[LastActionHero]

Nothing new. This is classic Pass mentality is seen in all Cricket/sporting events held in Delhi. There will be more inside the venue with "VIP" passes than the genuine ticket holders. Sometimes the tickets holders are turned back due to lack of space!

I had gone during business hours and frankly speaking the crowd there was unmanageable. The girls at the GM counter were literally shouting and pleading with the crowd to please stop and step back. I can only imagine the plight of the girls in other stalls.

Such kind of poor coordination is simply unacceptable. I have been to the New York auto expo some years back and the coordination and space management there was simply terrific. You could easily browse through all the cars leisurely even though the crowd was substantial.

I'm sure the organizers will just bask in the glory of record visitors and praise themselves without realizing how stressful it had been for most exhibitors and visitors.

[Rach]

I was there at Auto Expo on Friday (8th Jan) and Sunday (10 Jan). We are five friends who went all the way from Hyderabad just for the Auto Expo. We got Business passes on 8th and we bought tickets on 10th. There is virtual stampede in the hall where Skoda, Audi and BMW were displayed. The layout in that hall is poorly designed, where only a thin passage is left for moving crowd. I could hardly see the cars, leave alone looking at specs or taking pictures. The guy who gave us passes told me that they have given almost 10k business passes to each big manufacturer like Tata, Maruti, Toyota, etc.

I don't think we have any space in India that is as big and as good as Pragati Maidan. Shifting it to some other location or increasing the ticket cost is also no solution. They should probably increase number of days to 10 and make sure they fall in two weekends.

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by CoolFire

Maybe they could increase the fee to say Rs.500/- to keep out non-serious visitors. That is the only way for it to continue in Delhi. Otherwise they will have to move it to a much more spacious venue.

I do understand your agony on experiencing the inconvenience is making you feel that way.

But come on, this is absurd on the part of organizers. See the car manufacturers need the consumers not the other way round. I would rather prefer a nominal charge or rather free entry for such events.

Come on, this is not a B2B affair, we are talking of some common man interested in cars wanting to have a look at the cars to help his decision making, we cant expect to extract money from such beneficial people.

[Trust_In_Thrust]

I strongly believe if these car companies can keep the girls adoring the cars out it will automatically decrease the number of people by a huge margin.
I lost count of people who were busy looking at these girls in their camera, cellphones .

Also we can never except good organisational skills from any government agency and the past has many proof of it .The real face loosing part will come in Commonwealth games.

[StarVegabond]

Since 2000 till 2009, i have participated in over 25 exhibitions at Pragati Maidan, from 2004 onwards, i was the owner of the event/booth on behalf of our company including the last Auto Expo in 2008.

If we look at the organization of this event, one word comes to my mind.

Pathetic... it is always understaffed, under facilitated, chaotic

the reason is simple, there are too many agencies involved in a event and all of them do not co-ordinate well enough.

generally there would be an overall Event organizer, then it would be devided into Expo organizer, Speaking Event organizer, Media Event organizer. Then there are several contractors viz. Booth Erector, airconditioning, Canteen, Transportation, Fire Safety, Security service, Ticketing, Publicity, Advertisements, Documentation, Refreshments, Lighting, Carpetting. Then there are state appointed agencies viz. Police, CISF, Pragati Maidan Security, Pragati Maidan Administration, State govt officials, Central govt officials, Tax/Excise officials, Import/Export officials. etc.

Then there are participating companies, who will have their own contractors for errecting booths, organizing press events, sales/marketing people who entertian customers/dealers etc. Booth staff including the local hires. Give away planners, security staff etc.

Then the media, every other guy/gal pretends to be from the press especially in Delhi. trying to get the scoops, misquotes etc especially if the event is hugh and has mass apeal

then business public who wants to build network and contacts, and discuss business. They never plan their visits properly, they do not register till last minute, then scramble / rush for the passes

general public who wants to save a buck or two tries all sort of things to get into the expo. Auto Expo draws huge crowds, unfortunately the planners vanish when the real crowds turn up, and all the books fall short of the space.

the previous day and the last day is a real mess, Better not said anything about it.

This never changes, year after year same story, No one learns from the previous experience.

I am sure, 2 years from hence same story would published, only change being the date.

