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Follow UsCompass recently held its expo with the theme 'Xplore Digitally' at Netaji
Indoor Stadium from March 12 to 15. The event showcased the latest product
offerings in the IT space. The expo was hosted with an estimated budget
exceeding Rs 1 crore. Interestingly, this time the channel partners featured as
top sponsors, rather than vendors. The event saw participation in huge numbers,
according to Pawan Jajodia, Chairman-Expo Committee, Compass, "As estimated 1
lakh visitors from across the state visited the expo this time."
Dr Debesh Das, Minister of IT, West Bengal inaugurated the expo, which had 75
participants in 100 stalls and 20 pavilions spread across an area of 1,160 sq
ft. JK Baid, CEO, Eastern Group, the primary sponsor of the expo was also the
Guest of Honor. "Expos are beneficial for both consumers as well as vendors. The
eastern Indian market has grown by 22 percent in the last FY, despite the
slowdown. This event will provide an excellent platform for both buyers and
sellers of IT for business needs and deals," said Dr Das. "East India has the
best infrastructure and manpower in terms of IT. There is a lot happening in the
IT space here and we now need to boost the state's image," Das added.
Compass had previously declared that in terms of business, East India has
grown by 20 percent in FY 2008-09 with PC sales registering at 14.93 lakh units
compared to 12.48 lakh units in FY 2007-08. Also, this FY (till Dec '09) 57 lakh
units of PCs have already been shipped. Speaking along the same lines, Alok
Garodia, President, Compass said, "Our members have successfully weathered the
economic crisis in 2008-09. The market is now maturing in Kolkata and
furthermore across the East."
This time, the association implemented a real-time webcast of the expo for
all four days alongwith an inter-college IT quiz where 30 colleges in and near
Kolkata participated. Compass, keen on focusing on business customers, had
designed expo visiting hours starting from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm. The expo was
open for general visitors between 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
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Mrs and Mr Bhandari with the Compass |
| Lifetime achievement award for VK Bhandari Compass recently held its annual awards felicitating the In an unique catergory, the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to VK Assuring his presence in Compass to this date, Bhandari concluded, "At |
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With GST gaining much attention across all business verticals, Compass too
made its stand clear over GST in the expo. "Implementing GST will definitely
give us all a boost to expand beyond state boundaries, particularly for
manufacturing and trading. Compass supports the GST movement and we think that
all associations across India should take the advantage of it," Garodia added.
Apart from holding the expo in the city after a stalemate of one year,
Compass has sounded keen on expanding its footprint across the East. The
association has already received support from other eastern associations, like
BITA, ITAO, ITDAS, NECTA, JCWA, CAD and JITA. Compass may hold expos on similar
lines in other Eastern cities in the future. "We are keen on holding expos in
the eastern India market on similar lines as of the Compass Expo. Talks are on
with the local associations and we expect a positive response for going ahead
with our local expo plans," said B Hari, Member-Executive Committee, Compass.
The Compass Award night was held in Swabhumi on March 15. The DQ Week was the
official Media Partner for the Compass Expo and the Awards.
Avishek Rakshit
avishekr@cybermedia.co.in