VAIT infuses fresh blood into the system

Vellore Association for IT (VAIT) has infused fresh blood into the system.
The association, which recently went in for election, has nominated youngsters
to the key posts, unlike in the past. “We want freshers to participate and
play an active role in association functions. The only way to get them committed
is by giving them responsibilities. We will just be a guiding force to them,”
said A Venkat of Computer Care, a key member in the association and one of the
old players in the market. Venkat served the association as a treasurer, VP and
secretary during the last three tenures.

The newly elected team includes M Kumaran (Sri Balaji Computers) as
President; K Sadhanandan (Abnaya Sys-tems) as VP; C Suresh Babu (Networth
Systems) as Secretary; J Prakash (Pro Hard Computers) as Joint Secretary and VN
Dhanasekaran (Apt Computer Technology) as Treasurer. Except Kumaran (who served
as secretary in the first term), all are first-timers to the various office
bearer posts. They will be holding the office till the next elections in April
2007.

P Shrikanth of Vellore Online System will continue as advisor for this term
too, while past President C Arumugam will be on the board. As soon as the new
team took over office last month, it charted out various plans for the welfare
of the channel community in the local market.

Top on the list are plans to conduct a mega expo to pro-mote business in the
region, organizing technical training programs for the resellers and increasing
the membership base. “We want to conduct our annual IT event-The Great
Vellore Bazaar, in a mega way this time. The event is scheduled for August and
this year, we will try to cover both Vellore and Thiruvannamalai districts
through this show. Digital lifestyle will be the theme of the show this year,”
said Kumaran.

The Vellore IT market is witnessing a great boom in digital products and
according to resellers there, products such as AIOs and digicams are fast-moving
segments among corporate, SOHO and home users. To help the partners, VAIT is
organizing a series of technical programs for resellers, starting this month.
“We will conduct this every month, along with our monthly meetings. Canon is
presenting the first technical session on June 17 and we are inviting all the
leading vendors to be part of this program series,” informed Kumaran.

VAIT also wants to go aggressive with its member-ship drive. The association,
which presently has 38 members, wants to almost double the figure this year. For
this, VAIT is spreading its wings to nearby markets such as Gudiyattam, Aarni,
Ambur, Tirupattur and Vaniyambadi. “We are trying to bring dealers from these
regions into our fold. And, VAIT would be a single-voice for their concerns.
Strengthening well here, we would cover the nearby Thiruvannamalai district
also,” he quipped.

VAIT is holding a meet this weekend to discuss about the expo and will also
nominate a chairman to look after the activities. The expo chairman can be
elected from the executive committee or he can just be a member of the
association.

S Gopikrishna Chennai, June 16