InnovMind | Introductory Webinar
September 18, 2021 · 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM @ Online event
Description
The Internet of Things (IoT) was chosen as the main focus of “InnovMind ” as it is currently one of the most trending topics worldwide. Living in an age where every industry is leaning towards digitalization, IoT is currently being considered as the bridge between the two worlds. “InnovMind” was held under four exhilarating phases, Introductory Webinar Four-Day Workshop Series Panel Discussion Ideathon The IEEE Industry Applications Society Student Branch Chapter of Sri Lanka Technological Campus is proud to mention the success of InnovMind. Owing to the modernized concept of InnovMind, the project was capable of obtaining over 2600 registrations which included over 500+ international registrations. Due to the interest and request of our valued participants, a panel discussion with our valued resource personalities was also organized to clear off all our participants doubts. We were capable obtaining numerous positive feedbacks from both local and international participants. The first phase of InnovMind, the Introductory Webinar was organized by the IEEE Industry Applications Society Student Branch Chapter of Sri Lanka Technological Campus and held on the 18 th of September 2021 at 06.00pm (GMT +05.30) via Zoom Video Conferencing Platform with the aim of helping individuals create an innovative mindset by solving real-world problems using the latest technologies. Mr. Thilina Yapa Bandara a Consultant in Business Solutions at Zone24x7 (Pvt) Ltd was invited as the Guest Speaker of the Webinar and the invite was gracefully accepted. Also Mr. Vipula Liyanarachchi, General Manager at Zone24x7, Mr. Thivanka Vithanage, Marketing Senior Executive at Zone24x7 joined as special guests. The main publicity strategy for InnovMind was by sharing information via WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn social media platforms. Promotional material was published starting on the 08 th of September 2021 (10 days before the Introductory Webinar). Registration of members was done via an online registration form and the link was attached to all promotional material which was shared via social media. Through the registration form information about the participants were obtained. Furthermore, a section was included accepting any questions from the participants with regards to IoT. Additionally, a section was added to obtain the knowledge level of the participants on IoT (basic, intermediate, or advanced). The two additions on the registration form proved to be of high importance to the Guest Speaker to arrange his presentation. All the registrants of InnovMind were informed via email about the whole project. And also, to remind them about the Introductory Webinar, Countdown emails were sent out afterwards 3 days and Google invitations were sent out few hours onwards prior to the event. The registration form was closed at 02.00pm (GMT +05.30) on the 18 th of September 2021. Moreover, 08 InnovMind WhatsApp groups were created and share the group links via email to the InnovMind registrants and invite them to join. All the WhatsApp groups were managed by the Coordination Team of InnovMind and there was a Special WhatsApp group created for the international registrants as well. The Introductory Webinar initiated at 06.00pm (GMT +05.30) on the 18 th of September 2021 via Zoom and was live streamed on Facebook and YouTube. The webinar was started off by the moderators Hasira Koswatta and Thameera Dhananjaya. The proceedings were first handed over to the Co-Chair of InnovMind Neranjana Rashmi, who welcomed the gathering. The session was then handed over to the Special Guest Mr. Vipula Liyanaarachchi, General Manager of Zone24x7. He appreciated the organizing committee of InnovMind and also wish the best of lucks for all the future innovators. Following Mr. Vipula Liayanaarachchi, the session was handed over to the Guest Speaker Mr. Thilina Yapa Bandara to carry out the session. The session was carried out smoothly attracting over 2000+ participants across all social media platforms. The Zoom meeting maxed out at 1000 participants, the Facebook Live obtained 1000+ views and the YouTube stream obtained 500+ views, making the event the 1 st event organized by the IEEE student branch of SLTC to obtain 2000 participants. A Q&A session was held afterwards and the questions were obtained via Pigeonhole platform. The Pigeonhole platform was chosen because questions which were of higher demand could be voted by the participants and brought upwards, so that higher priority questions could be given to the Resource persons. The questions which could not be answered during the live session were addressed via Pigeonhole. The organizing committee mentioned the answers for those questions which could not be answered during the live session, as a comment in the Pigeonhole platform, after discuss those with the Resource persons. Because of the enthusiasm of the participants, Mr. Vipula Liyanarachchi, General Manager of Zone24x7 also joined the Q & A session voluntarily alongside Mr. Thilina Yapa Bandara, the Guest Speaker of the webinar, to answer the questions which were asked by the audience. Afterwards the Co-Chair of InnovMind Mr. Manula Rajapakse informed the proceedings of the Four-Day Workshop series and the Ideathon. To conclude the session the vote of thanks was delivered by the Secretary of InnovMind Ms. Chehani Jaysundara who also handed a specially designed plaque to the Guest Speaker Mr. Thilina Yapa Bandara. A feedback form was posted which received highly positive feedback from 1,195 participants which included 209 foreign participants. Most of the participants have mentioned in their feedbacks, that this webinar was really valuable for them. They have encouraged the organizing committee of InnovMind and also requested more workshops like this in the future as well. Participants were able to get answers to many of their questions on the topic through the well-experienced Resource Persons through the Q&A session. It was a great opportunity for the participants to get answers to their problems related to their IoT inventions. The session was an immense success and laid a strong benchmark for the workshop series that were yet to come and each and every session attracted the attention of local participants and also international participants. One of the great achievements of InnovMind is that we have been able to bring together Young Innovators not only from across the country, but from more than 20 countries around the world on a single platform. The session was successfully concluded and invite to all participants for the first workshop of the workshop series on 19 th of October and also updated them about the InnovMind Ideathon. The event was the biggest IoT virtual webinar in Sri Lanka up to date. Through the feedbacks obtained, it could be concluded that the webinar was an immense success. The webinar was capable of giving an idea on IoT for beginners in the field and help create an innovative mindset.
Agenda
6.00 P.M. – 6.03 P.M Introductory video about project InnovMind 6.03 P.M. – 6.06 P.M Introduction about the Project by Moderator 6.06 P.M. – 6.10 P.M Welcome speech by Co chairman of project InnovMind 6.10 P.M. – 6.20 P.M Advertisement of Zone 24x7 followed by the speech of General Manager of Zone 24x7 6.20 P.M. – 6.22 P.M Introduction about the Guest speaker by Moderator 6.22 P.M. – 7.45 P.M Guest speaker’s session by Mr. Thilina Yapa Bandara (Tech Lead at Zone 24x 7) 7.45 P.M. – 8.00 P.M Q&A Session 8.00 P.M. – 8.07 P.M Future arrangement of the Workshop series by the Co chairman of the project InnovMind. 8.07 P.M. – 8.10 P.M Vote of thanks by the Secretary of the project InnovMind. 8.10 P.M End of the session.