TOUR de COMILLA

Samina Akter Rupa

BIZ BEE members @ Coca - Cola factory, Comilla

After organizing a bunch of programs, it was the time for having some fresh air. But it was not possible in this massy and polluted city and as BIZ BEE always emphasizes on relating academic knowledge with realistic world it arranged a tour to Comilla. The function of this tour was to visit the ABDUL MONEM LIMITED COMILLA BEVERAGE UNIT and BARD (Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development). 

Beauty of Bangladesh

On 15th October, 2010 our journey kicked off for this rocking excursion at 8 o’clock in the morning. All the preparations were done before starting this journey and the entire plan for this whole day was designed. Breakfast was served in the bus and all the student were in a very jolly mood. They were dressed in BIZ BEE T-shirts and dancing with flabbergast music. Time was passing out with lots of enjoyment. After passing the metro area when we started going by highway, we saw the beautiful greenery of rural Bangladesh. The panorama of both side of the road was very stunning.

ENJOY THE VIDEO CLIPS FROM THE COCA-COLA FACTORY & BARD

When we reached at the factory, we found the staffs are very hospitable. They guided us on the visit of the factory. There, we saw the production activities of five different soft drinks; they are Coca-Cola, Sprit, Fanta, Fanta-Lemon and Sunfill. We saw how those soft drinks were processed and filled into the bottles. The plastic bottles are made in this factory and the others are imported from abroad.

SOME PICTURES FROM THE COCA-COLA FACTORY

Processing unit of the factory

An employee explaining the process of production of soft drinks 

Chief Engineer answering the questions of the students

The ingredients of those drinks are also imported from out of the country. They also told us about their distribution system. The marketing team surveys the demand of those products in the market and the authority ensured the supply. After visiting the entire factory, students were taken to the conference room where the chief engineer of this factory answered the question of the students.

@ BARD (Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development)

Hallway of BARD

The visit of BARD was also very tremendous. Students found the taste of natural beauty and enjoyed those eye-catching vistas. BARD was consisting of some beautiful buildings, a number of artificial lakes and lots of trees. Most of those trees were unknown for the students. The entire area was very large. As we were running out of time, so we could not take much time. We stared for Dhaka at 6 o’clock. Advisor of BIZ BEE, Mr. Jabir Al Mursalin was with us on this tour.

Seminar on “FUTURE OF THE GOLDEN FIBER”

Samina Akter Rupa

Speakers said about the current market position and business possibilities of the main cash crop of Bangladesh, Jute on a seminar titled “FUTURE OF THE GOLDEN FIBER”. 

From Left: Suntu Kumar Ghosh, Mahmudul Haq, Dr. Md. Golam Samdani Fakir, Dr. Ainun Nishat, Dr. Kamal Uddin

This seminar was organized by BIZ BEE on 13th October, 2010 in GDLN Conference Room of BRAC University. The Chief Guest Speaker, Dr. Kamal Uddin who is the Director General of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute and working for 33 years on Jute research said that Bangladeshi Scientists invented new technologies and methods for producing high quality of jute and the latest invention was the Gene mapping of jute which helped it to gain international recognition. 

Dr. Kamal uddin, Director General of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, during his speech in the seminar.

Different varieties of Jute like 0-9897, 0-72, Bangkim, Lagan and many more are producing in Bangladesh and demand of jute products are increasing significantly in international market. One of the most demanding products is Fire Retardant Jute Fiber and Fabrics which does not blemished by Fire. Other products are Wool, Bucket, Sweater, Sock, Blanket, Prayer mat, Bag, Mat, Napkin, Bandage, Curtain, Cloth, Thread, Plastic, Paper, Acid, Oil, jeans and so on. Dr. Kamal Uddin also showed some samples of those products and inspired the students to use them in their daily life.

HERE ARE THE SOME CLIPS FROM THE SEMINAR

Mr. Mahmudul Haq, Former Vice-Chairman of Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association, was the Guest Speaker of this event. He also shared his experiences with the students. He said that business related to jute is very profitable for this country but for taking some wrong decision by our government this sector is facing loses. Government is not showing much interest and political issues are also related with this. Mr. Mahmudul Haq showed a graph which presented the year wise export of Jute Goods by BJMC (Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation), BJMA (Bangladesh Jute Mills Association) and BJSA (Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association).

Mahmudul Haq, Former Vice-Chairman of Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association, during his speech in the seminar

The Chief Guest of this seminar, Vice-Chancellor of BRAC University, Dr. Ainun Nishat is now engaged with the construction of PADMA Bridge and shared that he is going to use jute bags for keeping heavy stones inside the water under the bridge.

