Bangalore's success

It's not often one comes across an exhibition in India, which is Wi-Fi enabled and has a large screen display for showcasing the events happening within a 25,000sqm occupied area. But then when it's an event of Bangalore IT.com's stature, considered to be Asia's renowned information, communication and media technologies (ICMT) exhibition-cum-conference, it has to exude technical expertise and quality as Bangalore is known as a hub especially for the IT sector. Just a fortnight before the scheduled dates of Bangalore IT.com 2004, there was uncertainty in the air. The seventh edition, held at the picturesque Palace Grounds from November 1 to 5, 2004, was in danger of a boycott by the Bangalore Forum of IT (BFIT) companies. Fortunately, the local Karnataka state Government acknowledged the lack of action on the poor infrastructure in Bangalore city and assured addressing of the concerns related to the global brand equity of Bangalore as the primer destination for off-shoring and outsourcing. Just two weeks before the scheduled dates there was a consensus on taking the event further, based on the strengths of Bangalore as a destination of global IT firms and facilitate networking among the stakeholders, including policy makers, industry associations and overseas delegations. With this background, the host state government, co-host Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and organiser Cyber Media Events did a commendable job in conducting the event. Branded 'Shape the Future with ICMT', the five-day event featured trade show and conferences with a focus on hardware, telecom and media. The exhibition venue had ten pavilions including the new inductions such as animation, games and media companies. "The magnanimity of Bangalore IT.com, apart from being a market for 'multi-million' deals, can also be judged from the fact that it is also expected to promote five other districts in Karnataka, Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Gulbarga and Belgaum as potential IT hubs for the investors and also help in creating half a billion jobs by 2010," said a Government official. The event was attended by about 300 companies from 15 countries where major delegates came from the Asia Pacific region, noted S. Manjunathan, public relations and infrastructure group, STPI. All the events, except for six conferences, were conducted at the Palace Grounds. The state of Victoria, Australia was represented by a 54-member contingent including minister for communication and IT Marsha Thomson, comprising 27 companies. The Australia team, led by Thomson, also visited Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. Other countries included first-timer Spain, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, UK, Germany, Russia and Belgium among others. Overall, there were 150,000 general visitors, 40,000 business visitors and more than 2,000 conference delegates. "The inauguration ceremony was held at the Palace Grounds, attending by more than 2,000 delegates. We had restricted this to key officials and business executives. We also conducted events on other nights such as the 'CEO Conclave' for senior executives like chief executive officers and chairmen, which was preceded by a half-hour presentation attended by 600 people. The other events, IT Nation Nite, organised by the Victoria State Government, was attended by 600 people and Awards Nite, which comprised dinner for 800-odd delegates and bands performing live in front of audience was all held at the same venue," added Manjunathan. Palace Grounds, also known as Bangalore Palace, is the major venue for exhibition in the city. It was inspired by the Windsor Castle and built in the 1880s. "It hosts most of the major exhibitions held in Bangalore, so in that sense it is seen as Bangalore's exhibition venue, akin to Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Besides, the Bangalore Palace provides a very interesting backdrop to any exhibition," said Torque Communications consultant Archana Muthap. At the exhibition venue, there was a hot spot created for Wi-Fi connectivity, with participants and delegates having the option to connect to the internet in the pavilions, open area, food court, the media centre, VIP lounge or inaugural area. Manjunathan said: "The foreign delegates were given a chance to talk to the press. The delegates were given places in the VIP lounge to meet top officials of the IT department of STPI and Nasdaq. We also tied up with a Chennai company for the LCD display, which was placed at the centre of the entrance of the palace. The everyday events were played on the next day." The media lounge was crucial for several participating companies as some of them chose the occasion to launch operations in India. Convenient venue About the exhibition venue, Muthap said:"The 'feel' of the event is very international and caters to the kind of audience it draws. The pavilions are air-conditioned and most companies and organisations who buy space at the event ensure that their stalls are professionally designed — in keeping with the overall look of the event. The Bangalore Palace Grounds is certainly a spectacular venue for any event — especially in terms of location. It is right in the centre of the city." There were three simulcast conferences in one day. "For three simulcast conferences, we chose