This is me...:): Rebooting a Memorable Thread ------

My Boss called me and said “Jayanth! The presentation to Siemens Vertical Heads is postponed for a week. Meanwhile, you need to attend an open marketing event “Bangalore IT.Biz” and represent Siemens IT Solutions and Services. You have to explain the IT solutions we provide in the manufacturing sector. In this event, there is a good scope to get business. Can you take up this job?” Without sparing even a second to think I said “Yes. I can. I will attend IT.Biz”

I prepared slides about Product Lifecycle Manufacturing, Manufacturing Execution Systems, Supply Chain Management, etc. The next day morning, I reached the venue, Palace Grounds. I was surprised to look at the number of the security personnel present at the IT.Biz. I was shocked to see the names of the guests who are coming to inaugurate the event. The names were that of Chief Minister (Gujarat), Chief Minister (Karnataka), many ministers and MLAs. Later I came to know that this event is open to only a few delegates especially CEOs and MDs from small and big companies.

I met my colleagues at the Siemens stall. My colleagues are Sales Managers who represented Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace and Communications. All the guests visited a few stalls before inauguration. Fortunately, I got a chance to shake my hands with Mr. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat. Afterwards many CEOs and MDs of small and big companies visited our stall. Some executives even expressed their interest in initiating business with Siemens in different areas. I collected the business cards of the executives and handed those to Siemens. After visiting the stalls of other software companies, I got a good picture of the different directions in which the current software products and services are going. Mr. Sanjeev Sinha, MD, Siemens, India had visited our stall and spent some time with us.

We had an extra invitation to CEO Conclave. I accompanied Mr. Sanjeev to the conclave when he invited me. CEO Conclave was a private meeting in which press reporters were not allowed. I met many CEOs and MDs from topnotch IT companies such as Oracle, Microsoft, AMD, Wipro, etc. We had a social get together. I was lucky enough to initiate a brief talk with many of them. Later Economic Times editor invited a panel of ten CEOs and moderated a discussion. The topic was “What is the impact of recession on India and how to tackle the melt down?” The discussion was very interesting with the facts and figures. Finally, they concluded “The impact of the melt down is severe and we have to seek opportunities and invest cautiously” After the discussion, all of us had a sumptuous dinner. Even during the dinner, I got a chance to interact with few more executives and directors.