[CoolFire]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I do understand your agony on experiencing the inconvenience is making you feel that way.

But come on, this is absurd on the part of organizers. See the car manufacturers need the consumers not the other way round. I would rather prefer a nominal charge or rather free entry for such events.

Come on, this is not a B2B affair, we are talking of some common man interested in cars wanting to have a look at the cars to help his decision making, we cant expect to extract money from such beneficial people.

Defenitely, I being one of those consumers would love that to happen. But to keep the crowd in check in a populous country like ours will be a big task. And nowadays every other person is interested in cars, though not in the same level as we Team BHPians.

If the fee is nominal, then we will have to resort to other methods like restricted passes to do the job. It seems these special passes (including to press) were an even bigger menace than the paying public here. Then the only workable solution would be increasing the space available by a huge margin - read moving out of Delhi.

[mkh]

My friend was sent by his co- Hyundai and he came back and tells me- i have some v bad feedback about your home town delhi- i told him i know it all, people are uncultured, do not even respect women, do not pay attention to what is requested to them etc etc...had nothing but to agree to all his complaints..
The expo brought out the worst in general public- wonder what will happen to the people when they see foreigners coming to cheer their country from all around the globe!!!!( especially women- many of who will not know what dress code to maintain on delhi streets) Sad - HM no wonder told delhi folks to learn to behave...
I think some things will take a huge and focused effort to change...maybe some "China Style" approach is needed and strong authority at such places to enforce decorum and rules..
India is a great country- only if Indians respect and realize that more:(

[1-Testosterone]

My advice would be to replace all the babes with seasoned punks That way, most of the nuisance creators will be a well-behaved bunch of guys and they would concentrate only on cars! Seriously, with all the trauma, it's a strict NO-ENTRY-ZONE for lady visitors and children. As of now, the best place to know about this show day by day, is this forum itself

[prashant03]

Definitely one of the worst experiences of my life in terms of exhibitions or shows. Have seen better organized riots.

It always amazes me as to how people in India are ready to grab anything if it's free, irrespective of whether they need it or not. As an example, there were posters of the Honda Robot (Not any car) being handed out, and people were scrambling trying to take 2-3 of these posters each. They will probably throw them away later, but since it was free....... Just presents such a disgraceful, albeit true, image of our society.

Have never seen such behavior outside India. We should really take a long hard look at ourselves before claiming rubbish like 'we are the next superpower', or 'India shining' etc. If we cannot behave like humans in a mundane thing like an auto show, hard to advance to the next level. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth - not intended to cause angst to anyone.

[StreetAddict]

+1 to that. There was a chaos at the Mercedes-Benz pavilion when they started distributing the AMG Carry-bags. I saw people slapping each other just to get a damn bag! What is it with these guys ??

[rrnsss]

Originally Posted by StreetAddict

+1 to that. There was a chaos at the Mercedes-Benz pavilion when they started distributing the AMG Carry-bags. I saw people slapping each other just to get a damn bag! What is it with these guys ??

Not to sound insensitive, but that sounds funny. Would have made a great you tube video.

[DocG]

I try to attend the auto expo in Delhi every 2 years. I enjoyed myself thoroughly in 2008 and in 2006 before that.

This year however, little can be said. Being an invitee of the Germans I know what to expect from them. I usually finish off with the expo during the VIP days and if required, business hours on the next day.

This year due to a busy schedule I missed the expo on the 5th, and attended it on the 6th and the 8th.

My take on the two days:
6th - VIP day

I was stuck outside gate 5 and 7 for roughly 30 mins. This was due to a fight that broke out between visitors without the Special passes fighting with the guards at both these gates. The rowdy crowd who posed as business visitors armed with their business cards seemed more like captives on a secluded island fighting to get on a boat heading out.

These savage "businessmen" had blocked all the entry and exit points at the 2 gates. Foreign nationals at the expo who were trying to get out were trapped as well.

The slurs of profanity slung both ways was refreshingly Delhi. I was cross with the situation to say the least as I couldn't even locate my liaison from the expo who was to receive me and show me around. Turned out that she had been waiting at gate 7 from where I finally entered for over an hour.

