Unique Photography Expedition to the Agumbe RainForests

GreatEscapes, a travel advisory firm based in Bangalore launches an exclusive Photography Expedition to the Agumbe Rainforest this May with experienced wildlife photgrapher Amoghavarsha. This 2 day workshop will take you to the heart of the rainforest to spot some of the rare species found only in this region. The expedition starts from Bangalore on the 29th of May.

Photography Expedition to Agumbe Rainforest, 30-31 May

Agumbe is a small town located in Shimoga district in the state of Karnataka, India. Agumbe is among the few places in India that receive very heavy rainfall earning it the title, “Cherrapunji of the South”. It receives a mean annual rainfall of 7640 mm. Agumbe is today, fast gaining recognition world over for being home to a large number of King Cobras and other rare species that have recently been discovered.

As a part of the small team (max 15 people) that would travel to Agumbe, you would be based at The Agumbe Rainforest Research Station and would learn the nuances of photographing wildlife and key tips on how to get the best out of your camera, when in the wild.

Ace researcher Gowrishankar would walk you through Agumbe, its topography, unique endemic species found here and most importantly – Radio Telemetry Tracking of King Cobras. You would interact with trackers and would go on trekking trails with guides, while periodically stopping to exercise your cameras!

To be part of this limited group of enthusiast, write to info@greatescapes.co.in or call Ajay on +91-9844161733 / 9886101005 or visit our website www.greatescapes.co.in

Big 92.7 FM says – Bhagvan Ke Naam Pe Dede

Special backdrop on BIG Bus where people can pledge to vote by signing their names

With the national elections just around the corner, BIG 92.7 FM came up with another unique campaign called ‘Bhagvan Ke Naam Pe Dede’. This campaign was aimed at giving listeners a completely local flavor of the forthcoming elections in a smart & witty manner. An election special, where people got to express and vote on different aspects of elections like Best Publicity Stunt by Netha or Most Common Promises made by Nethas.

Guinness Record Holder Master Kishan with children promoting Voting for a better tomorrow

To create strong visual impact, the station planned a unique get-together with school children on the 21st of April at Bangalore Central mall. With the thought of creating a better future for our children, a large graffiti board was sporting messages by children to communicate the importance of voting & choosing the right candidate. This program was kicked off by the famous child artist Master Kishan who holds the Guinness Record for being the World’s Youngest Film Director.

RJ Rashmi & Master Kishan at BIG FM's campaing on Voting

Children's handprints to support BIG FM's voting campaign

This campaign which began on April 13th focussed on one element each day and got listener votes for the day’s topic. The voting process was high on interaction where listeners came on air and shared their views on each element.

The BIG Bus acting as a mobile voting booth covered various parts of the city encouraging people to share their views. BIG FM RJs accompanied this bus educating residents on the importance of voting and getting people to take a pledge by signing on the bus.

BIG 92.7 FM’s US Connection

RJ Harsha who host’s BIG COFFEE on BIG 92.7 FM  has been chosen to be part of the 5 member team visiting Rotary International district 5950, Minneapolis in Minnesota, for a month in April’09.

Rotary International as part of their annual Rotary Group Study Exchange programme (GSE) selects professionally acclaimed youngsters with multiple talents, to visit a partnering district in the United States of America each year. Selection to the programme is through a series of rigorous interviews and group discussions. BIG FM’s RJ Harsha who participated in this selection process was eventually chosen to be a part of this 5 member team based on his unique talents & past contributions towards the field of media entertainment.

RJ Harsha will be hosted by various American families over the duration of a month and will be taken on vocational visits to major radio stations in Minneapolis area apart from sharing our cultural background across various platforms. This is the first time that an RJ has been selected to be part of the program.

An excited RJ Harsha says “I’m extremely thankful to Rotary International for having chosen me to be one of the ambassadors for this prestigious GSE program. I hope to share my experiences with my international counterparts and bring back best practices to the industry back home”.

RJ Harsha with GSE Team members from Minneapolis, USA - Jay & Adrienne

The station also recently hosted the incoming team members of Minneapolis who visited the BIG FM studios. These excited individuals shared their experiences of being in a culturally vibrant land and wished BIG FM listeners on-air.

Airtel & BIG 92.7 FM reached out to Bangaloreans this Ugadi

Airtel, Karnataka’s number one mobile network, joined hands with BIG 92.7 FM, Bangalore’s No. 1 FM Station for an initiative titled “Bekadashtu Bella” UGADI initiative. As part of this initiative, 50 kiosks were set up across Bangalore to distribute Bevu-Bella to as many people as possible and wish them joy and good fortune this UGADI – the Kannada New Year. Airtel hello tunes scratch cards were offered to those receiving Bevu-Bella from the kiosks and few lucky ones also stood chance to win Airtel goodies. The winners were also taken on air where they could wish the entire city.

