The Presidential Elections

Time pick the President of the Student Body.


<from my article for Alma Matters>


Who should stand?
Everybody had an opinion. “Dude, you should run for this, you’re the kind of person who can do this stuff”, “You should stand for president, we need more women leaders” and so on. But only 11 brave souls stepped up to the plate. And another assault began.
Considering it was the first election on campus, people weren’t sure what to expect. While some presidential manifestos were spoke about missile cruise ships others spoke about night-canteens at each SV. While some had venn diagrams, others had self-portraits. And while some said they will decide on who to vote for, others said they will decide who to campaign for.

Vote for Congress Me

We had all heard stories about Presidiential campaigns from previous years; none of us were prepared for what hit us next. Nothing! All the hype the last batch sold to us seemed to have made everyone conscious of “over campaigning” and the candidates stayed rather sober for a while. I say again, a while.I believe they were doing their analysis of the batch.

Assumption: The class of 2012 is approximately Normal

Implication: I can create a 95% confidence interval to understand that no one has a clue as t who they will vote for. Damn, this stats stuff isn’t working.

Cause of failure of model: Do we look normal to you?

Next, lets attempt Economics: If I am able to maximize the students utility, they will vote for me. How do I maximize it? Lets offer them cycles on campus, 100% placements, night-canteens, better food and Cindy Crawford. Sorry but the students are smarter than that.

Next, good old marketing: Segmentation is the first key. Did you know the ISB students can be broken in the following vote banks – IIT, anit-IIT, women, CAs, senior citizens club, those young kids, smokers…. You get the idea. 

Lather it up

Presidential Soap Box: Why is called the soap box? Answer

What is the purpose: Any one can write a manifesto sitting in the comfort of his or her own quad. I personally recommend usage of the “Web economy Bullshit Generator” (after you remodel it to use B-school buzz words like networking). It takes real courage to stand on stage and justify it. It takes even more courage to stand in front of Shiv and alumni who have made it their life’s mission to hurt you in the quick fire round. 

The soap box was looooong, but it really did separate the boys form the men… no offense to the lady candidate, but separating the girls form the women just doesn’t work as an idiom. 

Now that the foam has subsided

I am not sure, but I guess this was a major reality check for all the candidates. One dropped out for personal reasons, while the others decided to compensate for the lack of campaigning before the soapbox. At one point, I was walking to the atrium and forgot which candidate said he would be there. When I reached, I realized, most of them are there anyway! 

Enough pull, time to push. The candidates start meeting us after lectures. First mover advantage is a huge factor here. The first one to talk to me after I’ve attended a 2 hour session on how to account for intangible assets is the one who annoys me the least. I’ll atleast remember your name. The next person to hold me back form my coffee, I’m just getting cranky now. If a third person attempts it, the class will trample her/him. For what it’s worth, the first candidate (not from our section) who spoke to us after class was the one who won the election.

Round 1

Secret ballot was an interesting concept. Please note, I say “was”. Everyone knows how the election works, but some people miss it because they decided to have an extended lunch break. All in all, smooth process… except for the booth capturing.

The results come out and I hear section G was quite happy and celebrated in class because two candidates from their class got through into the final four. Why it is a big deal is beyond me, but I realize understanding human emotions isn’t my biggest strength. I do want to understand how they found out between class… was some one using their blackberry in class?? Wink wink, nudge nudge

More Khemka sessions

A panel discussion this time. Unfortunately, the soapbox was such an assault on the senses plus the fact that assignments were due, only 40 decided to show up for this. Not %age, 40 people (the number’s maybe slightly understated, but there is no way you would know for sure, you weren’t there :D)

At this point, the “I knew I should have stood” crowd started raising their voice again. The rest of the batch continued ignoring them.

Final Round: Fight

This is when campaigning got innovative. It was now all about talking to the student body about why it is important for them to vote and based on what parameters. All this, while getting some face time. The last voting, there were discussion in the voting line about who to vote for. This time, it was more silent. Not sure what it means, but it was interesting to note.

All done, and the result is………. I’m sure there is another article to cover this bit.