Bloggers' Meet

I remember the last time we had a Bloggers' meeting and we all announced it in our Blogs, set a date and everything. And two people from TheWeek came to cover the event only to find out that three Bloggers attended out of all who said that they will. It wasn't very good but we got a tiny piece in TheWeek and our names got mentioned, so that was good. But all in all, I had fun that day. Here is the article that I wrote about that event.

We are having another Bloggers' Meeting today but none of us have announced it on our Blogs until now. I don't know why nobody else did but I didn't because I didn't have the time to do so. Maybe we were subconsciously embarrassed to spread the word and have members of the press come only for the event to become a total bust when nobody attends. Another reason might be because we planned this a little late and it is only today that we have confirmed the time and location. Naaa, I like the first one better.

So far, Amjad, Blue Chi, Kishor Cariappa, a guest Qatari Blogger MMK080 and myself will be attending. That's 5 people in total. It should be very interesting meeting Oman's top Bloggers. This is going to be fun.

Origin Oman 150 Kilometer Meal

Origin Oman 's goal is to raise awareness on locally made goods. I've written about it in the past at this link. To learn more about it, visit their website at: originoman.om which I also have written about at this link.

The dinner was an invite-only and luckily, I got invited. The 150KM meal was held in the 26th and 27th of May at the tourism College at A'Seeb, near Golden Tulip Hotel, and the whole staff were students who are majored in that field. It was nice to see Omanis waitering for a change.

So, the 150KM meal is one of Origin Oman's many ways of promoting locally made goods. I've been hearing about this event for a while now and the dates have been changed a few times. The idea of this event is to have a dinner with ingredients sold in a radius of 150 kilometers around Muscat.

The menu was pretty interesting. You had to choose between two different menus that will serve as your starter, main course and dessert. Many of the guests and myself included went with the first menu which had Smoked Nizwani goat sausages for the main course. This isn't a traditional Omani meal by any means, it was the chef's creation and it was very good, most have enjoyed it.

The whole thing felt very classy and the people whom attended were mostly from the PEIE since they played a major role in it.The room was half full and it seemed like many had to cancel at the last moment since all the chairs were named.

Here are two slide shows of the event:
Note: The slide show may take a few moments to load

GHEDEX at OIEC

The Gulf Higher Education Show is being held at the moment at the Oman Internationa Exhibition Centre (OIEC). The 9th of its series, GHEDEX is the first exhibition in Oman to be awarded the accolade of an approved event of international stature by UFI (The Global Association for the Exhibition Industry).

This annual event is where all the major universities and colleges of the gulf come to exhibit their courses and offers for students to have a broad variety and choices in choosing their higher educations.

The event will last only three days and today is the second. I know I've announced this a little too late but you still have the chance to visit. To check for timings and making any other inquiries, call the OIEC on 968 24512100.

Digital Nation: Brindging The Digital Devide (Follow Up)

This is a follow up of a previous post where I announced this event.

Yesterday, the first Digital Nation seminar of the year 2008 was held at the Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel. In the panel was Zawan Al Sabti from ITA, Yaqoob Al Balushi from ITA, Raed Dawood from Nawras, Dr. Firas Al Abduwani from Hussam Technology, Dhenanshay from GBM and Graham Porter from Cisco (the moderator).

If you read the previous post, you will understand what the topic revolves around. They spoke a lot about the role of the internet in our daily lives. They also spoke about people who don't have access to this sort of technology and what to do to change that. The title says it all.


The discussion was very interesting but not as much as I would have wanted it to be. I mean, we are talking about internet in the country so, the only "right" thing to do is to bring the only internet provider in Oman to be part of the panel (aside from Nawaras since it gets its internet from Omantel). I guess Omantel was too scared of all the beating they would be getting (you'll know why in future posts).

Lots of future plans were talked about and they seemed very promising. They even mentioned the possibility of having a second international internet provider coming soon.

All in all, it was a very fruitful seminar and I am looking forward to the others to come.
Visit KOM's website for more information.

Digital Nation Seminar: Bridging the Digital Divide

Knowledge Oasis Muscat’s (KOM) new season of Digital Nation seminars which are scheduled to start 7:30pm Tuesday 11 March at the Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel with a session on Bridging the Digital Divide, KOM’s Director General, Mohammed Al Maskari warned of the danger of excluding people from the information revolution: "Across the globe, people lack jobs, food, health care and drinkable water. However, today, being cut off from basic telecommunications services is a hardship almost as acute as these other deprivations, and may indeed reduce the chances of finding remedies to them," he said.