Actress Neetu, Music Director Mano Murthy celebrated ugadi with BIG FM RJs Shruthi, Rashmi & Harsha

40 lucky BIG FM listeners got to meet their favourite Kannada movie stars like Pooja Gandhi, Mano Murthy, Neetu, and personally receive Bevu-Bella along with sweets and best wishes from them. Intended to connect with approximately 50,000 people across Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore & Udupi, this was a unique initiative to bring people together on the happy occasion of Ugadi. The station also saw Aindritha Ray visiting the BIG FM studios to wish her listeners.

Actress Pooja Gandhi with BIG FM listeners during ugadi celebrations at shoot location

Actress Aindritha Ray with RJ Harsha at BIG FM studios during Ugadi

50 Airtel – BIG FM kiosks were set up across various locations in Bangalore to present Bevu-Bella to people. Indiranagar, RT Nagar, Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar, Basaveshwaranagar, Shivajinagar, K.R. Market, Basavanagudi, Koramangala, Jayanagar, Banashankari, Banaswadi, Kammanahalli and KR Puram were the areas selected. 10 kiosks spread across Mangalore, 5 kiosks in Mysore and one kiosk in Udupi also distribute Bevu-Bella to the people on 26^th March 2009.

Actor & Director Ramesh Aravind with blind children from Samarthanam Trust during Ugadi celebrations

The Airtel – BIG FM Ugadi festivities culminated on 27^th March 2009, with Actor & Director Ramesh Aravind personally giving away Bevu-Bella to special children from Samarthanam Trust & lucky customers at the Airtel Relationship Centre, Bannerghatta road. BIG FM broadcasted live from the Airtel lobby for 3 hours between 5 – 8pm and lucky customers got a chance to meet their favourite star and win cool prizes every hour.

BIG 92.7 FM’s Republic Day Musical Parade

BIG FM RJ Shruthi, Singer Shamita Malnad, Music Director GuruKiran & RJ Harsha at Republic Day Musical Parade

BIG 92.7 FM Banglore hosted a unique property called the Republic Day Musical Parade, calling people from across the city to come together, showcase their patriotism and salute the spirit of being Indian.

 

As part of its Republic Day Musical Parade, BIG FM invited listeners from various localities across the city to express their patriotism in the form of patriotic songs. Challenging the creativity of listeners, they were also invited to send in self written / composed songs. BIG FM featured these compositions on air. 

On 23rd Jan, the station hosted noted Kannada celebrities like Guru Kiran (Music Director) & Singer Shamita Malnad among others at the studios for a special Republic Day sing-song session along with listeners & BIG FM RJ’s Harsha & Shruthi. The entire group sang various patriotic songs to celebrate our 60th Republic Day and gave special messages on-air. A surprise quiz was held for the listeners on topics related to our country’s freedom and constitution with special prizes given away by the celebrities to the winners. 

Apart from this, the Station’s outdoor broadcasting teams hosted live links with people ranging from singer groups, corporates, schools and colleges, theatre groups, housing localities and many more – touching thousand of people across the city and getting them to sing patriotic songs together as a group, thus imbibing one-ness and pride of being an Indian. The sing-song culminated with the groups singing the Vande Mataram together.

‘Bitti Harusha Idi Varusha’ – Live Free for an entire year

When people the world over are reeling under the burden of financial instability and depression, BIG 92.7 FM’s Bangalore Station has conceptualized a campaign that will ensure at least its listeners get a chance to get tough on recession. Aptly christened ‘Bitti Harusha Idi Varusha’, the contest is aimed at giving listeners the opportunity to win something for free for an entire year this Sankranthi. The contest beginning January 8^th and running up to January 14, 2009, will run across the morning and evening shows, with winners being declared every single day.

 

The contest was kicked off by sandalwood actress Biyanka Desai at the BIG FM Studios on 8^th Jan. She also handed over a year’s supply of assorted biscuits, chocolates and other snacks to the representatives of Asha Nilaya – an orphanage in Ejipura to mark the occasion.

