How Safe Are The IT Exhibitions?

Organizing expos is one of the best ways of reaching out to
masses. Which is why this is the most preferred technique adopted by the IT
fraternity to attract customers. But, after witnessing the tragic incident that
happened at the Meerut Brand India Expo, it's time for organizers to ensure
that adequate safe measures are taken.

As the fascination for technology is gravitating customers
like never before, the trend for IT exhibitions and seminars are swiftly donning
the profile of a necessity. IT expositions are major crowd pullers and perhaps
have become one of the mediums for channel partners to promote business. The IT
industry and various channel association of different states, which organizes
such expos every year, religiously and passionately indulge themselves to give
dimensions to annual IT mela (Exposition), which gives them a reason to extend
the scope of their business.

But amidst all the excitement, which these exhibitions carry
with them, people who organize these shows often overlook the security and
safety aspects of these events. Event organizers hardly place any emphasis on
mandatory safety measures to preclude incidents like fire, short circuits and

stampede that results into a calamitous episode.

The tragic event at Meerut's Brand India expo has been the
outcome of a lackadaisical arrangement at safety front, which resulted in
massive loss of life and property. There were more than 2,000 people at Meerut's
Victoria Park consumer electronics fair, which was being held in three long,
air-conditioned tents with just one exit each. Approximately 500 people were
trapped in the inferno and bodies charred beyond recognition lay scattered at
the razed stalls. When a mere short circuit turned the fair site into ghastly
inferno, loss of human lives could have been prevented, if the organizer would
have paid attention to precautionary measures for fire security.

Shockingly, most of the IT associations committee members
which DQ Channels spoke to were either unaware or turned blind eye towards fire
safety measures one should abide by while arranging expositions in shed or
pandals. The major reason for this ignorance could be attributed to the

shoestring budgets of these expositions that compel its participants and
organizers to manage the entire affaire in meager amount.

 Rajiv Khanna, President, Jalandhar Computer Dealers
Association corroborated, "The security aspect often takes a backseat
during the arrangements of expos and seminars. But it would be a bias if we pass
the buck only to the event-organizers; we participants are equally responsible
for any loopholes that are left in foolproof security of the venue. In order to
accommodate cost of other wares we overlook security

issue and move ahead with our participation."

It's true to certain extent that organizers are the ones
who bear the brunt when something goes haywire, but it is also the
responsibility of participants to raise their voice for issues that affects them
directly. Shailesh Kumar Mandewala of Jamshedpurased-Galaxy Infosystem
seconded, "While human beings don't have any control over natural
calamities; the kind of devastating effect that happens out of blatant human
negligence is something that could be averted entirely."

"But unfortunately not much attention is paid towards
proper implementation of safety measures while organizing IT exhibitions, which,
God forbid, might turn unpleasant for us participants. Hence, people who are
taking part in any kind of exhibition or seminar should themselves see and take
genuine interest in scrutinizing the arrangements done by the third party."

It's true that no one can guarantee 100 percent safety, but
there are certain basic safety guidelines organizers can look at. Generally with
the long stint in the field of events, organizers develop a tendency of
overestimating their expertise, and while at it, they overlook the most crucial
aspect of safety. P Krishnanmoorthy, Director of Mumbai-based event management
company Consumer Links concurred, "When events of such a greater intensity
are organized people usually ignore the security and safety issue which rather
deserves first rank to avert any accident. More so it is also the responsibility
of government officials who give out permits for arranging events to closely
inspect and scrutinize whether the organizer is following the rules and
regulations laid down by the government prior to awarding permission to
them."

According to Krishnanmoorthy organizers should also
distribute brochures to all the participants containing details of the people
accountable for such events like names of government officials who have granted
permission to the event organizer, name and contact details of the organizers,
safety measures applied by the organizer and other such information that will
enhance their accountability.

 People who hire outsiders for carrying out arrangements
of their events often leave the entire accountability on the third party
contactor, which at times costs them heavily. Milind Kumar, GM, Trade Fair and
Conference International remarked, "It is not appropriate to blame the
organizers for any safety flaw, however, a well known event organizer will never
take any chance while arranging public events. I agree that some small time
organizers and first timers leave everything on the contractors, which
eventually turn into atrocious experiences." He further added, "While
organizing events we always try to adhere to the basic rules laid down by the
government like informing various government departments and acquiring
permission from them, but the lacunae is often left by the contractors. Usually
contractors go wrong in designing the architecture of the expo site and
selecting the roofing material that invites unsolicited jeopardy to the
exhibition at later stages."

 Generally it is the fear of shoplifting that looms
large over exhibition participants mind more than any other safety threat. Zakir
Hussain of Mumbai based Aladdin Multimedia expounded, "I believe the event
organizers do not take care of our security. Though I am fortunate enough that
incident of such severity, which occurred at Meerut, has not happened in any of
the expos I have attended, but the thing which makes me worried while
participating in the exhibitions is the safety of my belongings."

Madhya Pradesh Telecom and computer Traders Association (MPTCTA)
Indore, the organizers of Fonocom, central India's biggest yearly IT
exhibition has mastered the art of arranging expositions safely. The association
has been organizing Fonocom since last one decade. Talking about some of the
safety measures this Indore-based association unfailingly takes during Fonocom,
Dharmendra Jain, President, MPTCTA said, "We try to take utmost care of
security and safety. We typically deploy a dedicated team of more than dozen
volunteers at four different locations who manages proper flow of crowd and
oversees traffic movements. Also we make use of metal frame instead of wooden
planks for erecting the roof and we never forget to install close circuit TV
cameras at various locations for incessant coverage of the entire event."

 When Meerut's Victoria Park fire breakout it played
havoc on the lives of hundreds of people visiting the expo and those who
participated in it. As a lesson, various IT associations which were actively
involved in organizing expositions have pulled up their socks and are getting in
the mode for putting their best efforts towards safety of events they organize.
The event-organizing wing of these associations is busy studying rules and
regulations that should be taken into consideration prior to systematization of
any exhibition in pandals.

ANJALI CHOUDHARY