Drive away parking blues!

Gave my car to the valet at a store on Commercial Street (once upon a time, THE shopping destination in Bangalore). For those who’re familiar with Commercial Street will know how impossible it is to get parking.

So, the valet ends up parking it almost a kilometre away! And when you’re done, instead of getting your car to the store, the valet drives you to your car in their car! Nice, eh?

Coffee and observations

Observed during (yet another) visit to Barista and this time, it was early on a Sunday morning:

• 3 chairs around each table is the default arrangement for many tables, especially the ones that are alongside a wall/partition. So, is the arrangement being influenced by the placement of the tables (alongside the walls) or by the number of customers per group that walks in?
• The chairs have undergone some changes few weeks/months ago (see the 2nd picture below)…more cushioning being the key modification. Yet another fallout of consumers spending longer hours at coffee shops? But this seems like a half-hearted attempt at making the chairs more comfortable (for longer stays).
• The smoking section of the coffee shop took up more floor space than the non-smoking section. What does this do to the profile of consumers coming to (or not coming to) this particular store?
• How about the ’single seater’ concept?

DCamp’s also here now!

Finally, DCamp’s happening in Bangalore. About time.

Without intending to take away from the spirit of the event, I’m a little disappointed with couple of things after looking at the event website…

• Looking at the profiles of people who’ve signed up so far, it’s very obvious, this is a gathering of “Interaction Designers” (or “Usability professionals” or “UX professionals, etc. etc.). That’s great…but where are the product designers, graphic designers, ‘art directors’, fashion designers…and how about photographers, filmmakers, artists? Of course, one can argue this in many ways…there are obvious advantages and disadvantages in having an event focused on a specific community of professionals. But I’d personally like to see more exposure and interaction between these different professions, rather than being lost in one’s own niche.
• Secondly, the list of topics that have been listed so far, are surprising. Overall, it doesn’t sound like a “Design conference”, if you know what I mean…(and no offense to any of the presenters…many of them, my good friends!). It’s just that I’d personally like to see more of the “D” in the ‘DCamp’.

Either ways, I’m still quite excited about the event…especially about the fact that already 96 people have signed up. Doesn’t seem like a huge number, but considering where the design scene in India was 10 years ago, it’s a HUGE leap!

FilmCamp, after BarCamp

While the name, ‘FilmCamp’, sounds like an ‘un-conference’ for film making, the details on their website indicates a typical conference-like format. Either ways, the event sounds interesting and I’m guessing, it will attract a good response in Bangalore. Looking forward to it.

More details here: FilmCamp.in

Wannabe ‘value added services’?

With so much competition in the mobile/telecom space these days, service providers seem to be getting desperate with “value added services”. I get this message from Airtel today…

For the young at heart, Airtel brings BackgroundMusic! Set a Romantic/Funny tone in background when U talk on ur mobile. Call 676 @ Rs.2/min to avail. Monthly-Rs.30

Maybe it’s just me again, but who would want to listen to some “romantic/funny tone” (in other words, noise?) while you’re trying to have a conversation over the mobile? It’s bad enough to deal with network connectivity issues and the noise while you’re outdoors.

On the other hand, I really like the ‘missed call alert’ service. For Rs.15 a month, you get an SMS from Airtel whenever somebody tried to call you and your cellphone was either ‘out of range’ (unreachable) or was switched off. Of course, the message also tells you the number of the person who called, so you could call them back.

While on the topic, incidentally, the upcoming Mobile Monday in Bangalore is about Mobile VAS trends. Still figuring out if I can make it for this one.

Observations (Aug 14)

Last week, it was picking up passport application forms while grocery shopping. This week it’s “apply for a job while at the coffee shop”! Accenture has placed this drop box at Barista on 100 feet road, Indira Nagar (and I’m guessing it’s at other Barista outlets as well) for folks to apply for a job. I’m guessing you can drop your business card (in case one doesn’t have a resume handy!).

The strange thing is…the box is tucked into a corner, indoors inside the coffee shop. So, many of those who are seated outdoors wouldn’t get to see it. Beats the whole point?

Anyways, this is yet another pointer towards the increasingly cluttered recruitment space (especially in the IT industry) in Bangalore. Companies are now trying all sorts of things…I’ve seen URLs on the back of autorickshaws (Oracle’s not-so-attractive ad…I need to find a picture of that), mobile billboards/hoardings that are positioned right outside well-populated ‘technology parks’ (so the ‘target audience’ sees a huge ad for jobs at a competitor’s, as they walk out of the office) and now it’s drop boxes in coffee shops. HR is (trying to) get creative!

Moving on, here’s a picture of a crowd that gathered randomly to watch a Kannada film shooting that was happening in the Barista’s in Koramangala (I know it’s beginning to sound like, all I do is hang out at Barista’s)!

Apply for a passport while grocery shopping?

I’m quite amused and still can’t get why Spencer’s, at the recently opened store on 80ft. Road – Indira Nagar in Bangalore, has a rack for Passport application forms! Next time you’re there, take a look at the forms alongside the checkout counter. I’ve seen mint, gum, cigarettes, magazines, condoms, shaving blades beside the checkout counters till now. But, passport application forms while grocery shopping, is really bizarre. Or am I missing something?

Update (Sep 10, 2007): Managed to take a picture during a repeat visit recently (see below). Also ended up chatting with the people behind the checkout counters. When I asked if anyone was taking these passport application forms, they said they’ve been selling 15-20 in a day (each form costs Rs.10)!! I couldn’t tell if they were more surprised at my question or if I was more surprised that people are actually making use of this facility.

Swearing by…

A consumer pinching his/her throat (?)…the Indian way of showing, “I swear by this”…

The good thing about this is that this symbol, I believe, is recognizable/identifiable across most parts of the country.

PS: Also, I’ve finally started using my camera phone (!). Photographs shot in broad daylight, as you can see here, are pretty good.

Containing the smoke

Unlike in (most?) other parts of the world, in India, one can buy any number of cigarettes (instead of buying the whole pack) from paanwallah shops. I thought this is a subtle, yet powerful way of limiting/controlling one’s smoking. Or, maybe not?

Upcoming events

A variety of (potentially) interesting events coming up over the next few weeks/months…

• TiE New Delhi’s organizing a retail summit on July 27.
• India Retail Forum: Sep 4-6, 2007 in Mumbai.
• Design Yatra 2007: Sep 6-8 in Goa.
• EPIC 2007: Oct 3-6, 2007 in Colorado, USA.

Let me know if you’re headed to any of these. I’m still making up my mind…