Taj West End's ballroom, for which we were expecting around 300 executives, and conference room in the same hotel, for an expected 150 people. The third conference was held at Grand Ashoka's banquet hall, where we expected 350 to 400 people. On other three days, we conducted the conference at Taj West End's ballroom," said Manjunathan. "The overwhelming response for the conference exceeded all our expectations," said state IT secretary Shankaralinge Gowda. The major consideration for choosing the five-star hotels was the accessibility from the delegates. The hotels were barely 10 minutes drive from the exhibition venue. The scheduling of conferences, visiting hours for business professionals and lunch was planned in such a manner that a professional could attend the conferences as well as plan their meetings at the exhibition venue in a hassle-free manner, Manjunathan added. The transfer was managed by local embassy offices. Since the distance between venues was a minor issue, a lot of people were participating in both the exhibition as well as the conferences, said Muthap. Manjunathan noted: "We didn't arrange any package for hotel stay but the guests stayed at the five-star hotels and even at resorts as booking hotels in this city can be a problem." International delegates stayed at the Taj West End, Windsor Manor, Taj Residency, Chancery, Leela, Atria and the guests were divided among almost all the hotels. The organisers had worked out an action-packed schedule at the Palace Ground in the evening, inviting top singers and live bands from across the country. The performances followed the networking dinners/forums in the evening. "Most of the delegates had their entire day busy and during evenings we had cultural programmes like Australian night, while the Hariharan team performed at the CEO Conclave and the Aqua Flow group performed at the Awards night from Mumbai," said Manjunathan. As per the information available, the tourism department was offering packages for visits to Mysore, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, and historical places like Belur Halebidu. Signaling a step in the right direction, the state Government also disclosed plans to gear up for new challenges and infrastructure improvements to sustain Bangalore's image. "The Bangalore-Mysore highway, which will be ready by 2005, will make it possible for people to commute between the cities in just two hours. Providing bandwidth is not at all an issue now. Hotels are something that requires attention. Three new hotel projects including one by the ITC group, a Taj hotel in Whitefield and JW Mariott Hotel will come up in a year's time," Gowda told media. He added, "We are in the process of identifying 1,000 acres of land near the new international airport in Devanahalli. We will acquire land through the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB). The new park is expected to be ready in a year's time and will be declared as a Special Economic Zone so that companies can get benefits. Until the park is ready, we are encouraging hardware companies to set up operations in Peenya, Jigni and Whitefield," state secretary Gowda noted. VERDICT RENESAS TECHNOLOGY SINGAPORE Gopi Kumar Bulusu, chief architect and managing director of Indian company Sankhya Technologies Private Limited, found the mega event very professional. "I did not spend a whole lot of time in Bangalore for IT.com 2004. I had been to the NASSCOM conference on innovation and was impressed by the topics covered as well as the number of people that attended the conferences and the large number of people who met me after my speech. The conference was organised professionally and started as per the schedule," said Visakhapatna-based Bulusu. Bulusu said that he came to Bangalore from Chennai by car and stayed at a hotel close to the venue of the conferences. "The stay was quite comfortable. Bangalore is definitely going to be a major destination for conferences and exhibitions. The large number of IT organisations and their workforce provide a mature market for both exhibitions and conferences. While Bangalore is reasonably well-connected by flights to various parts of India, it is not quite as well connected as Chennai, Mumbai or New Delhi." Apart from relatively inadequate connectivity vis-à-vis other developed cities in India, Bulusu felt the traveling in the city and local traffic, too, needed to improve. "I had no problems whatsoever with the event itself. However, some parts of the city are poorly connected by road and if you plan on visiting some of the offices in areas like Raman Nagar, it is safe to add 30 minutes to your schedule to take care of the traffic," he noted. The circuit between the five-star hotels, Taj West End and Grand Ashok where conferences were held, and the Palace Grounds was around five kilometres in all and the airport was about 12 to 14 kilometres away. Bulusu was also wary of driving himself. "Also if you are driving around by yourself — which is not at all recommended — make sure to remember the maps. Bangalore, like most other cities in India — including its highways — does not yet pay much attention to road signs indicating street names and distances." Despite scope for improvement, Bulusu felt Bangalore was almost indispensable for the IT industry and he regularly visited the city due to business commitments.