IT’s a damp squib on Day One

IT’s a damp squib on Day One
Deccan Herald

The dark clouds threatened to break into a thunderous downpour keeping the sunshine away from Bangalore IT.in, 2006. A thin stream of visitors trickled in post noon. But after strolling through the stalls, visitors preferred to cluster around the popcorn, candy and fizzy drinks stalls.

The dark clouds threatened to break into a thunderous downpour keeping the sunshine away from Bangalore IT.in, 2006. A thin stream of visitors trickled in post noon. But after strolling through the stalls, visitors preferred to cluster around the popcorn, candy and fizzy drinks stalls. The ninth edition of the IT showcase event of Karnataka was a damp squib (quite literally) waiting to take off.

With an impressive line-up of pavilions such as eNations, Digital and Lifestyle, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), eStates, eInfocomm and IT Parks, the event has all the ingredients of an exhibition with substance. Blame the rain gods, the dying novelty of a once unique event or the rows of empty stalls, but the first day was slow and dull.

‘It’s just first day’


“We thought the show starts tomorrow. When we came in this morning, the stalls were still being put up. We experienced power problems and could not connect our laptops,” said Hartmut Ade, Manager Sales, SAR Elektronic GmbH, Germany. But it is only the first day, he consoled himself, confident that he could compensate for it in the next three days.

The slow start, however, did not seem to dampen the confidence of first-time participants, Germany and Japan. Participants of both countries are pretty gung-ho about attracting good business through successful networking. “Ten German companies are participating, mostly first-timers. The main aim is to expose the participants to opportunities in India as well as to generate interest in these companies within the IT industry here,” says Alokha Mendens, Manager- Business Development, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce.

The free WIMAX promised at the venue also logged in late. Officials from the service provider company, Aircel, was eagerly awaited at the venue to get it up and running. City Swaps, the recently launched sightseeing service on a bright red, open-air double decker bus arrived at the venue at 9:30 am to take visitors on a two-hour guided tour of Bangalore.

The Utility Area housed the stalls of the event organisers, the police, security, first-aid, a travel desk and a flower stall. While the only active one was the flower stall, the first-aid, police and security stalls were dotted with empty chairs.

Some colour, at last

A burst of vibrance and some splash of colour came in the form of the Greenpeace stall with its energetic staff, boldly announcing in sunny yellow and green: “When the last tree is cut, the last river is poisoned and the last fish dead, we will discover that we can’t eat money”.

Snoozing stall managers, half empty stalls, soaked red carpet and an unenthusiastic turnout. Day one was lack-lustre. It remains to be seen whether the momentum will pick up in the next three days.