Several solutions to the digital divide have been proposed including local training centers, cyber-cafes, telecottages and digital 'champions' to develop ICT projects in Oman’s rural areas. “The 11 March panel will discuss these issues as well as matters related to telecommunication infrastructure and competition and the urgent need to develop local web content,” says Al Maskari.

The Seminar is free for charge and will be held at the Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel at 7:30pm. Visit KOM's website for more information.

Muscat International Book Fair

The concept of having an international book fair in Oman first started in the 30th of October, 1992. A number of publications from 19 different countries participated in it. It was a success and so, they've had another book fair the year after from the 20th to the 29th of October, 1993 with 20 countries participating.

And then, the book fair stopped for while to put up expectations for the coming stage and to figure out what needs to be done to better it.

And in 1997, the Muscat International Book Fair re-opened after formating a government committee consisting of:
- The Ministry of Information.
- The Ministry of Heritage and Culture.
- Sultan Qaboos University.
This committee is responsible of making the book fair grow and become a success.

The third round of the book fair began in 1997 with (176) participants, (100) participants across Agencies and 18 countries participated. The success continued all the way. And in 2007, 316 participants from 20 countries contributed in making it a mega hit.

In this year's book fair, from the 27th of February to the 7th of March, 548 publishing houses from 31 different countries are participating with Turkey being among that list for the very first time. There are so many participations this year that they had to add two extra halls to fit them all. One hall is entirely dedicated to English and foreign publications. The total space of the halls combined is about 6354 square meter.

More statistics on this year's book fair to be published after the end of it.

Origin Oman 2008

Origin Oman is ran by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estate (PEIE). This program was especially designed to promote Oman made products and services. The principal objective of Origin Oman is to encourage consumers, institutional buyers and companies to choose Omani Made products and to prove to them that products which are made in Oman are as good, if not better, than many other products made out of Oman.

In Short, Origin Oman offers every Omani-based resident an opportunity to help promote the Sultanate's products and services and by doing so, help create employment opportunities, stimulate the national economy and reduce carbon emission by shipping less products from out of the country.

So, what to expect from Origin Oman?

Well, Origin Oman is committed to a sustained growth with an emphasis on public education. They will organize and promote multiple public education and promotional events that highlight the enormous contribution local businesses provide to Omani communities.

If you want to help and make their goal a success, this is what you have to do:

First and foremost, we want you to buy Oman made products and services. Whether you are a business owner, in institutional buyer or a private individual, recognize and value the way your buying decisions can influence the shape of Oman's economy.

they said.

Origin Oman will be organizing a bunch of exciting and great events to promote their vision. The events vary and there's always something for someone.

Here is the 2008 event calender:

- Winning Public Sector Business:

Event Date : 25 Feb, 2008 - 04 Mar, 2008

Place: Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel

Workshop Program: 8.45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.: Registration and refreshments
9.00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.: Introduction, what opportunities are there, where to find them and what are the prerequisites?
10.00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.: Private sector case studies, hot tips, how to avoid non-compliance, meeting pre-qualification requirements, tender responses and presentations.
10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.: Networking Break.
11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.: Delivering the Pitch: How to Deliver Wining Presentations.
11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: Final Questions.
12:00 p.m.: Close.

Description given from Origin Oman: "As part of Origin Oman's 2008 campaign we are organizing two free-of-charge workshops on Winning Public Sector Business. The workshops will be held 8:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. on Monday 25 February (English) and repeated 8:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday 4 March (Arabic) at the Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel.

Although many companies do tender for public sector contracts, many reduce their chances of being successful by poor presentation, inappropriate information or just fail to meet the specific requirements demanded of them."

The only investment asked for is your time - the two workshops are offered to you at no cost, yet it could open up tremendous opportunities for the success and development of your business. You will have access to private and public sector experts who will pass on knowledge to improve your relationship with the public sector. .

PEIE is working in partnership with the Tender Board to provide these two workshops to local businesses, free-of-charge, as part of the Origin Oman campaign – helping local businesses increase their commercial reach.

Things you should know: The two workshop are aimed at owners and managers of local businesses who wish to grow their operations through winning public sector contracts. Places are limited to 75 people.

