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An interview with Ziff Davis Director Pascal Winckel

This time round, Comdex India actually did worse than last year. The reasons could any of the several being offered by officials and industry critics.

The uncertainty about the hosting of the event itself and the shaky alliance of the organising partners besides the India Internet World jamboree just months ago are all blamed individually or collectively.

But Ziff Davis' Director for Emerging Markets Pascal Winckel may have just hit the core of the issue when he spoke to Rediff about the "avoid Asia" this season fiat of many companies in the West:

This year's Comdex India has had poor participation. Is it because of the uncertainty some months ago about the organising partners' alliances with each other?

It is not so much a problem of changing partners. There have been several new shows over the year and the attendance has been divided.

Comdex India is the largest IT show in India still. There's a lot to see here about the Internet and software. In the given circumstances, I think the participation is okay.

How is the future going to be for this show?

I am sure the Comdex India show will grow tremendously. Things have been tough for everyone here. With the booming markets here, there will be a lot of innovation and India will became more attractive for an international show. It would be a regional hub in a few years. I see the show growing by two to three times soon.

What's the position about the alliances among the organising partners now? Will there be more realignment?

Business India & Ziff Davis are in a long-term partnership. We have support from NASSCOM. We are open if MAIT would like to talk to us.

There are many IT shows in India now. Hasn't that affected Comdex this year?

Our focus is on exhibitions. There's a huge potential here, so there are going to be several shows, each with a different focus.

The shift for Comdex is towards Internet and software solutions.

Some shows in the US too sometimes have the problem of getting high participation because of shifting focus.

This year, many international companies have taken the decision to "avoid Asia". The circumstances didn't play in our favour. But I'm sure we will do better in 1999.

The conference this time did not feature any internationally respected names?

The time was short to get international participation this time. Also, usually, at any conference, 80 per cent of the experts are local for an economic reason. The conference is not really critical for solution seekers. Any which way, they want answers to their questions.

How's the attendance this year?

Our goal was 60,000. But we are not trying just to increase the numbers. I've observed that many of the presentations at the fair were popular and there's a lot of enthusiasm.

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