 "Tech savvy chambers change colors after going online")
Come April 3, when the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) celebrates its national conference and annual general meeting in Delhi, more than 100,000 business personnel from across the country will have access to the live and recorded events online through myCII.in, dubbed as the “Facebook of industralists.”
Not just CII, other industry bodies too are now getting a makeover from the age of “seminars to webinars” to reach out to its members, mainly small entrepreneurs, panning across India. While the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has recently tied up with Facebook itself for promoting small entrepreneurs, being the pioneer in using online facilities, Nasscom has widespread facilities for its members across the e-space.
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“We wanted to make our members updated with the industry events and also wanted to give a platform for small and medium entrepreneurs for expansion of their business. That’s where myCII.in turned out to be an instant hit,” says Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of CII.
Lunched in 2011, the platform myCII.in provides users with information updates, sector-specific knowledge, business updates, members directory and also an opening to online community discussions. “We want to be the largest business social media platform in the next three years, giving all sorts of services to the members. We have a special B2B zone which keep users updated with business opportunities in India and abroad, our tender information space covers more than 200 countries and uploads more than 5000 tender documents on a daily basis. Apart from this, we help the small entrepreneurs with government notifications and industry news,” says Sujith Haridas, senior director of CII, who is in charge of the online platform. It also facilitates legal as well as taxation related advices at a minimal cost for users.
On the other hand, the Facebook-FICCI campaign was at a different level for encouraging the small enterpreneurs in using social media for advertising. The chamber partnered the largest social media platform in the world for its Small and Medium Business (SMB) Boost programme, which covered about six cities till last week. “The campaign was a huge success as we were able to rope more than 600 SMEs across six cities,” said Ankhi Das, Head of Public Policy, Facebook India.
Facebook has kick started its “Small and Medium Business Boost” programme in India, after its successful roll-out in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. Till now, it has covered Hyderabad, Faridabad, Indore, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad in India. Following the campaign, SMEs were given advertising vouchers of $ 50 valid for three months through which they can market their products. “We are planning to take forward the campaign after a detailed study.
Take the case of IT body Nasscom, it first dipped its toes in social media space in 2010 essentially to reach out to its members. However its followers have swelled over time with over 8000 of them on Twitter and 8000-9000 Facebook fans in the last three years. What has caught on are online social communities such as Emerge as part of Nasscom’s SME initiative, closed user groups for Gaming and recently launched 10,000 startup programme.
“Being a tech association taking to the social media was natural for reaching out to a larger ecosystem," says Sangeeta Gupta, vice president, Nasscom. Youtube learning channel for tech start ups has caught on with entrepreneurs, says Gupta. Key moments of major Nasscom events are put out live on Twitter, Youtube and Facebook. The 10,000 start up programme is largely being driven through social media channels.
Its plan to fund and support 10,000 technology start-ups in India over the next ten years is partnered by Indian Angel Network and supported by Google, Microsoft and Verisign is also a sign of Indian chambers going on e-mode