COMDDAP Experience

The Computer Manufacturer Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines, also known as COMDDAP, have held an event where there will be exhibits, seminars and demonstrations of their many products, which are computer-related stuffs i.e. systems, motherboards, graphic cards, laptops, flat-screen LCDs, etc. The even was held at the Apo View Hotel, Grand Ballroom, Davao City. I, together with my classmates, attended the event on July 2, 2009 during the afternoon session. There was a registration desk right outside the hotel’s ballroom and many people, with business or business-related affiliation crowded at the desk where they have to register and fill out some forms before proceeding inside. We, as students, were only just given a sticker stating that we were student guests and did not need to fill any forms or enter any kind of procedures so we immediately went in.

The Grand Ballroom of the Apo View Hotel was filled with lots of booths showcasing many different kinds of products ranging from hardware such as hard disks and LCD monitors to software systems. The Ballroom had an atmosphere of professionalism and had an air of business intended affairs. The mood was not very welcoming to us, students (especially so because we do not possess the necessity to become potential sources of income), but even so we were accommodated appropriately. Upon our entrance, we have little time to sightsee the entire room since it was time for the seminar which was our main intention upon the event. The seminar was called Technology Update Seminar and it was held at a room inside the Grand Ballroom. Although the room was quite small from what I expected (especially since I expected there will be many businessmen, professionals, professors as well as students that will attend), it was still enough to contain all the excited spectators that afternoon. The audience in that time was mostly composed of students that came from our university with a few businessmen and professionals. After ensuring that there will be no more (or at least many more) visitors to come, they had started the seminar with minor delays. I did not want to listen carefully all through out his discussion since I was not interested at first.

At first, I thought that the things they will show and discuss during the seminar was about new Technologies and related stuffs because it was named “Technology Update” Seminar. So I thought that we would be updated with new technologies from various companies. I was expecting things like “new” data storage media or new innovated technologies. However, right at the start, it was like product showcase as the first speaker introduced their product and discussed its details. The first speaker was from the company called “Jupiter” and his name was Mr. Celster Santos, their Sales and Marketing head. He was a proud employee of their company since it was a company that was owned and run by Filipinos only (I mean 100% pinoy company, not only owned by pinoy but also ran by pinoys). The Jupiter System Inc. is now operating twenty four (24) years and has offices in Thailand, Hongkong and China. He said that their company was among the pioneers of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. Well, that was very amazing for us students but I do not know about others. But later on as the discussion progressed, I found interest in their system, not on the system itself but the principles and ideas behind the development and design of their system. I, as an aspiring IT professional, wanted to see and discover how real systems are developed in the business world. As I started to listened intently, I made a note of every idea that came into my mind relating to my concerns.

The first discussion was about a TPS or transaction processing system. I thought that it would be too common if people were to develop TPS as it is the most common system. The name of the system was ERIC DMS. I did not quite get the meaning behind ERIC but I know it was all about Dealer Management System or more specifically on car dealership. It was introduced as complete end-to-end solution for car dealers, and I thought maybe all ends are being covered by the system like car sales, maintenance or repair, production and supply monitoring and performance evaluation for both cars and dealers. It turned out that I was right (well except for the production or manufacture of cars). It was complete in the sense that it also caters back office operations such as accounting, supply, etc. I could go on and rant about the details of the system but then it would be to long and boring to read. One of my realizations in that time is that I could never comprehend the concerns and details effectively more or equally to those that were engaged in car dealership business. Some guy at the front, an adult maybe in mid thirties (I know its rude to guess his age but I want to say that he’s that old), kept asking questions like he was concerned since he was thinking of using that system. I assumed that he was a dealer himself or a manager of a car dealership business. I tried to understand his concerns but I can’t really say I fully understand him. As matters go on and the discussion continued, I stopped looking too much into details except wondered if they have done requirement analysis and specification for their system. Well, I know it is effective and efficient since the speaker showed to us that their system is currently used by some big companies for their famous cars.

The next discussion was from the HP company introducing their new product (again with the products, is this seminar or product showcasing?). It was called HP thin and it looked like a PC compressed to fourth of the size of standard PCs. What interested me in his discussion is the application of their product. It was a scheme for networking effective when running a business that needs computer network and has a server operating. It was a very good discussion and I learned quite a few new things from it. But what made me (maybe perhaps all of us) listen was the promise of a prize reward if you answered the questions correctly after his discussion. The prizes were T-shirts and USBs. It was fun when the quiz was started and it was all chaotic since all of us desires to win the prizes. In the end, few of my classmates got it. The discussion was very rewarding (other than the prizes) since the discussion was not only intended for business but also for us students because an innovation of the networking technology was introduced. It has given us ideas and thoughts to remember.

After the last discussion, I headed out since my head was starting to feel heavy and my mind is getting fuzzy. So much for paying attention the discussion and the details, I though my mind is going blank. But what I learned from that time is worth remembering and the knowledge I obtained is worthy of appreciation. Thanks COMDDAP!