Wow! What a day it was!
Chennai had never seen such a large gathering of trekking enthusiasts in a single place and time. Rough estimate puts the visitor headcount close to 1000 including members of CTC and interested souls from the general public. Trek Polamaa made it to the 2nd page of the Hindu today -
Chennai online
http://chennaionline.com/video/index.aspx?src=cf&vid=1889&Title='Trek%20Polamaa'
uFX TV coverage
Trek polama : Part 1
Trek polama: Part 2
To all those who visited the event, please share your experiences, photos and videos on our forum -
To all those who were unable to attend - no worries - educative workshops, awesome CTC presentations, mind-blowing videos and wowing photos will be uploaded and shared in the above link.
Theme video -
Presentations
CTC treks
Social Treks
Save Tada
Future cleanup initiatives
Ladies treks
Seniors Treks
Photography digest
Workshops
Social Treks
Save Tada
Future cleanup initiatives
Ladies treks
Seniors Treks
Photography digest
Workshops
Workshops
Trek Polamaa was nothing but awesome - the large gathering of CTC members and like minded outdoor "passionates" created an amazing atmosphere - the entrance of the venue was packed with lots of different trekking gears exhibited by various sponsors. Everyone was amazed by the beauty and the photographic quality of 200+ large-sized photos displayed in the exhibition. Awesome effort by Samy, Nara and Gowtham. The entire venue was transformed by the lots of banners displaying the beautiful moments of CTC. I fall short of words to appreciate Hari's beyond-human efforts on the graphics front for this event. The 7 workshops in the afternoon gathered large interest from those eager to know more about the diverse topics presented. A BIG thanks to Doctor Maran, Vimalraj, Aravind, Gowtham and Sujai - full fledged versions of these workshops will be organized in the coming weeks/months for all those interested.
The evening program was nothing but amazing - Balaji & Taranum presented a mind-blowing PPT showing the most beautiful locations discovered by CTC. Thilak & Humsini showcased the precious moments from our social treks highlighted by an on stage gathering of orphan/HIV positive kids with the Honorable Union Minister Mr. Napolean. Ashwini & Pradeep surprised all many visitors by showing CTC's efforts in environmental awareness. Balamurali presented our upcoming plans for a greener and cleaner Chennai (get ready for action soon... !). Paari, Ram and Ramesh entered the stage on their muscular bikes blowing everyone away with an awesome 3D video on past and future CTC bike expeditions. Doctor Padmini proved that not only boys are having fun in CTC followed by Hari's charismatic appearance inviting members of all age groups to sign up for a trek. Finally, Ela showcased the role and evolution of photography in CTC. Everyone was taken by surprise by Mr Napoleon's natural on stage appearance and amazing speech on CTC. YouTube link to follow soon.
A big thanks to all of YOU who contributed to make this unique event possible - 300 individual contributors, 10+ company contributions and 7 stall sponsors. Due to cancellation of the dramatics/entertainment part, dropping the more expensive decoration/transformation of the hall and more economical photo exhibit we cut down significantly on the costs. Selva will publish a summary of the accounts in the coming days and we will carefully consider on the best usage of the remaining funds for either social, environmental or other appropriate causes.
My sincere thanks to Ansar, the untiring driving force behind this whole event. Without his determination and relentless follow up we simply would not have succeeded. BIG thanks to Marie for roping in Christian Fabre and other key sponsors of the event. A big thanks to Selva for professionally managing the event accounts. No words are enough to appreciate Balamurali's selfless efforts in realizing this event. Thanks to Nachappan and Anu for their efforts on the media side. Many, many thanks for the many volunteers behind the scenes - our logistics and event organizing team - Ansar, NJ Balaji, Gowri, Guru, Ranjith and many many others. My sincere thanks for the efforts by the presentation creators - Sumanta for the senior trek presentation, Sneha/Jaishree for the ladies presentation. Pradeep was the man behind several of the beautiful presentations. Big thanks to many of the CTC photographers who sent in their hi res photos for display in the exhibition. It was out of this world. Thanks to all members who helped us out with the many logistics on the venue itself. Finally my sincere thanks to all the other volunteers whose name I have missed out here. Thank u so much for making this event successfull.
Trek Polamaa was yet another unique & true CTC effort by its many volunteers. Keep rocking guys!
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