India is at the anvil of what could truly be its century. We are taking first steps to being a global economy, having undergone a plethora of reforms and as early as 2028 India is poised to overtake Germany and Japan, and emerge as the Third largest Economy in the World.
Yet, India is peculiar! Don’t get me wrong, I very much intend to mean that in a very positive way. We have our own distinct culture that is ever pervading. Our Culture permeates our way of working – and that affects how we conduct business, how we buy solutions, how we negotiate, how we deal with our suppliers, how we look at experimenting, etc.
I want to dwell deeper on the last point I make – how we experiment!
Here again, India throws up a paradox – we are the world’s largest producers of engineers, scientists and doctors. Now, as we all know, ‘Experimenting is key to science’. Sadly, this aspect is the one that India doesn’t display when it comes to conducting business or being linked directly or indirectly with financial results and performance (of a company, idea, individual, etc). We tend to be cautious where change is involved as change inherently is linked to taking risks that could fall either way, rightfully so! We tend to fully understand the concept first, appreciate it, talk about it with others but we are hesitant to implement it!
The factors are many as to why we do what we do, but it was important for me to bring this fact aloud up front, as it is directly connected with my story, which is about how we, as Corporate Buyers, seeped in an invisible layer of the omnipresent and omnipotent Indian culture that even influences our business buying choices, apparently have come rocketing through those fog layers of conditioning, and have embraced a product, that we launched in the Indian markets not very long ago, for Live Engagement at Meetings & Events.
The product is a SEES/hub partnered #EventTech, called Sli.do.
Before continuing on its success story in India, let me share a little about the product. Sli.do started as a solution to the problem that was universal – that of getting the average attendee in a discussion, in all meeting rooms whatever the size. It sought answers to questions like: Was it possible? How best was it possible? What Tech base should it be based on? How could this become a Worldwide phenomenon? How easy could/would that be?
The team at two global centres, at Bratislava in Central Europe and in the U.S.A., got on to the job and have come up with a product that has revolutionized meetings rooms across the globe, in the shortest possible span of time.
Without shedding your guard or building courage to act on your public speaking skills in a room full of peers; being able to Ask a Speaker or Panel a Question, Up-vote or Down-vote a fellow Attendee’s Question, Participate in a dynamic Live Poll in various formats, was never as easy until Sli.do came along and addressed the needs of the attendees, the organisers, and the meeting planners alike, in developing a tool that is user friendly, pocket friendly, and setting friendly. A win-win for all! Not surprising then that today Sli.do is serving in excess of 80,000 Events – big and small, the World over in a year, and in doing so, has truly become an #EventTech of preference by all.
In India, Sli.do has a local presence through SEES/hub and has been used at many a conference over the last two years. There is heightened interest from India in the tool as the website metrics for Slido.com depict although many start with the Freemium’s Free model first but quickly climb the ladder to really benefit from Slid.do’s wide bouquet of solutions best suited to their Meetings & Events needs.
Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Reliance, Axis Bank, HSBC, Northern Trust, SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and many others have Sli.do in common, having purchased Annual Licenses for using Sli.do tool at their internal and external meetings & events. This goes on to prove that there is a wider acceptability across sectors and the average Indian attendee is undergoing a renaissance. She wants to move with the times, and adapt to the best-in-class EventTech there is, NOW!
It also goes on to shatter the greater myth that the otherwise scientifically inclined Indians don’t like to experiment! They do if assured of the desired output!!
You can learn more about Sli.do here. The author Lalit Chadha is a Co-Founder of Strategic Engagement & Event Solutions, a company with Offices at New Delhi and Hyderabad, providing Engagement and Design solutions to meeting owners & planners in India. Business queries for India may be directed to prateek@sees-on.com.
