BENGALURU: The virtual edition of the Bangalore Business Literature Festival, which starts today, will address the change the pandemic has brought about in businesses, the success stories of start-ups, and a host of other topics
Has the pandemic and consequent acceleration of digitisation spawned a whole new set of careers? This pertinent question, along with many other such ones, will be debated and discussed at the Bangalore Business Literature Festival (BBFL) which starts today. ‘How to stay resilient and prepare to grow post Covid pandemic’ is the key focus of the seventh year of the festival, which is being held online for a second year in a row. The three-day event will include four-hour sessions spread across three evenings. With events starting in the afternoon, there are a wide range of programmes participants can be a part of. Benedict Paramanand, editor of Sustainability Next, says that the user experience will be much improved from last year. “There was a lot of trial and error last year since it was the first time we were going virtual. But many of the hitches have been fixed,” he says.
While business writers often find few platforms to showcase their work, this annual event hopes to fill that gap. V Raghunathan, chairperson of BBFL, former professor of IIM-Ahmedabad, columnist and author, will kick-start the three-day event and welcome the participants and audience. “This year, for the first time, there are international speakers and three Indians who are participating from the US,” says Paramanand.
The star speakers include Keel Hunt, author of The Family Business: How Ingram Transformed The World of Books; Mike Shatzkin, thought leader on trends in digital publishing and literature; and Wall Street Journal best-selling author David Meerman Scott will discuss his new book How to Turn Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans. The fest also has a few Indian-origin American authors. Prominent among them is Rishad Tobaccowala who will speak on his best-selling book Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data.On day one, co-author of Intelligent Fanatics of India Pooja Bhula will be in conversation with author Sudha Menon, Hari Pulakkat, editor of IITM Shaastra and Sudeep Khanna, co-author of Azim Premji: The Man Beyond the Billions.
Since it’s a Bengaluru-based fest, a session on start-ups, is inevitable. For those interested in knowing the success stories of start-ups, there’s a session called ‘Start-Up Success Stories: Less-known Secrets and Trends’ with Sanjeev Aggarwal, Prof Srivardhini K Jha and Kaninika Mishra.
‘Literature’s Tech Game Plan’ session will see author of Wheels of Wish: A Crime Planned 800 Years Ago Bibhu Dutta Rout, co-founder and CEO of Pratilipi Ranjeet Pratap Singh and technology and consumer-focused venture capitalist Suresh Narasimha in conversation with Kashyap Kompella, author of Practical Artificial Intelligence: An Enterpreise Playbook.
While there’s been a mushrooming of lit fests in recent years, Paramanand points to the registrations which indicate the interest in a festival like this. “The last literature festival saw 300 participants, but we already have 400 registrations this time. We will also be streaming the events on Facebook and LinkedIn which will see more viewers,” Paramanand says. For more information, log on to www.bangalorebizlitfest.com