Dell India, India’s leading end-to-end technology solutions provider today announced the launch of their ‘Dell Campassadors’ program and a strategic partnership with INKtalks, an organization which aims to inspire youth, particularly in emerging economies. The association was born out of Dell’s dedicated focus towards the college student community, who not only exhibit a dynamic use of personal technology, but are also advocates for the adoption of new technologies. With this partnership, Dell aims to engage college students through campus ambassadors in a year-long conversation with Dell & INKtalks to foster a strong sense of social orientation and bring student communities together to share knowledge and ideas with peers and work on collaborative projects, all to prepare them for real life challenges.
This PAN India college student engagement program aims at creating a deeper meeting with youth through college campus ambassadors, known as ‘Dell Campassadors’, in over 50 colleges that specialise in engineering/management/science and humanities across 9 cities. Each college will have 2 Campassadors who will be the key drivers and coordinators for their college and student body engagement with Dell and INKtalks. Participating colleges will have the opportunity to partake in several youth led activities including INK Stream where selected institutions across India will be able to witness the much anticipated INK Conference 2014 in its entirety, through a high definition live stream from their own college campus. The INK Conference is an annual event, where CEOs, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, and more gather under one roof for three days of complete immersion in each other’s ideas, stories and perspectives – creating a platform for innovation. This year the conference is scheduled to be held from October 31st – November 2nd 2014.
Dell has been very vocal among the student community and has successfully sustained annual programs such as ‘Back to College,’ an initiative to creatively empower college-going students both inside and outside the classroom by enabling students to seamlessly merge their offline and online lives. The tie up with INKtalks is an extension of Dell’s Back to College initiative and reflects Dell’s continued focus and engagement with the youth. Dell has constantly engaged with the youth in the past, with initiatives like ‘Achieve with Dell’ and ‘I Can Do Kuch Bhi’ which inspired the youth to unlock possibilities and achieve their ambitions, using personal technology as an enabler.
Dell Campassadors offers a platform for the creative, intelligent and energetic youth to work towards further developing their skills while giving them an opportunity to prepare as leaders. As a Dell Campassadors, they will be representatives of the brand Dell on their campus. They will also have the opportunity to organise and participate in various fun activities and events and will get a chance to earn incentives and rewards based on their performance, as well as participate in various engagements with Dell and INKtalks throughout the year. The program also offers the Campassadors a unique learning and growth opportunity through the Dell and INKtalks teams who will guide and mentor and provide first hand industry information to the selected Dell Campassadors. The Campassadors will periodically be evaluated at multiple levels based on their involvement, contributions & engagement with peers, before they face a final evaluation at the end of the year. Apart from the final evaluation, each region will recognise a Flamethrower Award winner every quarter. Two award winners also stand to win an internship at Dell at the end of the year.
Ritu Gupta, Marketing Director, Consumer and Small Business, Dell India said, “At Dell we believe that technology is a key enabler for driving personal and professional growth. The college student community are at the cusp of realising their potential and as a brand we are keen to help them take that next step towards becoming future leaders. We believe that our collaboration with INKtalks, an organization whose objectives align with ours, to motivate and inspire the youth, will help us engage students at their most energetic and aspirational growth stage. In addition this platform is designed to provide the Dell Campassadors valuable exposure and learning opportunities to prepare them for real world challenges. At Dell, we believe that equipped with direction, recognition and the power of technology, the youth can be enabled to further their goals and achieve personal brilliance.”Lakshmi Pratury, Host and Curator, INKtalks said, “INKtalks is about opening up the imagination of the youth through stories and equip them to create an impact in the world around them. We are thrilled to partner with Dell to take our ideas to the student community at large and get them involved in activities throughout the year. We look forward to engaging with Dell Campassadors who will champion the interaction with their peers, thousands of students in campuses around the country, and catalyze their exposure to INKtalks to help them realizing their imagination into an impact to the society. When we combine the technology outreach of Dell with the projects pioneered by INK, we will have a youth community that can use the technology to make a difference in the communities that they inhabit.”
