jodhpur and neither did Mehul in Udaipur. Suheil did a pretty decent job trying to find out additional sources of revenue viz travel packages besides the usual Matrix sales. Sanjay, who went for a whirlwind tour of Jaipur was able to get a decent number of registrations from there. Himanshu stayed put in Jaipur to forge the lucrative GoR deals. The Girls' Brigade were efficient as usual. Shinod and myself were in Udaipur, though I was preoccupied with more personal matters than official.

The last few days have taken me through a journey of a wide range of emotions for me personally. Op Garnet, which was handled very well by Blue Caramel Events courtesy Sanjay and Suheil , gave me immense Joy with quality time with the near and dear ones. This was then replaced by a acute feeling of Grief and Sorrow as I lost my maternal aunt, who was more like a second mother to me. Then there was a feeling of Anger as I lost my mobile phone and along with it and more importantly, I lost all my contact data and snaps which I had taken over a period of time and foolishly, of which I had not taken any backup.

Life is a great leveller the saying goes, With Every Day, You Have a Night as Well!!!!

The Jaipur Jazz!!

Today was a day when we had 3 members of Blue Caramel office-Udaipur in Jaipur for a variety of reasons, Sanjay, as posted in the previous blog was already there in Jaipur on account of the December event. Himanshu went today to Jaipur on a personal cum official visit. Shinod too was to have accompanied him to Jaipur, but did not. Tulsi on the other hand left for Jaipur with her family to further her "final placement" on her personal front.

So, the Girls' Brigade in Udaipur consisting of Niharika, Prerna & Srishti calmly took over the onus of seeing to it that their stated targets for the week did not go haywire. Suheil and Mehul were also on the job to strive and achieve their respective targets. Jodhpur though continued to be an area of concern with the performance not meeting the bare expectations.
At the Udaipur office, the co-founders of Junglee Dera, Tauseef and Anshul came and we had some very fruitful discussions with them about prospects of Eco/Adventure/Camping Tourism in Rajasthan as a whole and Udaipur, specifically. Sanjay reported from Jaipur that he had 27 (15+12) registrations confirmed from Jaipur for the December event since yesterday.

We are all keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for a Wonderful Event in the month of December courtesy Blue Caramel Events!!!!

The November Charge!!

With the advent of the new month of November we have a new AM/Head at the Blue Caramel office in Udaipur. Though I was indisposed due to some personal reasons, the team members elected Sanjay as their new AM/Head for the week ending 5th November. So, Sanjay, though he would be in Jaipur on account of the Doctor's meet in December, would be spearheading the November charge of Blue Caramel for the first week of the month with support from all the other Teams ie. Mehul from Team mydestination.com/rajasthan, Suheil from Team Matrix & the Girls Brigade of Tulsi, Prerna, Niharika & Srishti.

The performer of the week though was not elected for the past week by the members as there was such competition among the members that they could not come to any unanimous decision. So, a new Performer for the Week awaits us at the end of this week!! 

Back After the Diwali Break!!

Today, the team members were again back in action (though not fully) at Blue Caramel, with some absenteeism. Manish at Jodhpur was still in Didwana, Sujit was still in Udaipur and Mehul was still in Daman. All in all, the Blue Caramelers were still in a Holiday mood (28th Oct also being Bhai Dooj) after the festival of lights-Diwali, which was celebrated on 26th Oct.

On 26th, the D-iwali Day, Sanjay, Suheil, Prerna, Sujit, Himanshu, Shinod, myself and Srishti (a late appearance) gathered at the office and the Laxmi pooja was conducted with much reverence. In this, we were helped by Harish from Religare. Tulsi, who had gone home to Zawar and Niharika were notable absentees. Prior to the conducting of Pooja, Shinod and I went and got some Diwali gifts for all the Blue Caramel members which were then subsequently distributed at the office by Sujit, who was designated as the Chief Guest for the occasion. After the Laxmi pooja, everyone dispersed for home to celebrate the Festival of Diwali with their near and dear ones.

The Diwali Week!

