Poor arrangements at local IT Expo irk participants

Both vendors and partners, who chose to participate at
the Infotech International Expo 2003 in Mumbai, were met with a rude shock. Poor
arrangements by the event organizers, Trinity Group, left them utterly
disappointed. According to Mehul Gandhi of A-Plus Computers, a participating
reseller, even basic arrangements, like fans and water, were not made available.

Partners also complained that the organizers did not
give adequate publicity required for such an event, which was why it received a
poor response from visitors. "No banners or advertisement indicated of any
such event happening in Mumbai," claimed one participant.

The only publicity some recall was a small advertisement
placed in an eveninger.

As a protest, some of the big participating companies
like Lexmark, HP, WeP Peripherals, Chie Mei Corporation, wound up their stalls.
"There is no point in wasting time at such event," grudged a
participant. But for many others, simply closing down their stalls was no
solution. "The big companies can always afford to close their counters, but
what will we do? Our money has gone down the drains," lamented Vishwas
Tendulkar of Rhombus.

According to Venkat K Mani of Rent-A-Computer, Trinity
Group had promised many things when it was initially selling stall space. It had
promised a presence of over 30,000 visitors on all the three days. But, in
reality, the flow of visitors was miniscule, with a couple of them actually
entering the premises, unaware of such an exhibition. "This shows
organizer's lackadaisical attitude towards their customers," said PK Kurian,
National Sales Manager, MicroWorld Software Services, who had taken four stalls
at the event.

The anger of participating companies was visible, when
they went around visiting all the stalls and taking signatures of everyone to
file a police complaint against the organizers. They are contemplating a joint
effort to get a refund or file a case for defrauding public. Late in the evening
of the event's first day, when the organizers arrived at the premises,
participants grilled them seeking an explanation.

After hours of prodding and threats, the next two days
of the event was cancelled and a written apology along with a full refund of
money was sought from the organizers. According to participants, Trinity Group
promised to refund 50 percent of the money, through post-dated cheques and the
remaining amount in two equal slabs before the next event. The organizers issued
cheques, the very next day under due pressure, from participants, but requested
not to deposit the cheques, as they would bounce due to insufficient funds. Till
the time of this magazine going to press, most participants were yet to recover
their money back.

Nelson Johny

(CNS)