{"id":483,"date":"2010-10-20T19:42:44","date_gmt":"2010-10-20T15:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=483"},"modified":"2010-11-08T12:41:02","modified_gmt":"2010-11-08T08:41:02","slug":"to-be-at-the-show-or-not-be-at-the-show-thats-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/technology-in-the-middle-east\/to-be-at-the-show-or-not-be-at-the-show-thats-the-question\/","title":{"rendered":"To be at the Show, Or not be. That\u2019s the question"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Why would several thousand people gather in a glorified tin shed for a week to be bombarded by ear-piercing classical music played on the (almost) latest technology? \u00a0 Why would senior executives from major multinationals fly thousands of miles to spend hours sitting with journalists pronouncing their company\u2019s \u2018commitment to the region\u2019 and exclaiming \u2018Phew, it\u2019s a bit warm here, isn\u2019t it?\u2019<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s GITEX. Yes, the region\u2019s leading information technology trade show is back and I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll soon be told that it\u2019s bigger and better attended than ever.\u00a0 The Show dominated an absurdly large portion of my life for a decade as I ran the Technology Practice of a large international PR firm.<\/p>\n

You would have thought, given the opportunities to communicate afforded by the internet and the growth in social networking, that such an event would be deemed redundant.\u00a0 How many times did I listen to marketing managers bemoaning the huge chunk of their budget which they had to devote to creating tat on an epic scale \u2013 over-branded polo shirts with minimal cotton content, baseball caps missing that all important bent peak, plastic pens which clicked out but refused to click back in.<\/p>\n

\u2018Any compliments?\u2019 was the calling cry of the over-spotted exhibition freebie hunter.\u00a0 \u2018Yes,\u2019 I would sometimes return, \u2018you\u2019ve got a lovely tie.\u2019 \u00a0 A client of mine once had a competition to see what the cheapest item was that they could pass off as a complimentary gift. They managed to give away a single paper clip to several lucky, but slightly bemused, individuals.<\/p>\n

\u2018Why are we here?\u2019 is the philosophical question of the hour throughout the five days of the Show.\u00a0 For some companies the reason is abundantly clear \u2013 to flog as many boxes of technology as possible. Computer Shopper, which is the consumer adjunct to the Show is a vision of Hell with which Dante would be familiar.<\/p>\n

Throughout the Show harassed PRs with ties scuwiff can be observed having fingers wagged at them and being addressed like naughty schoolboys (and girls) for failing to ensure that their clients secured enough real estate in the exhibition daily. Or for sending a photo that made the client look less handsome than they imagined themselves to be.<\/p>\n

So is it all a colossal waste of time?\u00a0 Absolutely not.\u00a0 Deals are done,\u00a0 introductions are made, old acquaintance is renewed, expertise is shared and let\u2019s not forget, fun is had.\u00a0 The reason that events such as GITEX continue to exist is that they fulfill a basic human need to meet and engage with your peers, your customers and your partners in a relaxed, semi-formal environment.\u00a0 A client once made a startling, but inspired suggestion to me as we surveyed a stand whirring with leading-edge, state-of-the-art technology: \u2018You know what we need to do? Get rid of all of this stuff and put in some nice cosy sofas.\u00a0 That\u2019s what these events are really all about \u2013 people meeting people.\u2019<\/p>\n

So at the risk of spiking a sudden hike in \u2018sofas futures\u2019 perhaps it\u2019s time we were just a little more honest about why we have events like GITEX.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many reasons are given for putting on and attending exhibitions but perhaps they’re not the right ones. The reason that events such as GITEX continue to exist is they fulfill a basic human need to meet with your peers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,9],"tags":[87,2032,894,2033],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}