Acid Testing the Existing Norms | Santosh Goenka at SIMClairvoyance 2011

Mr Santosh Goenka was a part of the keynote addresses on Day 1 of SIMClairvoyance 2011. He is the

Founder & Chairman – Diagonal Globalcom & Better Media Foundation. He talked on changes in the 24 hoyrs news cycle, challenges & opportunities.

Mr.Santosh Goenka started with a little background about his life where his relation with the field of media began, at the top floor of the Indian Express office. He learnt the whole printing technology and believed, “The paper that reaches you late is waste paper. Maybe it is a great product but if it’s late it doesn’t matter who you are.”

In 1994, after 6 years of leading the marketing team at Indian Express, his focus went to a new approach. He wanted to find a way to reach out to a few selected people and give them the relevant information that they want. His suggestion to start niche publications, 4 titles in different fields of IT and others, gave the newspaper both revenue and engagement.

Mr.Santosh then talked about a few qualities one must have. Stressing on communicative wisdom, he says, “You have to listen, observe, and be one of the community. If you have a passionate area, you need to have a sense of WOW. Ask the right questions. Transmit that same energy to the person you are talking about and that will help you in your vocation.” A thinker and practitioner, he raises a number of questions that the students ought to answer before moving forward. “Ask yourself, Why am I in media? Are you passionate about what you are doing? You can talk to thousands of people but you need to ask yourself the right question and find out where you belong. When you become a part of the community you will start asking the right questions and will know what you can do slowly and gradually.”

He narrated an incident from his life, where Mr.Sunanda K. Duttare of Indian Express said to him,“your grandfather ran the largest niche publication in the country” which Mr.Santosh says meant he had a different way of thinking, it’s not the volume or the no, its the idea that counts.

Some thought provoking statements and questions made by him:

Ø  He stressed on the fact that, “there will be thousands and lakhs of people like you, let SIMC give you the edge of an all-round personality, push your teachers, test them, find the relevance. You will find the answer.”

Ø  “You have to be ready to face challenges and have a sense of wonder.  Find out what drives you. It will help you. “

Ø  “Ask the professors and eminent people, to talk to you. Be curious. Talk to your sweeper, driver, find out what drives them.We have to be a little more informal, have to engage ourselves in community wisdom.”

Ø  “The wisdom of all the segments are with the practitioners. You have to extract this wisdom. Have to get into the soul and heart of it.”

Ø  “Many people do not want to choose specialization in media, why? You should. Become an evangelist in one particular segment that interest you.”

Ø  “Are you happy doing what you’re doing???”

He ended by saying that he preaches what he follows, and that his purpose is to push us to think differently which we would do to the best of our ability after his inspirational discourse. Leaving the stage with a line that makes you think,“The main transition is in your own mind, are you ready to think differently?”

(inputs from Divya Gupta, MBA Batch 2013)