Business magazine shapes young business minds

Voice of Business (VoB), the first ever and the largest student-run publication team in Bangladesh, has been relentlessly working for the students of the Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka since its inception in 2007. With a vision of building a community of business students, leaders and a strong network, VoB is growing strongly. Its mission is to create opportunities for the business students for skill development and knowledge enhancement through connecting them with prominent business leaders of the time and establishing strong ties with industry experts from diverse fields.

Reaching the 10 years mark, they launched the 'VoB week 2017' where they unveiled their eighth issue on September 12. The magazine titled 'The Leadership Tale: Journey Towards The Pinnacle' featured a cover story on the empowerment of women in the corporate sector. The unveiling ceremony was arranged and inaugurated with chief patron Professor Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam, dean, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka. He thanked the guests and said, 'The new generation has the power of social media which makes them a lot more advanced.' 'Quality publication of VoB always helps the readers to get an idea of the current business issues,' he added. Special guest Faisal Ahmed, chief economist of Bangladesh Bank, said, 'You are as big as your dream, the roots and your dreams will define how strong your base is and how long you will go. To achieve your dreams try to think globally.' Asjadul Kibria, planning editor of the Financial Express, urged the students to practice writing regularly and said, 'The new generation is already one step ahead, they are presenting Bangladesh globally and talking about economy, finance and other important things.'

The first day was concluded by cutting a cake on the auspicious moment of 10-year landmark. The second day had a session on women icons in corporate arena of Bangladesh. Zara Mahbub, head of communication of BRAC Bank Ltd. and Jesmin Ehsan, head of Finance of Ericsson Limited were present there. During the second session of the second day, leaders of corporate world shared their views on the art of branding. The day ended with a celebration of completing 10 years.

Voice of Business's landmark was also focused on seminars on varied topics and outdoor activities throughout event. About 700 students participated at different activities of the programme on September 12 and 13. A second-year student from Department of Finance, Fouzia Fariha said, 'VoB week was an amazing event where we learned a lot from some great personalities.' Shabnam Sanjeri, another second-year student from Department of Marketing said, 'We got the chance to know the ideas and views of many experienced people and also shared ours. This interaction enhanced our knowledge and gave us new perspectives.'

VoB has emerged as the spokesperson of the faculty of business studies over the past decade with a view to promoting business leadership and shape the young business minds. As a business magazine, Voice of Business aims to bridge the gap between the budding business minds and the corporate world. The magazine offers ins and outs of the current business world with stories of inspirational business persons, industry innovation, international perspective and career tracking advice.

Although, the inception of Voice of Business was as a business publication, it gradually evolved its identity as a business club. With the tagline 'Empowering the leader within' the club provides new platforms for the business students to showcase their talents and learn new things. VoB regularly arranges seminars, workshops and knowledge dissemination programmes.

In 2017, Voice of Business became the first business club from Faculty of Business Studies (FBS), University of Dhaka to host national level branding competition named 'BRANDrill'. Apart from that the club has hosted 'VoB writing contest' that offered an opportunity to the latent writing prodigies a chance to flourish.

With all these accomplishments, Voice of Business has grown to be the premium business club of FBS, University of Dhaka.

The writer is a fourth year student of Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka, [email protected]