The Review for the last week has been deferred by a week due to the fact that this week hosts the Festival of Light-Diwali and in this festive week, it was decided that everybody should have more of fun and lesser of work. So, this week having been designated as a Fun Week, nobody was entrusted upon with the additional charge of an Area Manager/Head for this week as well.

Last week saw some commendable performances with the Girls' Brigade of Prerna, Tulsi and Niharika putting in some good innovations and initiatives like the Interviews, for which they ventured out of their "Comfort Zones".  Sanjay was as solid as the previous week. Suheil's performance was way below par (getting down on account of Viral might have been a factor) and Mehul, the Head, inspite of some good efforts and innovations, could not lead the Team in the way that was desired, this after he got an extension for a second week.

But the final analysis and election of the AM/Head and the reward for the Best Performer of the week ending 22nd Oct will be held on Monday the 31st Oct11. The AM/Head would have an added responsibility then, as s/he will usher in the new month of November and November is a very important month, before "Maha-December" sets in!!!

T.E.A.M. Dream!

A team is usually assembled/made when there are some goals and missions to be achieved. This team, comprising of individuals of varied constituencies, aptitudes and skills, is then lead by a person of some charisma towards the accomplishment of the said goals and pursuance of further missions . For example, The Indian Cricket team, the Men in Blue, is a group of individuals with varied skills and aptitudes (bowlers, batsmen, all-rounders, wicketkeepers etal) ably lead by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Captain, which through common efforts accomplished the Goal of Winning the ODI World Cup and is now in pursuance of being number1 in all formats of the game.

So, a T.E.A.M. which could be expanded as Together Everyone Achieves More has to have:
1) a commonality of goals of its constituent members.
2) the members themselves should have a variety of skills, which they should continuously improve upon.
3) should be dreamers, but the dreams should have a deadline as well &
4) should be lead by an inspirational leader.

Blue Caramel which comprises of individuals with a variety of skills and which dreams of being the Best Comprehensive Travel/Event Solution Provider wishes that all the T.E.A.M. members can be inspirational leaders as well in future. Hence, the recognition programmes like AM/Head of the Week as well as the Performer of the Week are initiated.

Tomorrow is the end of another week! Lets see how Head-Udaipur, Mehul fares this week!
Will Niharika keep her tag of Best Performer???  Or would we have a new contender??
We will all have to wait for the review of tomorrow to know about these...
Till then Adios!!!!!!!!!

Nurturing of Blue Caramelers!

Everyone of us is born with some talent which is very unique to us. Everyone of us is a genius in some facet of life both personal as well as professional. Someone maybe a great communicator, someone a great orator, someone maybe a great financial mind and someone maybe a great negotiator. Someone maybe a genius artistically; someone maybe just a great friend and a great subordinate.

The AM/Head campaign that has been implemented in Udaipur is just that; an opportunity for every team member to showcase his/her talent in the various functions of management as well as the team management and inter-personal skills that each individual possesses.

This exercise has been undertaken to recognize and reward Genius within All Team Members because there is an old saying "Everyone is a Genius. But if you judge a Fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live all its life believing, it is stupid" and at Blue Caramel, it is just this thing that we do not want to propagate and want every team member to learn and improve & show us their mettle. 

Some Hard Facts!

Today a lady, who is working in a 5 star hotel, had come for an interview! A scholarly lady, she had done her MA in English Litt and was also pursuing her Ph D. She had also done her MBA in Hospitality and now after working in a 5 star hotel was looking for a job change. When I asked her what she really wanted to do in her life, she gave me a blank face, the same look that a deer gives when caught in the headlight of a vehicle at night.

We all are actually like flowing water. We all try to follow the path of least resistance in life and most of us concentrate only on today, never thinking twice, that tomorrow too would be today, the next day. But by being like Flowing water, we flow as the water does; from a higher level to a lower level and but the time we realize that we have fallen so far down, we are already at the abyss and then usually it is too late to reinvent and re-energize ourselves.

Though it is not that easy, but we should never be afraid of trying to do things that are close to our hearts. Usually, pressure from parents, peers, friend, family and the society at large, influence many an important decisions in our lives, the consequences of which have to be suffered not by anybody else, but us.