Contact: For more info please contact Hamida Al Balushi, Origin Oman Co-ordinator on: 2415 5114 or via e-mail on: hamida.albalushi@peie.om

- Origin Oman Week Reception:

Event Date: 18 Mar, 2008 - 18 Mar, 2008

Place: Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel

Description given by Origin Oman: "Buy local, use local, eat local - that's the message of this Origin Oman Reception. And we want you to play your part in a campaign that's not only healthy for Oman's economy - but healthy for you."

The aim of the Origin Oman Reception is to encourage not only more shops to stock more produce and goods made in the sultanate, but to urge more local businesses, institutional buyers, contractors and hotels to use local products and persuade more people to buy what's made and grown on their doorstep.

- Face - 2 - Face:

Event Date: 25 Mar, 2008 - 25 Mar, 2008

Place: Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel

Description given by Origin Oman: "A unique event which offers manufacturers and service providers the opportunity to meet and sell to, buyers from the Public Sector and large organisations. Face-2-Face is designed to welcome commercial and institutional buyers, investors and supply chain partners to meet Oman's commercial producers of goods and services. In brief, to get firms in front of buyers who need their products or services, so that they can sell to them. The buyers are listed with an indication of the kinds of products or services they need, so appointments can be booked with potential customers. Prior to the event Origin Oman will hold a briefing session which will help attendees understand more about how the event works and how procurement systems operate. This pre-event briefing will also be the time for firms to make their appointments for the day."

- Origin Oman Week Exhibition:

Event Date: 13 Apr, 2008 - 18 Apr, 2008

Place: Lulu Hypermarket Car Park, Al Khuwair

Description given by Origin Oman: "The exhibition will offer consumers as well as institutional buyers free samples/demonstrations of Origin Oman products and services. The exhibition will consist of 5 pavilions:

1 Omani Manufacturers
The manufacturers' zone will showcase the finest products made in Oman, with its main objectives being to increase both institutional buyer and consumer awareness of the quality, variety and availability of locally manufactured goods and services.

2 The Omani Department Store
Fashion accessories, crafts, textiles, jewelery, confectionery, perfumes, soaps and lotions.

3 Touring Oman
Tour operators, hotels, airlines, visitor attractions and activity operators.

4 Omani Innovation
Information communication technology companies.

5 Live, Work & Study in Oman
Universities, colleges, training providers, public bodies and real estate developers."

- The 150 Kilometre Meal:

Event Date: 13 Apr, 2008 - 18 Apr, 2008

Place: The Grand Hyatt; Muscat Inter-Continental; Shangri-La; & The Crowne Plaza [Muscat & Salalah]

Description given by Origin Oman: "The concept of food kilometres helps show how far many foods and drinks are transported through global trade and the costs of this transport - in economic, social and environmental terms. The more food kilometres that attach to a given food, the less sustainable and the less environmentally desirable that food is. Indeed, in recent years, the distance food is transported from producer to plate has increased by around 50%, and even a simple roast dinner could have travelled over 38,000 kilometres before being eaten. With the global political and economic focus turned firmly towards the environment, the Origin Oman team, in partnership with Oman's major hotels, will host the 150 kilometre meal - an initiative that is intended to reduce food miles by sourcing produce locally to produce a sumptuous and exciting local menu and encourage consumers and institutional buyers to buy what is being grown on their doorstep."

- Students On Buy Local:

Event Date: 15 Apr, 2008 - 15 Apr, 2008

Place: Sultan Qaboos University

Description given by Origin Oman: "To celebrate Origin Oman Week, Sultan Qaboos University, the Middle East College of Information Technology, Caledonian College, Nizwa University, Sohar University and the Waljat Colleges of Applied Sciences will hold an evening debate on the importance of promoting and buying Oman made products and services and the contribution each student can make to the future success of Oman through the implementation of learned skills where it matters most - in the workplace."

- Buylocal Day:

Event Date: 04 May, 2008 - 04 May, 2008

Place: Al Fair, Spinneys, Lulu, Carrefour, Al Jadeeda, Safeer

Description given by Origin Oman: "The Origin Oman Buy Local Day is about celebrating food that is fresh and local, knowing where food comes from and forging relationships across the web of food systems. Demonstrations in: Al Fair, Spinneys, Lulu, Carrefour, Al Jadeeda, Safeer and Sultan Centre. The Buy Local Day is a celebration of the very best Oman has to offer in food and drink. The Buy Local Day campaign will also promote locally grown produce and healthy eating."

