he Land of Sand


opening keynote speaker was from the DMA, and he was ordered to stand down, leaving a pretty big hole in the program. Indeed, there was some pressure to cancel the whole thing, but with a 100-plus delegates already in the air and the booths fully booked, that was not an option. So, marks out of 10? A pass mark, but only just. The organiz-


ers couldn’t do anything about the 11th hour withdrawal of the main sponsor, but a rather large proportion of the remaining papers did seem to be little more than marketing presentations for the various companies that had bought booth space. A major part of the two-day seminar was taken up with a


series of presentations from people selling robotic car parks. This industry seems to see the Middle East as a potentially rich vein that is well worth mining. I have always thought that there is a place for such products,


but they are not suitable for all applications, and it will not be too long before the guys in the Gulf start to ask the question, “If these are so much better than traditional car parks, why are there so few of them out there?”


Some of the robotic-car-park presenters seemed to be


inventing some pretty way out statistics to support their case, and doing this in a room of professionals simply makes the speaker look stupid. There were 17 booths in the exhibition, with a healthy mix of


local representatives of companies and a few overseas direct entries. For a first attempt, it was not bad. So I believe the event could have a future, but the organizers


need to try harder and do better – not least of all by stepping up a notch if marketing to the region rather than just the UAE. If not, there are plenty of competitors out there willing to fill the slot. Event No. 2, the Roadex/Railex conference, is better estab-


lished and took place in the elegant, new Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. Roadex/Railex is similar to the biennial Intertraf- fic show in Amsterdam in that it covers all aspects of the road and rail industry, with parking being only a small component. The show lasted three days, and there were seminars on the second and third days. More than 120 booths featured products


Continued on Page 54


JANUARY 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


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