Fujitsu's glass half full? Your channel runneth over

Fujitsu Forum 2012 in Munich

The Forum 2012 crowds, as seen by ChannelWeb, in pictures

An estimated 12,000 partners and customers from 83 nations – including 800 from increasingly important emerging economies such as Russia and Brazil – flew to Munich for the annual Fujitsu Forum on 7 and 8 November.

However, as reported on ChannelWeb, the 6,000-seat auditorium facilities at the ICM venue could not cope with the overflow. Hundreds of delegates were forced to sit on the stairs or floor or stand in the lobby to watch the opening keynote on a large screen (pictured).

Many break-out sessions were also oversubscribed.

Fujitsu was asked for comment and has provided a statement through its PR company. It agreed there had been "significant growth over recent years" in the numbers wanting to attend its event.

"People are ‘showing with their feet' their interest in Fujitsu's partnership approach, and breadth and depth of portfolio," it claimed.

The vendor's European headquarters is in Munich, and Germany is a key market, it added. However, "safe capacity and comfort" was also an important consideration, and would influence its choice of format in future.

"We also have the opportunity to take more floor space and extend the length of event," he said. "From a safety perspective, the ICM's capacity is 6,000 people per day. This year, we stayed within this capacity."

Some events were "by necessity" on a first come-first served basis, Fujitsu said.