Once I was in, I thought the savagery had stopped, but oh boy was I wrong. The "VIP" visitors pushed and shoved just as much as those who would've had to buy passes. What a let down. The crowds were massive even on a restricted entry day. It was difficult to get around and enjoy the show.

After checking out a few stalls though, I decided to meet up with some friends who were exhibitors, this was by far the best thing at the expo this year, I had a few friends who were exhibitors apart from car manufacturers.

8th - Attempted to enter at 4:50PM through gate 7.
Well what can I say. The gates were closed! Why? The crowds were so unruly and unmanageable that the Delhi Police Department issued orders to close all the gates.
I had decided not to trouble my host any more, and tried to wait it out, hoping that once the crowds mellow out they would start letting people in again.
At around 5:06 (I was staring at my watch) a Police Inspector (senior officer at the gate) came out and tried to scare (seriously) people away. I was waiting patiently with a friend off to the side. The Inspector came up to me towards the end and asked me to leave. I then explained to him that I was an exhibitor (I had exhibitor passes) at which point he grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the barricade. I was shocked a senior police official using force on an unarmed citizen who was treating him with due respect. Appalled at the inspectors actions I lost my cool (......not important on a public forum....)

About 5 minutes later I was escorted to gate 3/4 and then inside the exhibition grounds.
The crowds as expected were some of the most unruly people I've ever come across. It felt like I was at a fish market! Thank god I had no interest in any more stalls at this point, and was just there to meet some friends.

At the Mercedes stall that evening, I was checking out the merchandise. I was shocked to see so many people storming the stall and clicking photos, asking to see the products then scoffing at it and laughing exclaiming how ludicrously expensive they were right in front of the MB staff.

All that aside, men dressed in suits and gray hair pushed and shoved just as much, if not more than everyone else!

Judging by the crowds I witnessed, and what incidents that were relayed to me by organizers and exhibitors alike, I have no doubt that they exceeded their footfall estimate of 20 Lakh visitors.

Bottom line: If the Auto Expo in India is to be a success the organizers should take better care of their VIPs and ensure that they dont get mobbed or shoved around. The security and police should be more courtious, which will lead to fewer quarrells. And lastly those who dare grope the models or block the gates should be shot.

I'd like to thank those who extended tremendous hospitality at the Expo, making the visit somewhat bareable:

JBL - Sam Kapasi
Rockford Fosgate - Balmeet Singh
PTC (Kicker) - Vijay and Kamal
DC Design
Mercedes Benz - Also thanks for the free food at the cafe
BMW
Audi
VW
Skoda - Even though I skipped the stall, thanks for the invite
Tata + JLR - One of my favorite stalls, thanks for the hospitality

Cheers,
DocG

[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by DocG

Bottom line: If the Auto Expo in India is to be a success the organizers should take better care of their VIPs and ensure that they dont get mobbed or shoved around. The security and police should be more courtious, which will lead to fewer quarrells. And lastly those who dare grope the models or block the gates should be shot.

Cheers,
DocG

I wholeheartedly agree.

This is one sickening problem in India. Attended the Chickmagalur rally and the SSS stage and post-event dinner looked like this. I think the whole of Chickmagalur was at the dinner event that night hosted at the Serai.

[lifeonwheels]

As expected the Auto Expo turned out to be worst than imaginable. Although it was great in terms of new launches and displays, all of it was useless since very few got to see it properly. I was at the Expo on 5th January, a day reserved for the media and it was a nightmare even then. People with a shabby beard, sack like clothes, pathetic manners and a face which could put their parents to shame were also present on the media day. They had absolutely no interest in the cars.

They were going from stall to stall only to get the media kits just like garbage pickers go from bin to bin to pick left overs and as expected, their appearances were strikingly similar. For reasons unknown to mankind some people were not even willing to wait for the car to be unveiled or launched and were shamelessly asking for the media kits despite the staff explaining that a media kit is supposed to be handed out once the car is launched.


I've written a lot more on this but all of that and lots more on my blog. If you guys feel like visiting then please do.

www.lifeontwowheels-hawk.blogspot.com

[aerohit]

If people had 1 child born or less , things would have been much better.

it is YOU who is to be blamed, not the organizers.

MORE people will attend in future and problem will grow....

Have less children, problem will solve naturally.