Learning to life hack at INK Salon

At Friday’s INK Salon event, the focus is on frugal innovation and tech-enabled global trends

April 12, 2019 05:25 pm | Updated 05:25 pm IST

In addition to the theme of frugal innovation, INK Salon centres around three tech-enabled global trends: the sharing economy, the maker movement, and the circular economy.

In addition to the theme of frugal innovation, INK Salon centres around three tech-enabled global trends: the sharing economy, the maker movement, and the circular economy.

Chennaiites are familiar with the innovation associated with the SPI Cinemas brand, including its touch screen kiosks, responsible trash disposal initiatives, and special screenings like Do Not Disturb (DND). With Uthandhiram , its upcoming event in association with INK and Ology Tech Academy, it hopes to bring that standard of innovation outside the multiplex and into the event management space. Like last month’s TedX conference in the city, this too will be a space for sharing ideas and hearing experts talk on various topics.

Ratheesh Krishnan, head of experiments and new ventures at SPI, and organiser of Friday’s event, says, “We are ensuring that [our experience] is passed on to where it is needed the most, which is the entrepreneurship and innovation community.” Uthandhiram is the Tamil equivalent of the word jugaad — to hack, or create new things with meagre resources. In addition to the theme of frugal innovation, the event centres around three tech-enabled global trends: the sharing economy, the maker movement, and the circular economy.

Behind the scenes

Industry experts and thought leaders like filmmaker Arun Chidambaram and Kaleidofin CEO Sucharita Mukherjee are scheduled to speak, while authors Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu will promote their upcoming book, Do Better With Less . Writes Radjou over email, “We believe frugal innovation is India’s ‘secret weapon’ (strategy) to build an inclusive society and a sustainable economy that could become the envy of — and the role model for — the rest of the world.”

The event features a variety of experiences designed to immerse attendees in its themes, including six short 360-degree VR documentaries from Memesys Culture Lab. One of these, Submerged , puts viewers right in the middle of the Bihar floods. A team of local artists have created custom art pieces for the event, including a life-sized sculpture of a whale terrorized by toxic pollution in the ocean, and a six-foot high nail and thread portraiture of Superstar Rajnikanth. Transgender members of PeriFerry, a city-based social inclusion start-up, have been signed on for on-ground help.

Uthandhiram will also provide a unique networking opportunity for Chennai’s entrepreneurial community. Independent musician Badhri Narayanan will be speaking about the evolution of his local initiative, Motta Maadi Music. He says, “When I tell them [the attendees at INK Salon] about how I have struggled, what if three of them provide motta maadis for me where I can host more original musicians?”

Uthandhiram: The New Age of Innovation takes place on Friday, April 19, from 6.15 pm onwards, at Club Crest, Velachery. Tickets at ₹789 on townscript.com. 08041263679

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.