GITEX 2008

It’s that time of the year again in Dubai.

During GITEX, it’s hard to find a room available in a Dubai hotel. That’s how much crowd the event attracts. It’s happening again in Dubai from October 19 to October 23.

Fortunately or unfortunately, this is the first time I will be attending GITEX. When I was in Karachi I tried to attend it every year for last three years but missed it every single time for some stupid reason. This year I will be there for all 5 days as my company is one of the exhibitors. Let’s see how it goes since visiting an exhibition is one thing and participating in it is a totally different experience. Plus I will also be doing my normal office work from there all week long. So it’s going to be fun.

In the early days, GITEX was a real technology trade show in which genuine IT companies used to participate, and it was visited by people genuinely interested in IT. These days it has merely become a fun fair overshadowed by consumer electronic companies and visitors only interested in freebies.

So companies (at least IT companies) participate in GITEX only for the sake of presence but the return of investment is minimum. I personally know a few companies who don’t participate in GITEX anymore because they think it’s a total waste of time.

Nevertheless, I will be there at GITEX and will cover the event on twitter. Feel free to follow me. And of course, you are most welcome to come and meet me at my stand. How to find me is left as an exercise for the reader.