Time To Bid Adieu

3rd May, 1999 — this was a day when a group of seven young folks were brought
together to form a team and bring out a publication called DQ Channels. Most of
them had little or no experience in working for a niche trade publication. But
they had two things in abundance — enthusiasm and conviction that they could do
a damn good job of the tasks assigned

to them.

None of them had any idea about the IT channel industry or its working. But
it did not deter them from learning the ropes of this trade. It took a lot of
time and hard work, but over time they were able to decipher how things worked
with the channel community.

There were words and acronyms like ORC and RMA which they had never heard
about, but which they kept repeating to themselves to commit it to memory. There
were names of nondescript companies which they tracked down to learn as much as
they could about it. There were other known companies, where they made inroads
into, so that they were also on top of the latest happenings and how these
events could impact their readers.

And all this hard work was only to ensure that DQ Channels was the first
publication that any IT channel partner thought of when it came about their
trade. It was to ensure that DQ Channels remained in the top slot, always. I am
honoured to say that I was part of this team which lived and breathed DQ
Channels for a better part of their waking hours.

As time went, the team grew and more people came on board and few of my
original friends left. I managed to keep in touch with some and lost contact
with others. But the feeling of ownership for DQ Channels never ebbed in either
me or the people who joined us later.

But like some wise man said that all good things must come to an end. So it
is too with my association with DQ Channels. After more than a decade being part
of the magazine, I too will be bidding adieu to my team and the channel
community. I would like to thank all of you, who have made DQ Channels the
publication of choice in the IT industry. Especially my team, which has always
supported me and worked ceaselessly all through these years.

During my time with DQ Channels, I encountered all genres of people from the
channel. Some were obnoxious with a short-term tunnel vision when it came to
business; others were cultured and forward thinking. Some came into this trade
to make money while the going was good; others had invested their lives into it.
Some remained traders; other became visionaries. It was a pleasure meeting all
these varied folks, because I always learnt something from them.

I even met my share of chauvinistic folks who felt that the channel community
was no place for women. But I must say that my years in DQ Channels have proven
them wrong. The channel, or any other trading community, does not consider
gender to be of prime importance when it comes to business.

I also met some great people within CyberMedia who helped, encouraged and
educated me all these years. Topmost amongst them all is Asim Raina, from who I
learnt the art of understanding the psyche of the people I wrote for and how to
build lasting relationships with them.

Another was Shivangi Yadav, with whom I have had countless arguments about
everything under the sun, but from whom I also learnt the importance of paying
attention to the minutiae for every event we have held.

There are lots of other people I would like to thank for their support and
encouragement through these 10 odd years. But I will run out of space mentioning
each of them personally. Which is why I would just like to spell out a big THANK
YOU to them all — they know who they are, anyway.

All in all, it has been a rollercoaster ride, but this is where I get off. I
am sure that irrespective of my presence or absence, DQ Channels will continue
to prosper and will be in good hands. There are lots of exciting things that are
on its anvil, which you will learn soon. So keep watching this space.

Best always,

Vinita Bhatia

vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in