Exhibitors at the third PALME India trade show in Mumbai remained united in praising the quality of this year’s event, with over 3,000 professionals from the professional sound, light, music, audio visual and systems integration industries visiting the Bombay Exhibition Centre — and all eager to do business.

Over the course of the three days new distributors were appointed and major deals were struck, as further evidence of how quickly the sub-continent’s infrastructure is maturing.

Two who noted this fact were Aashish Mutha, Director, Uniword Telecom Ltd, and Avinash Dowlwani, who runs AVI Electronics in Dubai. “We had met our objectives by the second day of the show,” said the latter, while Mr. Mutha said that the quality of visitor had improved greatly in 12 months.

Eric Metreand, International Sales Manager, Universal Effects was already counting no fewer than 200 sales leads at an early stage in the show. “It’s been an excellent show — we definitely want to rebook for next year,” he said.

Mohanesh Malik, Business Group Head Special Lighting, Philips Lighting India and Hussam Al Haddad, General Manager, Ateis Middle East, added their own testimonials. “Generally it’s been a great show for Philips,” said the former, while Al Haddad said the launch of Ateïs’ complete automation range couldn’t have been met with a more favourable reception.

Alain Cayrel, Europe & Middle East Sales Director, Jupiter reported that his company had picked up a lot of leads while George V. Varghese, Managing Director, White October, reported that it had been a “good show, with a good turnout.”

Some companies were launching into the Indian market for the first time. Of the show debutantes, Simon Prosser, Director Asian Operations for Finnish company Fogscreen, said his company had achieved its objectives of creating awareness and generating business, while Adam Hall director, Harif Mohammed, confirmed that as a result of the show his company would be looking at setting up an office to capitalise on the potential.

Praise for the improved quality of visitor was borne out by the quantity of business transacted at the show.

Customers included Mumbai-based audio solution providers Sound.com and SNL Pro, while ESCO also reported a sale of two Orion 84” seamless plasma PDP’s to Techworx on the final day.

And there was cause to celebrate for Mauricio Saint Martin and his team from Meyer Sound, who were able to announce a new national distributor.

Responding to burgeoning market potential in India, Meyer Sound has expanded its distribution network by elevating Bangalore-based Reynold’s Sound & Lighting to this role, and by appointing two new dealers to ensure effective sales support for the entire country — Modern Stage Services in New Delhi for Northern and Eastern India, and Mumbai-based Groove Temple Entertainment for the Western Indian sales territory.
 
A Meyer Sound dealer and user since 2000, Reynold’s will continue this role to serve customers in the southern region of India. In addition, the company assumes the responsibilities of a master distributor, providing technical support, product servicing, and coordination of educational programs for the Indian professional audio market.
 
 “I’m excited to be part of this milestone for Meyer Sound in India,” said Felix Remedios, managing director of Reynold’s Sound & Lighting, while Mauricio Saint Martin, director of Middle East sales for Meyer Sound, added,  “With these appointments, we have the right team, and we will work closely with them to take Meyer Sound to the next level.”

Away from PALME India’s shop floor the seminar sessions were packed; in particular, visitors were eager to learn from the show’s keynote speaker, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ahnert, whose company ADA developed the EASE industry standard modelling software back in 1990.

And in the sound proofed demo room, Coda Audio were having an incredible show.  Said the Marketing Director Nina Christoffer, “We were impressed that the name was so well-known in India although this was our first appearance at an Indian exhibition.

“We received a great response from the high quality visitors who visited our demo room and we expect to receive good leads in the coming weeks.

“We also met some interesting companies with the potential to become our distributor for the Indian territory.”

Also bringing the house down were Modern Stage Service’s Bollywood dance showcase which again drew large audiences to their massive integrated technology ‘village’ and captured the festive spirit of the city.  “We were very happy to support this event in such a big way,” commented Davinder Wadhwa.

Yet by the end of this highly successful show, it became clear to trade fair organisers, IIR Exhibitions, that the expo may be ready to evolve into its next phase.

After mounting a successful launch campaign in India’s Bollywood capital there is now a groundswell of exhibitors asking IIR to repeat the formula in a different location in 2009.

The 2009 edition of PALME India is also likely to occupy a different date in the calendar — away from the Festival season.

Exhibition organiser James Raffoul, said, “We can look forward to the future as PALME India has become a permanent fixture in the Indian industry calendar.