Compass to Hold Annual Expo in February

Channel Times
Mumbai, January 12, 2004

The Computer Association of Eastern India (Compass) is scheduled to hold its seventh annual IT exhibition - Compass 2004 - from February 13 to 17. According to V. K. Bhandari, director of Compass, "This exhibition is a keenly-awaited event in the eastern region. It will be attended by people from all walks of life, like the end-users, corporates, channel partners, resellers, government officials and so on.' The event, which is sponsored by LG, will see the likes of HP, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel and Mercury exhibit their range of products. There will beover 300 stalls. When asked about the purpose behind holding this event, Bhandari said, "Our primary objective is to create awareness among the SME and Soho segment, besides various dealers and resellers." Bhandari reckons the eastern region to be a developing market in the country.

He also considers this exhibition to be a good platform for launching new products. Elaborating his point, he said, "This would be the cheapest way for any vendor to launch his product. Besides, we are also providing better facilities to our participants." Apart from the exhibition, Compass, which has 250 members in its association, has many events lined up in the New Year. It plans to hold an awards nite, wherein the top vendors and distributors in the entire eastern region would be recognized. The awards will be given based on the IMRB survey, which is expected to be given on 15th February. Due to the steady increase in counterfeit products in East India, Compass plans to hold a seminar, along with top vendors and enforcement agencies, to spread awareness. Bhandari said, "Since counterfeiting is a growing menace, we will address the issue by calling for a joint forum, in which top officials from the IT industry will address the channel partners."