Comp-Ex' 2009 Beats Recession Successively

The 17th Comp-EX'2009, the grand annual flagship event organized by the Vidarbha Computer and Media Dealers' Welfare Association (VCMDWA), Nagpur from January 9 -12, 2009 at the Ladies Club Lawns, Civil Lines, Nagpur was a huge success. With more than two lakh visitors, about Rs 3 crore of actual sales and lead generation of more than Rs 7 crore, it has beaten all its own previous records.

Comp-Ex is the one of the biggest IT, Telecom and Office Automation Expo of Central India which witnesses presence of all the major global brands like AMD, Dell, D-Link, Epson, HCL, HP, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, LG, Logitech, NEC, Microsoft, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TVSE, Wipro, Xerox, Zenith, etc.

Comp-Ex witnesses visitors from all segments like large national corporate, MNCs, software companies, BPOs, small and medium business enterprises, central and state govt establishments, education, small office home office (SOHO), professionals and of course the home users. It is an ideal platform for launching of new products, and also announcing attractive schemes and offers.

Amidst a huge turnout of IT enthusiasts, the exhibition was inaugurated by Union Minister for new and renewable energy, Vilas Muttemwar, and the DGM of Idea Cellular Ltd, Mahendra Tiwari. Delivering the inaugural address, Muttemwar, said, "Information Technology coupled with advancements in telecom industry have shrunk the globe. People sitting in their houses have access to huge databases of information. Appreciating the efforts of VCMDWA in consistently organizing Comp-Ex for the last 17 years, such exhibitions are necessary for a positive and in-depth spread of information in every region."

"Efforts should be made to reach the IT products, especially computers, to as many citizens as possible. Dealers should tie up with financiers and offer products on easy monthly installments. Educational institutes should upgrade their IT facilities to enable students familiarize themselves and work on state of the art systems," Muttemwar told further. 

Muttemwar said that IT and Telecommunication are amongst the backbones of the prosperity of the country. On the occasion, he also released the official "IT Directory of Nagpur," published by Click IT, the local IT media partner.

According to the Guest of honour Mahendra Tiwari, DGM of Idea Cellular Ltd, "Idea was proud to be a part of Comp Ex and appreciated the effort of VCMDWA in organizing this mega event. VCMDWA has, over the years gained invaluable experience and now provides great platforms for product launches and propagation of newer technologies."

Talking about Idea's latest product he said that the high speed Internet Netcard that is a plug and play USB, comes with an international roaming facility. Mentioning that Idea was offering the card at a very special price in the exhibition, he expressed surety of Idea offering products that would enhance the value addition for its users.

According to Prashant Ugemuge, President, VCMDWA, "The executive body of VCMDWA had done elaborate and meticulous planning to make happen yet another grand version of its flagship event: Comp-Ex.  This year, Comp-Ex 2009 had an altogether new layout, housing 24 Pavilions, 86 Stalls, Cafeteria and helpdesk. The stalls were bigger in size, resulting in enhanced display value and better handling of customer enquiries. The passages were wider too, resulting in ease of movement for the visitors."

"We received several requests from many prospective exhibitors for making available smaller size stalls at a lower cost.  As an extremely special case, as a goodwill gesture, the association announced the availability of economy stalls, measuring 2m x 2m, at an attractively affordable price of Rs 10000," he told proudly.

Pre Comp-Ex Promotions

The exhibition created a lot of excitement amongst the youth of the region as the daily "COMP-EX'2009 – The Hitavada IT QUIZ" was getting a tremendous response. Starting 14th December, the lucky winner, everyday, won a prize worth Rs 1000 and the Bumper Prize was a stunning Notebook Computer.

"With a view to widely publicize Comp-Ex, hoardings were already erected since first week of December, at prominent city locations like Central Avenue, Medical College Square, Sitabuldi, Shankar Nagar, Bajaj Nagar and Sadar," Prashant told.

All days of Comp-Ex witnessed tremendous crowds. In fact, the parking lot used to be overfull by afternoon itself and several senior members of the association were managing the large parking area, for the rest of the day. The main sponsor of the event was Idea Cellular Ltd.

The 93.5 S FM setup created a lot of excitement at the venue, attracting youth in various programmes conducted daily.   They had also announced "Idea-Comp-Ex" quiz every hour, wherein; the participant could win free pre-paid connection from Idea.

Major Attractions of the Expo

Canon held a "Miss Photogenic" contest, on 11th January at their Pavilion. The event witnessed a huge response, with more than 100 entries, between the age group of 6 and 40. In fact, the contest, which was supposed to be held between 3 and 5 PM, was extended till about 8 PM, seeing the great response. A panel consisting of senior VCMDWA executive body members along with Manoj Jha of Canon Mumbai judged the winner. And the winner was  Swarnima Dalal, who bagged 17-PPM Color and 4800 DPI High Resolution Canon Pixma IP 1980 Photo Printer, worth Rs 2695.

The concluding day saw an unprecedented response and actually the requests from various visitors for extending the expo, by at least a day, which was anyway not possible. Reacting very quickly to the flow of crowd and requests for expo extension, Prashant Ugemuge declared that 18th Comp-EX' 2010 to be a Five Day Event. Next Year, the event will be inaugurated on 7th Jan 2010 and will remain open till the 11th Jan 2010.

In times, when many associations are canceling or rescheduling such expos and many more associations already disappointed with their recently concluded versions, the success story of Comp-Ex' 2009 is a feather in VCMDWA's cap.

With strength of more than 107 active members, VCMDWA is committed to spread awareness as well as the benefits of "Information Technology" to the masses at large. The Association, on one hand, restricts unfair practices in the trade, and also protects genuine business interests of its members, on the other.