Dr. Ainun Nishat, Vice-Chancellor of BRAC University, during his speech in the seminar  

Pro Vice- Chancellor Dr. Md. Golam Samdani Fakir, Registrar Mr. Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury and faculties of BRAC University were also present there. The seminar was followed by a Q & A session and the student got significant answer of their question.

Workshop on “Leadership Skill Development and Business Plan Construction & Presentation”

Zara Khair

On 9th October, 2010 BRAC University Business Club organized a day long workshop on “Leadership Skill Development and Business Plan Construction & Presentation”. The program kicked off at 10 AM with Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Registrar of BRAC University, giving his presentation titled “Leadership Challenge for the Young Executive”. He shared his real life experiences and strategies on leadership development.

Isfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Registrar of BRAC University, taking the session on "Leadership Skill Development"

At the same time he talked about several world famous leaders in the political as well as social arenas, about their achievements and failures, and how they revolutionized and shaped the world today. Many important issues came up in the question-answer session and one of them was the importance of building a second line leadership in context to Bangladeshi corporate culture. After the first session, students were given a refreshment break.

Muhammad Intisar Alam, Lecturer of BRAC Business School, taking the session on “Business Plan Construction & Presentation”

After that Muhammad Intisar Alam, Lecturer of BRAC Business School, conducted another workshop on “Business Plan Construction & Presentation”. The detailed Business Plan writing format and tactics were demonstrated which was very useful for the students. He also described common and formidable errors that students tend to make and showed us ways of improvement.

Participants giving the presentation on their following Business Plan

After the intense session, students were divided into seven groups each consisting of three members for a competition on “Business Plan Presentation”. They were asked to launch a new product or service in the Bangladeshi market highlighting its objectives and unique features. Thus after the lunch break, the much-awaited nerve wracking presentations of each group began. Each group had about one hour to prepare themselves and only ten minutes for a group presentation.

These versatile and creative students came up with seven new products/services and they were: Electronic system with CCTV at traffic signals of Dhaka for letting priority cars (ambulances, school buses, etc) pass, totally flexible fold-able and fashionable spectacles, cheap water-run small cars concentrating rural zones, electronic rechargeable cigarettes to help smokers give up smoking, solar power generation plant, Bangla-robot which is a robot that would help urban people with their daily chores and alarm-system refrigerator to detect contaminated food. These ideas were very well received by a cheerful audience who appreciated and congratulated each group for their innovation and presentation.

Winner of the Presentation Competition. (Ding-Dong Refrigerator Ltd)

1st Runners Up.(Softtech Solutions Ltd.)

2nd Runners Up, (CEFC, Converted Environment Friendly Car, Ltd)

The first prize was taken by Ding-Dong Refrigerator Ltd. (alarm-system refrigerator to detect contaminated food), the first runners up was Softtech Solutions Ltd. (Electronic system with CCTV at traffic signals of Dhaka for letting priority cars (ambulances, school buses, etc) pass) and the second runners up was CEFC (Converted Environment Friendly Car) Ltd. (cheap water-run small cars concentrating rural zones) Trophy and prizes were distributed by Mr. Najmul Hasan, Students Affairs Officer, and Naimul Rashid, President of BIZ BEE, who were also the judge of the competition.

FACE 2 FACE

Eshita Newaz & Farah Tasmem

To welcome the new members of BRAC University Business Club, an orientation program ‘Face 2 Face’ was held in October 6, 2010. The Indoor Games Room of BRAC University was decorated by all the members of BIZBEE from 8.am in the morning. It was the time of celebration for this club, therefore in every semester they organize this program with lots of excitements. It’s about the strong unity among the members of BIZBEE, that’s why they worked a whole day mutually to make this event special for new general members. They decorated the room with lots of glitters, masks, colors, lights, and so on.

Earlier than starting the program the participants were tryout their arrangements. At 5pm the program was started with a very cheerful look. The Indoor Games Room got a new glance for the exceptional embellishment. Colorful lights were moving around the room and gave a charismatic gaze. Rocking music warmed up everyone and got them ready for an amusing event. A senior executive of creative team, Mahi Mashriva Hossain and an executive of external affair, Mir Mudassir Ahmed hosted the entire show. At the beginning, everyone maintained 1 minute of silence for honoring the dead father of one of the executives. 

Here are the some clips from the show

The show was started with the speech of the president, Naimul Rashid. After his short  speech the main fascinating episode began. Slide shows, songs, dance, short movie, games were the fractions of this ‘Face 2 Face’. Songs by Umme Ruhani and Raihan Jamil were very pleasurable. Prianka Das kotha danced and grabbed everyone’s attention.

