Wrong Layout, Lack of Management Hurt Exhibitors Like Never Before

Mangrol Multimedia at New Delhi World Book Fair 2023
Monday 27 February 2023

DAY Third:

The National Book Trust organised New Delhi World Book Fair entered its third day on Monday, 27 March 2023. While the first Sunday was great for many exhibitors (read dominant players with large halls near main entrances), things are looking dull and unpromising for many others. We give you reasons for that, along with happenings in the event.

1. Many exhibitors, especially with single or double spaces (measuring between 8 square metres and 18 square metres) are suffering this year thanks to bad layout planned by the organiser. Large and leading exhibitors are all placed near main entrances, along with NBT itself and government sponsored organisations. Small exhibitors, on the other hand, are given spaces at the end of halls. Visitors are allowed entry to the book fair from gate numbers 4 and 10 only. This means exhibitors placed away from these two gates get far lesser footfalls. We fail to understand what stops NBT and India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO, the body that takes care of Pragati Maidan) from letting visitors enter from other gates? Pragati Maidan has many gates for ease of access to visitors and that purpose goes in vain by restricting entries from two gates only.

2. We also learnt that yesterday evening, hundreds of visitors returned from the gate because entry tickets were exhausted. The only way to get entry was by online ticket booking with which not all visitors are familiar. How can an exhibition of this scale go out of tickets?

3. One horrible thing we had learnt earlier was the Internet connection charges. Whether one believes it or not, in the fair, Railtel is offering a daily internet connection for 10 MBPS speed at, mind you, Rs. 10,000 a day! Wow! How can the organiser think of offering an Internet connection to exhibitors at such a crazy rate? Worse, we also learnt that Internet jammers are also installed in halls. This results in so many hardships for all. How can publishers complete digital transactions with buyers in such a pathetic situation? In fact, NBT should and must provide an Internet connection for free or at extremely affordable rates.

4. Until today, exhibitors were not provided curtains for stalls. Several exhibitors by now have already spent on curtains by sourcing them from private suppliers. Today, an NBT official came and offered us not just curtains (we have two-sided open space) but also assured us to give us one more facia (until today, we have just one). While this gesture was really appreciable, we feel this should have done well before the fair started.

5. Speaking to many exhibitors around us as well as in other halls, we have learnt that a majority of small stall holders are highly disappointed with the overall execution, management, and most importantly, space allocation this year. So much so that murmurs are on among demotivated small exhibitors not to participate in NDWBF from next year. This has happened because of a bad layout. If you look at the plan it feels that the smaller participants are getting step motherly treatment and are relegated to dead corners. Even we feel strongly that we have made a mistake by participating, more so in a hall for English language publishers. Until 2019, we always had our stall in the Hindi (regional) language hall. Our decision to shift from there to hall 5 has cost us a lot.

6. On the positive side, we can only say that NDWBF has its own charm and importance. We have always felt happy being here. This time around too, we hoped it would bounce back superbly after Covid times. Sadly, nothing of that sort has happened. Our only wish from here to the end of the fair is that things improve and make sense for all our efforts, expenses, and expectations. See you tomorrow, again!

7. Mangrol Multimedia Ltd. is in hall 5, stall 485. Our stall is located near the backside gate of the hall. Please feel free to call us on 9821066266 in case you face any difficulties in locating us.

About Mangrol Multimedia Ltd.

Mumbai-based Mangrol Multimedia Ltd. is a media servicing agency. It was incorporated as a proprietorship firm in 2010 and as a limited company in 2018. Mangrol serves 350+ clients through its in- house team and associates.

Mangrol’s range of services include

1. Translation (Localization) in 40 languages

2. Content creation

3. Transcription

4. Graphic Designing

5. Web Designing

6. Animation

7. Audio-Video Editing

8. Audio-Video Production

9. Voice Over

10. Digital Marketing

Keep reading for better living!

Mangrol Multimedia is a participant in NDWBF 2023. We invite you to visit our stall to explore our services and samples.

Dates: 25 February to 5 March 2023

Venue: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Hall: 5

Stall: 485

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