- Taste Of Oman:

Event Date: 18 May, 2008 - 18 May, 2008

Place: Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel

Description give by Origin Oman: "The Muscat Inter-Continental will host the Young Chef Competition, which will pit teams of young Omani chefs in a cook-off competition. The young competitors will have to contend with the pressure of producing top-notch local food in a limited time in front of a live audience."

- The Origin Oman Road Show:

Event Date: 01 Jul, 2008 - 17 Oct, 2008

Place: Salalah, Al Buraimi, Sohar, Nizwa

Dates & Venues:
Salalah (July for 1 week)
Sohar 5 - 7 October
Al Buraimi 9 - 11 October
Nizwa 15 - 17 October

Description given by Origin Oman: "The Origin Oman Roadshow will showcase Oman-made made products and will celebrate and promote Omani innovation, entrepreneurship and manufacturing successes. The Roadshow will call in at Sohar, Nizwa, Al Buraimi and Salalah and is part of a wider government program to celebrate and promote Oman made products and manufacturing success.The roadshow aims to increase consumer recognition of branding that identifies products as Oman made and promote voluntary branding and labelling for that purpose.

Residents of Oman will have the opportunity to view and sample a raft of Omani products on the Roadshow and Omani chefs will be on hand to prepare delicious meals and snacks incorporating the eclectic flavours and styles that make up Omani cooking. It's a great Omani culinary adventure."

- Product Design Workshops & Competition:

Event Date: 19 Oct, 2008 - 11 Nov, 2008

Place: SQU, MECIT; Sohar University; Nizwa University

Description given by Origin Oman: The Origin Oman Student Product Design Workshops will give an overview of the importance of gaining a deep understanding of customers' underlying beliefs, desires and values and integrating this insight with a product design process for product success. The Workshops will also give case studies along with tools and techniques for translating customer insight into product designs.

If you would like to register for any of the three Workshops please contact Mulkie Al Hashmi via email at mulkie@kom.om Entries to the Origin Oman Student Product Design Competition are not restricted by theme or product group. Designs submitted should focus on the total product - it must solve a problem, work well, and provide a real advantage over existing offering.

The Origin Oman Student Product Design Competition is intended to foster business and public understanding of the impact of industrial design excellence on the quality of life and the economy. Winners will enjoy broad exposure through multiple media channels."

- Origin Oman Originals Photo Exhibition:

Event Date: 08 Dec, 2008 - 11 Dec, 2008

Place: Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel

Description given by Origin Oman: "PEIE will host Origin Oman Originals - a photographic journal that tells the story of the Origin Oman campaign 2008. Images that recount stories of businesses as well as people involved in promoting locally made goods and services."

- Origin Oman Influencer's Dinner:

Event Date: 08 Dec, 2008 - 08 Dec, 2008

Place: Muscat Inter-Continental Hotel

Description given by Origin Oman: "The Origin Oman Influencer's Dinner will include updates on the progress of the initiative and showcase success stories from the year-long campaign. The evening will also be a fantastic networking opportunity for local businesses genuinely interested in developing their involvement in the Origin Oman campaign."


Most of these events are just fun to attended as well as it being very informative. We are contributing to our country's economy by following Origin Oman's goal and so, I fully support what they are trying to do and I will definitely try to attend as much of these events as I can.

I will keep you updated with any changes that might happen to these programs and events. I will also post a review of every event which I attend.

Oman vs Bahrain: The Audience's Point Of View

The game's score is 1 to 0 in Bahrain's favor. This is not what I am going to talk about in this post.
I don't want to talk much about the game itself because I am pretty sure you know enough about it. But if you want to know more, follow the link to this fellow Blog "Oman Community Blog". One of their members has posted a detailed description of the game.

This post is the other side of the game. In this post, I will be showing you the audiences who attended the game's point of view. What is it like to be there live? How does it feel to be there live?

I will help answer these questions by the video that I've created for you. It should give you a pretty good idea of what's it like.

OMG Seminar - Education, Training & Manufacturing: Going Global

The First of the 2008 series, the Seminar was held yesterday, on the 28th of January, in the Muscat Inter-Continental.
I was curious to know what they were going to discuss so, I attended.

The basic talk-about of the seminar was the relations between education, training and manufacturing. How each one plays a role in the other? What can the manufacturing industry do to better their staff and their business? What can the students do to help fix their situation? What role do women play in this industry? All of this and much more was discussed in the seminar.