Decoration @ FACE 2 FACE

The short movie was prepared by the members of BIZBEE named ‘Shagorer Buke Nodi’ which was directed by Tanvir Ahsan. The movie was full of fun and everyone enjoyed it very much as it made them laugh like crazy. There was also a game show for the fresher, “Musical Chair”. Five of the fresher played this game and the winner named “Abha” won a prize.

From left: Mirza Zillur Rahman & Naimul Rashid

The show ended with a song by Naimul Rashid and Mirza Zillur Rahman. Within one and half an hour the program concluded with refreshment by BFC.

The Interview Session of BIZ BEE

Eshita Newaz

For recruiting new members for BRAC University Business Club (BIZ BEE), an interview session was held on 3rd October, 2010 as it was anticipated in every semester. The students, who signed up for BIZ BEE in the club fair were called for this interview session. It started from 5 p.m. Before entering in the interview room, the students filled up a questioner about themselves as BIZ BEE always looks for active and energetic members.

A student at the Interview Session

The President, Vice-President, General Secretary, Directors and Assistant- Directors were in the interview board. The students were briefly introduced with the regular activities of BIZ BEE by the volunteers before going for the interview. The whole session was very formal as BIZ BEE follows the norms and regulations of corporate culture. In the interview room, there were three boards. Each board was consisted of three members. The students were asked different types of questions to get to know about their enthusiasm and interest to work with BIZ BEE.

Questions were about business, time management, organization, creativity, expectation and so on. Students shared their business related thoughts and obligations with them. Lots of new views and ideas came out from students as well as some claptrap also found there. By analyzing the overall performance, general members were selected. Therefore, selected members were given the invitation card for joining Face 2 Face which will held on 6th October, 2010 in Indoor Games Room.

Club Fair (Fall 2010)

Mir Muddassir Ahmed

It was not one of those ‘typical’ days in BRAC University. It was the long anticipated ‘Club Fair’. At the start of every semester, a club fair is organized in order to introduce all the clubs to all the students of BRAC University with a purpose of encouraging them to concentrate on practical learning and put their inner potential into task besides getting good grades. 

BRAC University Business Club (BIZ BEE) at the Club Fair (Fall '10)

On 30th September, the club fair of fall’10 was arranged with a title, “Mela”. As always, the fair covered almost the whole cafeteria alongside the indoor games room. Our BRAC University Business Club (BIZ BEE) stall found its place in the indoor games room. Early preparations were taken before the fair consisting of setting up the stall, designing the back wall with posters, pictures and club emblem. Also the table was decorated with flowers and floating candles. On top of the table were the BIZ BEE sign up forms, brochures covering the most recent activities conducted by BIZ BEE, its vision and future goals and of course, it’s brief introduction finding its way right at the front-line. 

Dr. Golam Samdani Fakir talking with the members of BIZ BEE

The fair started at 10 O’clock with the Pro Vice Chancellor Dr. Golam Samdani Fakir finally arriving and was welcomed with a warm applause. He spoke to all the clubs’ representatives in the stall turn by turn. During BIZ BEE’s turn, Naimul Rashid, President of BIZ BEE, alongside a senior representative introduced BIZ BEE and its wide ranged activities in detail. Pure emphasis was given on the improvement of students’ practical knowledge about business and the vast world it covers by arranging seminars, workshops, and tours to business organizations which in turn will make the students have a clear glimpse about the vast corporate world, its culture and put them a step ahead in their future job life. 

A student signing up to join BIZ BEE

 The Pro VC’s departure was followed by the rush of the mostly newbie students to all the stalls as they showed keen interest to join clubs and forums which suited their interest and purpose. Likewise, BIZ BEE experienced the same enthusiastic energy in the eyes of the interested ones eager to sign up in the club. They were conveyed the same message as conveyed to the Pro VC. It even boosted their enthusiasm. Almost 60 sign-up sheets were filled up and the ones signing were informed about the upcoming interview based on which selection will be done. The fair finally ended at 1.00 pm followed by a lunch with the executives of BIZ BEE.

General Body Meeting

Farah Tasmem

A General Body Meeting(GBM) was held on 22nd September, 2010 by BIZ BEE. The meeting started at 5 p.m. with a slideshow on the activities of previous semester. The photos of the tour at Nator, PRAN Agro Ltd and RAJBARI were shown in the slide. After that President of BIZ BEE, Naimul Rashid discussed about the future plan of this semester. BIZ BEE planned to do such activities which will help the students to enrich their practical knowledge about the competitive world of business. He also showed the hierarchy of the management team and introduced with the new executives. 

