So it seems we are clocking at 500 participants for the this edition of Proto.in, and its probably THE biggest grassroot level conference to ever happen in India. Phew! and that’s without a single line of exaggeration or marketing hype. It’s taken quite a bit of work and effort from our team members, and I cannot but hats off to the amazing support of the ground team at Delhi, the supporting organizations and the fabulous team that makes this magic happen twice a year.

If you think that’s “Whoa!”, wait till you get to the event.

So, There are a couple of things we’d like to announce to the guys planning to attend the event.

If You have registered for the event, you MUST have a confirmation ID by now. It’d be something like P3S198. Keep that number safe and remember it while checking in. The next thing that will give you a fast-checkin time is to carry your Proto.in Entry pass (collected from one of the Proto.in outlets), or print out the e-ticket that you must have recieved at the time of registration. If you are wondering where that was, check the confirmation email you got, click on the link that allows you to do that, you should be able to get hold of the eticket.

Apart from that, DO BRING YOUR LAPTOP. There is a liveblogging marathon happening, and the best blog post which gives a summary of the day’s event will be given an iPod Touch. So bring your laptop along. The Venue will be wifi-enabled, we will enable you to be part of it.

One session that I am absolutely looking forward to this time is the innovation brainjam session on the second day. These is are the sessions that are planned:

1) Trends that are happening in India (e.g. Proliferation of Digital Cameras)
2) Driving internet penetration (how can we increase this from an abysmal 2% internet penetration).
3) Getting businesses to adopt technology (both B2B and B2C)
4) Tough problems that need to be solved (Energy, Healthcare, Education, etc.)
5) Social Entrepreneurship
6) Digital Lifestyles
7) Other topics : Fostering Entrepreneurship, Rural, ….

For folk who are in Delhi for the first time, Routeguru our Technology partner (and Proto.in Alumni) has made things a bit simpler in terms of finding directions and information such as auto fares to get around the town. Here’s how to do it:

Simply send an SMS like rg to (to 56767)
e.g. rg domestic airport to iit or rg iit to india gate or rg india gate to qutub minar etc. etc.
You’ll receive the following valuable information back as SMS:

i. Total Distance between the two locations.
ii. Auto-fare – Approximately accurate Auto-fare.
iii. RouteHints – Important Landmarks / Major Road names to help you build a good direction sense.

Get Directions to Venue (IITD) over SMS
(To be activated on 17th July at 8.00 p.m.)

rg to proto (SMS to 56767)
Examples: rg airport to proto or rg nizamuddin to proto or rg saket to proto

There are free t-shirts FOR THE FIRST 250 CHECKINs. So Hope to see you there at the venue by 8:30am tomorrow. There are great expectations so far, and we will more than live up to them over the next two days. Look forward to seeing you all in person.

Until tomorrow, Adios!

Vijay & The Team
Proto.in