Here at Blue Caramel, what is endeavored is that any member who starts working should have a clear picture of what she/he wants and what is expected out of her/him. Successful people is what is envisaged at Blue Caramel, but as the wise men have said " There is No Short Cut to Success".

Performer of the week ending 15th Oct2011!

Mehul was elected as the "Head"/AM for the week ending 15th Oct2011 by the members of Team-Udaipur. He had the overall responsibility of Team Blue Caramel Events, Team mydestination.com/rajasthan and Team matrix for the week. There were some commendable performances from the respective teams, but only Team Blue Caramel Events was able to achieve its mutually agreed upon targets. At the meeting of the members, the performance of this team consisting of Sanjay and Niharika was duly applauded and appreciated. It was also decided in the meeting that the Best Performer of the Week should be given a cash reward on a weekly basis. For an outstanding performance last week, the Best Performer of the Week award was given to NIHARIKA of  Team Blue Caramel by the Team Members!!! Kudos to her..

Mehul was given an extension as Head/AM as it was felt by the members that since it was just the first week of the new initiative and since his overall performance left a lot to be desired, he deserved an extension!
So, the race for the Best Performer is on at the Office of Blue Caramel in the city of lakes-Udaipur, lets see who grabs the coveted title.....

HR Policies!

Blue Caramel being a small company enjoys the freedom of having HR policies drafted after consulting with each and every member of the company. Since the members themselves are the framers of the policies, hence they take special care to see to it that these policies are implemented to the T.
New comers are made to understand the policies and their immediate seniors as well as their peers help them follow the Rules. So, you have a variety of innovative HR policies like- joining party which is mandatory for all newcomers after they get their first salary and "Sweet" Punishments, wherein a person  who comes late for office has to offer chocolates to all his/her co-workers in that Office.

Area Manager for the week is another innovative initiative that has started as a pilot project in Udaipur. The members themselves select one amongst them to be the Area Manager for the week. The elected "Head" then has the responsibility of all the 3 departments of Blue Caramel ie. mydestination.com, Matrix and Events and in conjunction with other team members has to see to it that mutually decided upon targets are fulfilled within the week.  Hence, a true form of democracy is envisaged for the Members of Blue Caramel. Hail Democracy!!

Aim for Organic Growth!!

In April2011, mydestinationinfo.com was rechristened as mydestination.com and myrajasthaninfo was renamed www.mydestination.com/rajasthan. Though this was a huge re-branding exercise, encompassing nearly 100 destinations, it proved to be quite successful as it gave us a better scope to leverage the mydestination.com brand

With the personnel on board and work of www.mydestination.com/rajasthan on an auto-mode, it was time to scan the environment for further growth prospects. In May2011, tie up with Matrix took place and Suheil was entrusted with the task of heading this new division. Similarly, the genesis of Blue Caramel Events took place in Aug2011 and Sanjay was recruited for it and Mehul was given responsibility for Udaipur Area for mydestination.com/rajasthan. In Sept2011, www. mydestination.com/mumbai was formally launched with Shinod relocating to Mumbai to spearhead its growth.

At the Back office end in Udaipur, Prerna was assigned Mumbai territory where she was to work in tandem with Shinod, Srishti was assigned Rajasthan territory where she was to provide help to Sujit, Manish and Mehul, with further help from Niharika, who was also to work as an Event Co-ordinator and assist Sanjay. Tulsi, continued to be responsible for the overall Admin and Write up content and quality.

Hence, a broad demarcation was done for smoothness in operation to further the Organic expansion of Blue Caramel which now had mydestination.com/rajasthan, mydestination.com/mumbai, Matrix and Blue Caramel Events under its wings.

Get Set Go!!

With the team on ground, action started. Jaipur was the first to come up with revenue followed by Udaipur. Some indirect revenues were generated in Jodhpur as well.

Raghuveer and Heena joined Jaipur, Niharika, Priya and Mehul in Udaipur and Mohit joined in Jodhpur. But as days went by, some found the going tough and fell by the wayside. But as the going gets tough, the Tough get Going and gradually people started loving their jobs or rather their own enterprise as Blue Caramel offered them flexibility of time, encouraged them to be innovative and provided them with a vibrant work environment which fostered Bonhomie.