GBM in progress.

From left: Naimul Rashid and Noor Ibna Syeed.

Students were asked some questions related with BIZ BEE and business. The Assistant Director of Organizing and Management, Noor Ibna Syeed told the student the rules and regulations of BIZ BEE and importance of those rules in future life. The Additional Vice President, Syed Nazmus Sakib talked about the upcoming programs of BIZ BEE. There will be a number of programs including Face 2 Face, workshop, seminar, tour and so on and BIZ BEE is going to have a blast in this semester. 

Members of BIZ BEE at the GBM.

BIZ BEE is also launching a Business Magazine on the first week of December. The Director of Information technology, Rezwan Rahim who is the editor of this magazine divided the members into some groups and discussed their responsibilities for the magazine. The meeting was finished at 6:30 p.m. with some refreshments.

Newsletter & Poster of Summer 2010 published

 A Newsletter and a Poster of Summer 2010 have been published today. The Newsletter is the first issue of this year and it has been named Successful Semester. The newsletter and the poster is about the BIZ BEE's activities in the Summer semester of 2010.

The activities include a seminar on "Corporate Challenges", chief guest was Md. Abdul Aziz, President of ICMAB, a workshop on  "Leadership and Presentation Skill Development", Face 2 Face, Interview for new recruitment and few General Body Meetings.

A Seminar on “Challenges of Corporate World”

Md. Abdul Aziz, President of ICMAB, during his speech on "Challenges of Corporate World”

Samina Akhter Rupa

A seminar named “Challenges of Corporate World” was held in the GDLN Video Conference Room of BRAC University, on 24th July, 2010. This seminar was held right after the Presentation Competitions. BIZ BEE organized this seminar for increasing comprehension of the student about practical corporate world. The Chief Guest was the President of ICMAB, Md. Abdul Aziz.

Naimul Rashid, President of BIZ BEE, introducing the chief guests to the students.

He told the student about the challenges of today’s business around the globe and the ways of facing those challenges. He also said that day by day it is being difficult to deal with commercial sectors because the competitions are increasing rapidly. He advised the students that they should not give up and have to try a lot for achieving their desired goal. The Director of BRAC Business School, honorable Register, and Adviser of BIZ BEE were also present and shared their views about these issues.

From left: Md. Abdul Aziz, Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Dr. Sanaul Mostafa, and Md. Jabir Al Mursalin

Seminar on "Challenges of Corporate World" at GDLN Video Conference Room of BRAC University.

Before getting involved in the immense and intricate business world, students should have a clear view of their upcoming challenges. From this seminar, they should have congregated lots of information which will help them to become more confident and be ready to face those challenges in near future.

A Workshop on "Leadership and Presentation Skill Development"

Samina Akhter Rupa

In order to develop leadership and presentation skills of the students, BIZ BEE organized a workshop on 24th July, 2010. Generating students progressive and confident for facing the challenges of corporate world was the objective of this workshop.

Dr. Sanaul Mostafa, Director of BBS, taking the Leadership Skill Development session.

 The director of BRAC Business School, Dr. Sanaul Mostofa took a session on leadership skill development with the students. There, he talked about the importance of leadership skill and how to be a good leader. He encouraged them to be a superior leader by giving examples of world’s most successful leaders. He also shared his experience and give satisfactory answers of questions asked by the students.

Raihan Jamil, Graduate lecturer of Purdue University, taking the Presentation Skill Development session

This session was followed by another session on presentation skill development which is conducted by Raihan Jamil. He is a graduate lecturer of PURDUE University, USA. The purpose of this session was to accustomed with the importance of presentation in the corporate world. He gave a proficient overview of a good group and individual presentation and had a nice conversation with the students through Q&A session. From his words, students learned how they can make their presentations exuberant and fascinating.

Participants of the Presentation Competition preparing for the final presentation.

A competition on Presentation on the theme “Branding Bangladesh” was took place after this session from which best three presenters were awarded. Both the sessions were full of valuable information which broadened conception of the students.

Success Story of a Leader – Shykh Seraj

Rezwanur Rahim

BIZ BEE (BRAC University Business Club) organized a seminar on agriculture business of Bangladesh, in which chief guest of the seminar was Shykh Seraj, on March 10th, 2010. Shykh Seraj is an eminent journalist and agriculture development activist, and an Ashoka fellow, who was the first person to use media as the educational tools in Bangladesh since 1980s. Shykh Seraj talked concerning the recent development and problems in agro based business of Bangladesh, the problems the farmers are facing and its impact in our economy. He stated that the country like Bangladesh could only be developed if the farmer’s situation is improved.

