Disaster on the set-up day!
This event attracts hundreds of local and international publishers, and over 200,000 visitors every year. Our company is participating as an international publisher for the second time, together with our local distributors.
The set-up day today was a major disaster, obviously a result of total lack of organization and absolute mismanagement!
The first shock was the lack of security despite the recent events in the country. Any vehicle could enter the gates unchecked and come all the way near the main entrance to the halls!
Secondly, there was no lighting in the halls except for some sunlight. And no power supply for the exhibitors! We kept complaining all day, and got different explanations from the organizers every time:
We want to be careful that nobody gets electrocuted!
The Expo Center electrical staff is off in the morning due to Christmas – you’ll have lights by 1 PM.
There is power failure.
The staff is off today due to Christmas.
The Expo Center wants to save on power. You’ll have power tomorrow!
All exhibitors worked in darkness and heat and humidity all day. Our team left around 7 PM, without setting up our lighting, computers and audio-visual stuff!
Both ladies and gents toilets inside the halls remain locked all days due to “security reasons”! Everyone had to use the dirty and filthy, open-air, under-construction toilets outside the halls. The ladies in our team couldn’t go near it. After non-stop complaining to the organizers, toilets in the main reception area, also away from the exhibition halls, were finally opened around 1 PM. Those were a bit cleaner but without any toilet paper, soap, paper napkins or dryers!
The list goes on, but just one more thing worth mentioning is the blame game that all organizers engaged in throughout the day, instead of accepting any responsibility!
Here we are waiting for our new domestic helper to arrive in Hong Kong, and she is stuck in Kerala due to insufficient funds to buy a ticket. No, she does not have any bank account; plus it’s Friday so most banks have the excuse of non-processing day garbage. Let’s face it, the world is global, fast paced and at least the big companies should (and can) cater for the poor individuals who only get time to clean up their act on weekends. Yes, planning is important, but if you don’t have unplanned emergencies in your life you must be lying or simply not living!