The HQ, Udaipur was fast epitomizing "Unity in Diversity". Suheil, a Pathan, was quintessentially a good worker, Tulsi, a Nepali Rajput, was an efficient administrator, Niharika, a Rajput, was quite and a trier, Mehul, a Gujju, was a typical salesperson, gifted with good communication skills and Prerna & Srishti (2 Sindhis who joined us subsequently)  were 2 bodies and one soul, absolutely inseparable. Sanjay, a Menaria Brahmin, who joined our Events division, was a cool dude and seemed focused on what he was doing/aiming. Put a Bong, a Mallu and a Maheswari into this bunch and you had a heavy Blue Caramel concoction :)

Jaipur, Udaipur & Jodhpur

After setting up the Jaipur office, the next obvious destination was the city of Lakes, the Venice of the East, our hometown - Udaipur. After some deliberations, 5/6 Shyam Plaza, Hazareshwar Colony became our functional office, though the corporate office continued to be the registered office, Himanshu's shop 163 Bhatiyani Chohatta. The fully furnished office at Shyam Plaza was indeed a boon for us as we hardly had to invest anything on the infrastructure. Though it was and still is a stop gap office, it has been a harbinger of a better future for Blue Caramel. Manning of the office was again a relatively easy process as I was able to rope in an acquaintance from my days in Insurance, Suheil as a Business Manager and my Marketing Manager from my Education days, Prasun was able to refer an acquaintance of his, Ms Tulsi (a small eyed girl of Nepalese origin) , who was entrusted upon with the Office Admin & Recruitment as well as the write up content and quality. This was December 2010.

Next on the agenda was operations in Jodhpur. Here again, I fell back on my past and utilizing the time and energy I had spent in Jodhpur during my Soft Drink & Finance days, I was able to recruit Manish, who was once, though for a brief period, my room mate in Jodhpur as an Area Manager. He further roped in a friend of his Bharat as a Business Manager. The orientation of the Udaipur Team was done at Udaipur itself whereas the Jodhpur Team had its orientation at Jaipur.... With a Team on ground, the ball was set for rolling for the actual Launch of Blue Caramel on the whole and myrajasthaninfo.com specifically!!!!!

1st phase of the journey!

Oct28th 2010 was the day when I decided to take the plunge into an unchartered territory, a territory which was directed more by the heart than the head - an Entrepreneurial Journey.

 I took the early morning train to Jaipur, the inter city to Ajmer which was now extended to Jaipur, to start my journey as a Blue Carameler. Shinod, Himanshu and Sujit were already there at our new office cum residence at the 206, Golden Sunrise Apt, C-Scheme. Our first 2 recruits in Jaipur were also there, Priyanka and Rajni and so was a Scooty, whose constant break down was a reason enough for Rajni to leave soon afterwards. We were all very excited to embark on a business voyage into a new field, as partners of www.mydestinationinfo.com (as www.mydestination.com was known at that time). And work began on  www.myrajasthaninfo.com, our very first travel information site in India.

Gosh, the 1BHK flat was a very cozy office cum accommodation. The Hall was converted into an office, the Bedroom was our resting area and off course the Kitchen satiated our gastronomical demands, though more often than none, the items were outsourced from the canteen of the Rajdhani Hospital or the Doors Restaurant near Raj Mandir Cinema. The most precious area of 206 was the balcony adjoining the bedroom, which opened into a bungalow with ample gardens and trees on which you could find a variety of birds. These birds, infact, were our morning alarm clocks as their screeches, though deafening, were refreshing, as they gave you a feeling of being in the wilderness.

We spent most of our time in the Hall- Our Office, gathering information for the site, uploading it, scanning for photographs and again uploading it. This continued day in and day out, even when the 3 musketeers, Arunabh, Shinod & Himanshu returned back to Udaipur, till the site was officially launched on 24th November2010. The Journey had indeed begun!!!!