To begin with, 28th March was a very eventful day for Sangeeta and me since after all that fun at the picnic, we had to rush to the airport to catch our flights to Hyderabad to attend the International World Wide Web Conference 2011 aka WWW11 So we found ourselves, completely exhausted from the long, fun-filled day, waiting to crash in our hotel rooms. Reaching late at night, we checked into our rooms in a zombie-like state knowing that there were a lot of things to be done the next day.
The next day, we woke up early so we could be at the Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC) early. One thing we have learnt is that no exhibition ever goes as planned, and that one has to take the day as it comes. On 29th morning, as we stood next to our very bare stall, we discovered, the exhibition date was shifted by a day. So there we were, glad to have some more time to recuperate from the events of the day before.
Of course, we had plenty of calls coming in the day: the consignment from UK had to be collected, payments to be made, people to coordinate with and a zillion other things that needed our attention. Decisions! Decisions! Decisions! On 30th, we were back in action and fully prepared. As an exhibitor, one quickly learns where help can come from. Strangers quickly become lifelines when stalls have to be put up and arranged as soon as and in the best way possible.
We not only managed to have our consignment brought in despite a restriction on entry of goods when Dr. Abdul Kalaam had come to the venue to inaugurate the conference, we also managed extra furniture on the spot (including a chair that I managed to get through sweet-talking with the neighboring stall. Getting freebies always feel so good!).
The stalls at the conference were few but had a good mix of all IT-related companies like Google, Yahoo, TCS, Infosys. Since there were only few stalls, the delegates were able to interact with the exhibitors at leisure. This becomes an excellent opportunity for us to interact with some of the brightest minds as well; it is something that all exhibitors treasure.
While Sangeeta moved in and out the conference to attend her meetings, I had the pleasurable task of standing behind the counter, smelling the wonderful aroma of coffee and answering queries from all who stopped to pore over our books and journals on display.
The conference was a successful and a wonderful experience and it was over almost as soon as it started, or so it seemed. On returning to Delhi on the evening of 1st April, I was happy to recall that the exhibition went off quite smoothly despite small glitches. We look forward to more challenging conferences in the future.