Shykh Seraj receiving crest from Dr. Md. Golam Samdani Farik.

Shykh Seraj and Dr. Md. Golam Samdani Fakir with the members of BIZ BEE

Bangladesh is primarily an agrarian economy. It is very necessary for the university-going students to know the possibilities and opportunities of agro-business to make the country a better place to live. The seminar ended with a lively Q&A session. Professor Md. Golam Samdani Fakir, Pro-Vice Chancellor of BRAC University, was also present.

Face 2 Face

Rezwanur Rahim

BRAC University Business Club (BIZ BEE) organized a fresher orientation program, which is known as ‘FACE 2 FACE’, for the recruitment of the members in the club on 9^th February, 2010 in BRAC University Indoor Games Room. This program was done only for the fresher, who have enrolled in Spring 2010 semester, to entertain them and get them familiar with the world of BIZ BEE.

Before this program an interview session was held on Thursday, 4th February 2010 to meet the interested fresher willing to join and work with BIZ BEE. There was a great turn up in the interview session; they were explained the type of works BIZ BEE does and what will be their possible work when they join BIZ BEE.

The program started with an introductory speech by the president of BIZ BEE, Ms. Shamminaz Polen about the past, present and future of BIZ BEE. The entire program was designed to entertain the students therefore many funny games, songs and slide show were shown. There was a great response from the audience about the program. This is the second time BIZ BEE is organizing FACE 2 FACE and it will continue the tradition in future.

The program ended with the song “Amar vaier raktay rangano ekushay February” (21st February, the day stained with my brothers' blood) to pay respect to Language Movement Martyrs. It was followed by refreshment for the students.

A mind-blowing tour to Kuakatta

@ Kuakatta beach

Rezwanur Rahim

On the evening of Wednesday, the 13th of January, we set out on a 12 hour journey towards the extreme southern region of Bangladesh for a 3 days long study tour at KUAKATA. The purpose of the visit was to get knowledge about the fishing sector of Bangladesh and also the prospect of tourism and learn about the people who are related with these activities in Kuakata, Patuakhali. BIZ BEE, BRAC University Business Club, organized the study tour to Kaukata for its members.

We the BIZ BEEs started our journey at on 13th January around 8 o’clock; it was an overnight journey and took nearly 12 hours to reach our destination. We crossed six ferries and the road to KUAKATA was adventurous. After reaching there, we got freshened up at ‘KUAKATTA GUEST HOUSE’; we could not wait any longer to go to the seaside. It has a wide sandy beach, which affords one the unique opportunity of watching both the sunrise and the sunset. There were hardly any tourists at that time. We learned that locally kuakatta is known as Sagar kannya, which means daughter of the sea.

After taking endless photographs of the sea beach and the beautiful surroundings, we moved on with our main purpose to visit the shrimp factories. On the way to factory, where we travelled by the local vehicle called tom tom, we visited the 200 years old Rakhaine temple. Outside of the temple was drab and dull. However, inside were wide-eyed 35 feet tall Rakhaine idol. We even visited the Rakhine tribal families, which were situated nearby. They live their life by producing Rakhine cloths and selling them to the tourist.

Inside the Rakhaine Temple

The shrimp factories were usually small, however few thousand people are directly involve in the fishing activities. Mostly women and children are involved in processing of the shrimp where men go to the deep sea to catch the shrimp. It was there main occupation and only way to live their life. The shrimp industries are not as strong as it was before. The cyclones weaken the shrimp industries in kuakatta.

The next day, we went out early to see the sunrise, which was magnificently beautiful. This time the shore was full of tourist. Later on that day, we had a friendly football match among us on the sea beach. It was fun and extremely amusing. After the match and swimming in the salty sea, we moved on to visit the ice factory that was based on the fishing industry. The weather was already cold and chilly and the ice made us even colder. The hardworking people start their work early in the morning even when the sun did not come out properly.

On the way back, we visited the area famous for dry fish. Almost all kind of fishes are dried under the sun. We talked with few people related with dry fish processing. We were courteously explained how everything is done. At the evening, we visited the hundred years old wells, known as Kua and Kata. The name Kuakatta was originated from those wells.

The day and journey ended very quickly, we again went to the beach see another mind-blowing scene, the sunset. The lodging at and food at Kuakatta Guest House was excellent and very tasty. We put on few pounds on staying there.

We left Kuakatta on the following Saturday with great experiences, ideas and positive views. The entire tour was refreshing from the monotonous city life. BIZ BEE is planning to organize such kind of tours in the near future.