 

Actress Biyanka handsover biscuits & chocolates to children of Asha Nilaya Orphanage, RJ Rohith looks on

A combination of on and off-air events, the campaign is essentially a simple fun QUIZ, aimed at testing the knowledge of BIG FM listeners around recession and jobs. Lucky listeners who answer the questions correctly can win free supply of – groceries, gym memberships, gold jewelry, apparels & sarees, fitness and beauty vouchers and much much more. While 6 winners will be declared each day, the grand finale is something to be looked forward to, which is scheduled to be held on January 13, 2009 at Garuda Mall where 10 shortlisted listeners will be quizzed and compete for big prizes to last them an entire year.

 

Listeners can register for the contest via SMS (BIG _ Name to 55454) or call on 80-39890927 and leave their name and number. BIG FM RJ’s will randomly pick registered listeners starting from the 8^th of Jan and quiz them on-air. Those who are successful in giving just one correct response will win a year’s supply of merchandize. It’s as simple as that!

You can become a Santa this Christmas

Christmas being a very popular festival in Bangalore, the whole city is lit up with colorful lights and decorations with people shopping for new clothes and gifts. The busy lifestyle in Bangalore hardly gives any time to think about those unfortunate families who cannot afford 2 square meals a day. For them, Christmas is just another day of survival.

 

Hence, this Christmas, BIG 92.7 FM in association with Deccan Chronicle & various other partners is promoting a special campaign called ‘Be My Santa’ where citizens of the city can come forward to donate their old clothes, toys and books to the underprivileged. This simple gesture will in return get them discounts across various partner outlets in the city.

 

The items collected are properly scrutinized and cleaned by Snoways before handing them over to the Indian Confederation of NGO’s (iCONGO) who will inturn pass on the collected gifts and clothes to credible pre-screened charities that have been doing good work for years across Bangalore.

 

To mark this drive, Sandalwood Actor Aindrita Ray from Meravanige fame presented a box of clothes and toys to Ms Sushma Veer, Actor, Dance & Founder of an NGO, Akanksha at Kalamandir which is one of the collections centers in the city on Christmas eve.

Actress Aindrita Ray (L) presents old clothes n toys to Sushma Veer representing iCONGO

To know more about iCONGO pls visit www.icongo.in

 

 

List of Collections Centres:

1. Kalamandir – Malleshwaram, Jayanagar, MG Rd, Marathalli
2. Kurlon – Basavangudi, Koramangala, Yelahanka
3. Advaith Hyundai – Residency Rd, VasanthNagar, OuterRing Rd
4. TTK Prestige – Basavangudi, Vijaynagar, RT Nagar, Cox Town, Banashankar, Basaveshwanagar, HSR Layout, Yelahanka, Peenya, JP Nagar, Koramangala etc
5. Chemmannur Jewellers
6. Sangeetha Electronics – All outlets

Actress Aindrita Ray & Sushma Veer hug Santa at Kalamandir, MG Rd

India’s first ever Air-conditioned Bus Shelter in Bangalore

Bharti Airtel, India’s leading mobile service today announced the launch of India’s first ever air conditioned bus shelter in Bangalore city in association with BIG Street (a subsidiary of Reliance BIG Entertainment Limited). Mr. B.E. Govindaraju, Joint Commissioner (Advertisement & Markets), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), inaugurated the unique bus shelter. Bus passengers in Bangalore can now look forward to a pleasant experience while waiting for buses.

BIG FM RJ Rohith, BBMP Jt Comm Govindaraju & BIG Street, VP Arun Pinto at India's first A/c Bus Shelter

 

Mr. Venkatesh V, CEO, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Karnataka, said, “Airtel has always been the first when it comes to offering innovative services to customers – be it path breaking services like Hello Tunes, BlackBerry or the iPhone. On the communication front, the first-of-its-kind Airtel Rajdhani Express and this Airtel Air conditioned bus shelter, which is India’s first ever such bus shelter are two such examples of our innovative initiatives.”

Last year, Airtel had introduced the Bangalore Transport Information System (BTIS) in partnership with the Government of Karnataka. Governed by state-of-the-art technology that is based on recording traffic densities in real-time, BTIS makes use of Airtel’s mobile network to keep the public updated in order to facilitate and steer towards optimal road choices. BTIS helps commuters make informed decisions, save time and fuel, avoid stress and frustration and also reduce road accidents. People can get estimated travel times on mobiles. The traffic police can manage traffic better since it will help them plan traffic load sharing and allocate resources better on ground.

“Our Endeavour in Big Street is to enrich people’s lives out of home. We undertook the initiative of providing AC bus shelter to the citizens of Bangalore and we are delighted to have Airtel partner with us. The launch of this first-of-its kind bus shelter in the country marks the beginning of many other innovative solutions that we will be offering” said Rabe Iyer, Head, BIG Street.

