That techies like to be in the know of what’s happening in Technopark and within their companies is a given, especially considering the popularity of websites and blogs related to the IT world in the city. No wonder then that most of the multi-national companies and quite a few of the smaller firms in Technopark either have or have started in-house magazines and/or newsletters to keep their employees up-to-date on news and events. These slick publications, some of which are printed and some of which are e-magazines, seem to have a devoted readership. There’s Infosys’ quarterly e-magazine Tulika , IBS’ fortnightly e-magazine, IBSzine , its daily e-newsletter, Breakfast , and web-portal Vibes (Voice of IBS), Allianz’ quarterly Reflections , Ernst and Young’s quarterly also named Reflections , UST Global’s daily newsletter that goes out at noon, Triassic Solutions’ quarterly Threshold , Tata Elxsi’s monthly e-magazine, Elxsian , Kreara Solutions’ quarterly e-magazine Kreara Focus , Toonz’ monthly e-magazine Toonz Journal, Nest’s quarterly SFO ...
Says Chandri Nambiar, whose team at Ernst and Young bring out Reflections , a 16-page, tabloid style printed magazine: “At a time when emails have taken over communication and information gets lost in this online world, we wanted something tangible to connect and engage with our employees, especially given that they are spread across our three offices in Technopark, Infopark and Kinfra. Reflections is now five volumes old and is quite popular.” Reshma Thomas, who is involved in bringing out Threshold agrees and adds: “Not only is such a magazine a great way to update fellow employees on the latest in the company, it’s also a good way to encourage transparency within each department or project because we share whatever news good or bad. Additionally, it gives a boost to employees who like to write or draw to see their names in print.”
Most of the publications have a judicious mix of business-related updates and content contributed by employees and some of them even have a theme.
For example, IBSzine , the latest edition of which thematically focussed on ‘discovering yourself’, usually features organisational and technical updates, interviews of new clients, event reviews by employees, self-help articles, and so on. Meanwhile, Tulika (the last edition was on 100 years of Indian cinema) has a whole variety of articles, from poems and stories to movie reviews and recipes, apart from top news from each department. Allianz’ Reflections , which has been published since 2005 and which sometimes goes up to 24 pages, features, among others, a column named ‘Extra Shot’ that interviews employees who excel in various fields such as dance, music and even paragliding. The magazine also has another popular column – ‘My Hometown’ – where employees, who hail from all across the country, reminisce or write about what’s special about their hometowns.
Then of course, there are photos. One of Ernst and Young’s Reflections ’ most popular features is, apparently, the section that features wedding photos of newly-married employees. UST’s newsletter has a ‘Pic of the day’ column where employees across the globe are encouraged to send in their snaps. Similarly, Breakfast that goes out to inboxes at 9 a.m. sharp everyday and which, according to its (and IBSzine’s) editor Bhavana Nair “has all the ingredients to start a day”, has ‘Click On’, a column for shutterbugs. Rani Sasikumar of Allianz who edits the company’s in-house magazine says: “One of the biggest challenges of an editor is limiting the number of photos. It’s like everyone wants their photos published!” Most of the editors say that they have no issues filling pages because there are many employees who love to write and are always willing to contribute. “They take a personal interest in the magazine and despite their tight schedules they are always willing to go that extra mile,” says Reshma. Read on!
