 Went to Suntec during the weekend for the holy grail of IT shows, IT Fair 2007. I've noticed many things during my visits to these IT Fairs during the past years. First and foremostly, the names of the Fairs are always aptly named. In 2006, it was called "IT Fair 2006", and there were almost like 2006 million people squeezing each other as if trying to imitate an overpacked tin of sardines. This year, it was called "IT Fair 2007" and guess what? There seemed to be 2007 people having their asses bumped by the lower hip area of the person behind them this year. It was almost like even if you didn't make an effort to move, you would still be pushed along as if following the current of the sea. And with all my experience in IT Fairs, I can conclude 1 very important factor: If you go there without any intention to buy anything, you will almost definitely come out of there feeling hot, sticky, squashed and most importantly, empty-handed. IT Fairs in Singapore weren't made for people to walk-buy. You know, the process of shopping where you walk aimlessly, looking for something that catches your attention and then proceed to buy it. Mainly because it does not allow for COMFORTABLE walking. The only people who will be thankful for the IT shows are the people who have been stalking a product and waiting for a good price to buy it. But truth be told, I would rather go to a normal shopping centre and pay the additional discounted 5 to 10% you would get at the IT Fair than to squeeze with all those smelly people there. So more about this year's show, I don't know why, but Sony suddenly decided to do a massive advertising campaign in liew with this year's IT Fair. Almost the entire CityLink underpass walkway was a living, breathing advertisement for Sony. And they even had an entire convention hall at Suntec just to show the advancements of their products from the early 19th century to our current 21st century. But I still doubt this would get them more market share, since their's is already quite large. Then there was another 2 floors of IT products. The first floor was for the typical shopper [read : 90% of Singapore]. All the major brands had their personal booths that came complete with dummy sets, free printing, lots of freebies and not to mention beautiful models for some. All these just to attract more people to their booth. This is where the sardine packing happens. Having a walkway about 4 meters wide just ain't gonna do when 90% of kiasu Singaporeans want to take a look at the products in the fair. The other 10% who are slightly more IT saavy will go striaght to the next floor, where they sell individual parts and accesories where you can mix and match. All in all, everything can just be summed up in 2 sentences... "If you have something specific to buy, go straight to that booth, get your stuff and get out quickly to save your sanity. If you don't have anything specific, don't even bother visiting the fair as you will just come out frustrated and disappointed. Anyhow written on Mar 12, 2007 at 10:59 AM
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