The Airtel air conditioned bus shelter is situated on the pavement diagonally opposite to Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium and is adjacent to the pavement near Cubbon Park entrance (Kasturba road). With dimensions of approximately 25×8 feet, it can accommodate 20 people at a time and will be manned by a uniformed guard. This project is a quantum leap in the kind of technological and design prowess utilized by BIG Street so far.

Bangalore is a city in which a lot of people depend on buses for their daily commuting and at times, passengers end up waiting for quite some time to catch their bus. With India’s first ever AC bus shelter coming up in the city, Bangalore underlines its cosmopolitan image by offering world class facilities to citizens.

Big 92.7 FM shines at the 2008 BIG BANG AWARDS

BIG 92.7 FM, India’s No1 FM station has emerged victorious at this year’s Big Bang 2008 Awards which concluded in Bangalore recently. The radio station won Gold & Silver in the Cinema and OOH category respectively which was entered by Mudra Radar.

BIG 92.7 FM won Gold for Best Media Innovation: “Are you in the spotlight” under Cinema category and Silver for Best Innovation: “Big Live” for the Out of Home category. This win gives a boost to Mudra Radar which has flawlessly executed these campaigns for BIG FM across the country.

The concept: of ‘Are you in the spotlight’:

How it works: a few seconds after the film interval, a spotlight sweeps across the auditorium, searching for one fortunate and lucky face. A voice over along with slide of ‘Ye Spotlight Jispe Giregi …Uski Life Banegi’ gets displayed on the screen, which creates great excitement and stir among the audiences in the theater. Once the winner is selected he/ she gets instant gratification with goody bags etc. from BIG 92.7 FM. A truly interactive session, this is a truly ‘Life Banao’ moment for the lucky winner.

BIG FM's BIG BANG GOLD AWARD

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Anand Chakravarthy, VP – Marketing, BIG 92.7 FM said, “We have always believed in creating exciting formats to entertain our listeners be it on air or on ground. We have been instrumental in executing unique properties like Chipak Ke Jeeto, Sing with Sonu Contest and the likes which stood out in the cluttered FM space. We are extremely delighted with this win and look forward to many more exciting and unique marketing efforts in the future.”

The Advertising Club, Bangalore’s Awards for Excellence in Advertising and Media, Big Bang – 2008 event was held on 7 November at Palace Grounds. Initiated in 1987 for the Bangalore ad fraternity, the Big Bang Awards are now a national awards ceremony recognising creativity in all forms of advertising. This year over 30 agencies sent their entries for 54 categories which amounted to a total of about 450 entries. A panel of eminent judges from advertising, marketing and media background were involved in judging these entries.

This annual award has been gaining popularity over the years with the number of entries doubling each year with small and mid-sized agencies coming forward to participate. With the competition getting tougher, only the best stand a chance to win.

BIG FM launches RJ hunt in Bangalore

RJ console in BIG FM

BIG 92.7 FM Bangalore station is hosting the BIG RJ Hunt wherein the winner will get an opportunity to train and work as an RJ. This four-week long activity will be held from 10 November – 6 December.

BIG 92.7 FM is calling for entries from 10 November through IVR (Interactive Voice Response system) using phone no. 5055454 where listeners will be asked to complete a sentence with a witty and funny response. A BIG FM OB bus along with RJ Rohith will be traveling across the city targeting colleges where he will audition interested participants. Last date for receiving entries is 28 November, post which these entries will be screened and shortlisted. The semi-finals will be held at a popular mall in the city on 29 November.

A total of only 20 candidates from across Bangalore will be shortlisted based on their wit, humor, voice and confidence levels. They would then compete against each other at an outdoor venue from which only the top four finalists will be picked by the judges. These four finalists will get to co-host various shows like Big Coffee, Bari Bindaas, Hip Hip Hurray, No Tension and Love Maadi Nodu and invite listeners to vote for themselves. Based on the SMS responses received from the listeners, the winner will be picked on 6 December and will be trained to become an RJ at BIG FM.

BIG 92.7 FM cluster head, Karnataka and Kerala Sunil Kumaran said, “Through the BIG RJ Hunt we are looking for youngsters who are skillful, verbally talented and confident and have a good ear for music. We believe the city has rich talent and all that these youngsters require, is a platform to express themselves, which we are offering. This is definitely a move in the right direction for those aspiring for a career as an RJ.”

 

Check this video on Youtube.com http://www.youtube.com/v/b5jmCrMuzt0