Hindu Tamizh Thisai organises online summer activities for kids

Thanks to COVID-19, it helped all of us stand for a while (a long while), take stock of the way we have been leading lives and enabled us to TRI. (THINK, RESET and INNOVATE)

Initially, it was seen as a slowdown from work, but eventually, it turned out to be doing more but differently. Working men & women had to manage domestic as well as professional obligations. They also had to manage the kids at home, either keeping them occupied in their academic works or by channelizing their energies in a purposeful manner, that will be of interest to them as well as enrich them for a better tomorrow.  

This is the opportunity that Hindu Tamizh Thisai sensed and seized it well. Hindu Tamizh Thisai organised online summer activities which were targeted at Kids across different age groups, in the domain of Drawing, Poetry Penning, Story Writing and MORE. Couple of them were made available Free of Cost, but the rest were subscription fee-based.  

At Hindu Tamizh Thisai, we have always believed that anything that is offered free to the consumer does not get the value that the product or service deserves.

So, we made it Pay & Avail (P & A). The primary objective of making it P & A was to ensure that we attract participants who are genuinely interested in these domains and are keen to participate with the intention to know more and learn. We did not want to just mop up numbers, for the sake of show of strength. This would have been possible if we had made the entry free of cost for these camps. 

In the months of April &  May 2020, Hindu Tamizh Thisai organised Online activities / Summer Camps for school kids.

1. Sinthanai Siragugal – Contest for school kids from Class 5 to 12. (Drawing, Poetry Penning, Story writing) – INR Four Lakhs + worth prize money to be won. Shortlisting process is on to choose the winners. We had more than 3000+ entries from across four zones of Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai & Trichy. Amma Charitable Trust was the sponsor for this initiative.
2. Astronomy Camps I, II & III : This initiative was to encourage children to pursue their interest in the field of Astronomy & Space. Online camps were held for a period of 3 days each and for an hour every day.  Participation fee was Rs.294/- per kid and overall we had about 600+ kids participating in all these 3 camps. This was done in association with Space Science Learning Club.
3. Little Farmer I & II: The objective of this camp was to get the kids interested in Agriculture & Farming. This was again an online initiative held over 3 days each with participation fee of Rs.399/-.

400 kids participated in these camps. They and their parents felt enriched at the end of the camping period. DHI Foundation was the knowledge Partner.

4. Abacus Camp I & II: In this camp, Kids were made to enjoy their learning process and was held for a duration of 3 days each, with the participating fee at Rs.294/- per kid. 300+ kids participated in this initiative. SIP Academy was the sponsor of this initiative.
5. Star Gazing Camp: This was a Night Sky Watch activity, done in association with Space Science Learning Club. About 150 kids participated in this program which was made available at Rs.199/- per kid. 

Apart from the above, we also conducted Webinar for Plus Two students in the emerging streams of Engineering – Artificial Intelligence & Internet of Things with Amrita School of Engineering on the 17^th of May 2020. We had around 750+ attendance for this event.

Speakers included Dillibabu Vijayakumar, Scientist, DRDO, Bengaluru, Anbuchezhian, GM Operations, Caterpillar INC., & Dr E A Gopalakrishnan, Asst. Professor, Amrita School of Engineering. Entry to this was made Free of Cost.

 On the 31^st of May, we held a webinar on Higher Education & Career Opportunities in the domain of Agriculture. Participation fee was Rs.99/- per participant. Target Group was Students of Plus 2. It had about 165 participants attending the program.

Speaker Panel comprised Dr G Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, I.A.S, Agricultural Production Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Government, Government of Tamil Nadu & Dr Sudheesh Manalil, Head – Research & Professor & Chair, Amrita School of Agricultural Sciences. 

All our partners in the above initiatives were quite happy on the kind of programs that were conceived by us. Readers were appreciative of the sense of purpose that was embedded in these programs and that made them enrol their children in these programs.

For the publication, it helped enhance the brand recall in the relevant segment of readers and enabled us to be in touch with them through this difficult period.