The host was Karim Rehmetulla; Manger Director of Infocomm. In the panel was an unexpected woman, Abeer Al Jasim; head of professional Qualifications (Knowledge Horizon), Talal Al Rahbi; Acting senior manager for marketing and awareness (ITA), Evangelos Afendras; Professional/Business Communication professor in SQU, Abdullah Al Jufaili; Director (Intilaqah), Steve Bakalis; Program Director (International Business program) and a professorfrom Princeton University; Andrew South.

I've done something new this time with my attendance to this seminar. I decided to video tape the whole seminar for you so that you know everything that went on and don't miss anything. The seminar had some mic trouble, it kept on cutting off during the whole event and it's also not loud enough but hopefully its not too bad for you.

This is the full event in video, no editing has been done to it (more details in the comments).

Part one:


Part two:


Part three:


Part four:


Part five:


Part six:


Part seven:


Part Eight:


Part Nine:


I hope to know what you think about the idea of video taping the events that I attend to and your opinion on these videos in particular.

Have fun!

Muscat Festival 2008

Muscat Festival, which begins on the 21st of January to the 15th of February, is a fun and exiting time for the people of Oman. It provides them with games, activities, international shows and international shopping. There is always something for someone.
The Festival has also been proven to be a boost on the tourism sector in the past years. With over 2million visitors in 2006 alone. Ever since its inception in February 1998, more and more visitors come to witness the true colors of Oman.
The Muscat Municipality added:

This year, Muscat Festival is expected to attract over three million visitors

Visit the official Muscat Festival web site for more information.


So what does this mean for BeInOman.com?

Well, I have good news and I have bad news. I will start with the good news first.
My colleagues and I are going to cover the festival for you (I will come back to this point). The bad news is, we will start covering the events on the 28th of January - a week after the festival starts- due to some difficulties.
Back to the first point, we will be covering the events held in the festival extensively however we can. Whether its audio, pictures or even video. Actually, we will be using video more often. We will make sure you wont miss anything and always know what's going on during the festival.

There are many venues for this festival but we will be more concentrated on three of them, the festival plaza in Al Athaiba, the new venue at Al Sahwa park and A'Seeb Beach. These are the most exciting in my opinion (I don't know about Al Sahwa yet).

I will be making posts under the title "Muscat Festival 2008" along with the name of the venue to make it easier for you to find it in the archive in the future.

Rain Dance

There is a great party going on tonight in Sawadi Beach Resort. It's called teh Rain Dance. The reason to that is that the whole thee of the party is around water and rain. There will be a live band playing there so will there be a DJ. Water will be "raining" all over the dance floor and everything will be cool and wet. We especially need this now because of the heat.

I should have posted this earlier for you to make prior plans for it but it completely split my mind. And besides, I am not going this time anyways because I was invited to another party.

I did attend the "Rain Dance" last year and it was a time to remember. You have to remember to put on casual cloths and dont take any electronic appliances in with you (take it from experience).

I hope this post has been in any help for you. If you have a car and you read this post before 8 pm today, then you still have a chance to reach there. Entry is 10RO with dinner and 5RO without.

The Oman Travel Market

The Oman Travel Market was held in the Oman International Exzibition Centre (OIEC) starting from yesterday the 9th. It was pritty small and the buisnesses that participated were very few too. You would think that after being sponsored by Oman Air, Gulf Air, Qatar Air and much more, it would have been bigger.


I payed it a visit today. It's all about tourism in and off Oman. I got to see lots of offers from airlines and hotels. I also found new places to visit in Oman during my holidays. Ofcourse all the places I will be visiting, I will be taking pictures of them and puting them on this blog. It wasn't too bad and I had a good time although I would have liked it to be more publisized. If it wasn't for me looking for events in news papers, I wouldn't have found out about this.

For more information about this event, visit this link: http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093152329

The 1st annual road safety walk

The first Omani annual road safety walk was held yesterday on the 23rd of April, 2007 at the Wazarat Street in Al Khuwair. Many events accrued there like a marching band that walked the whole 2.5km to the finish line and a raffle at the end of the events (I didn't win). Lots of people attended in hope to raise awareness about the horrifying increase of accidents in the sultanate through these years.
So far since the beginning of the year 2007, over 3075 crashes were recorded, 2241 people injured and over 193 people dead. Now, don’t look at this just like you would like at any other statistic. These are real people and these are real deaths which means you could be within this number.
Our great country is considered to be one of the highest rated countries in accidents that’s why I am happy to have found out that they are doing something about it. Raising awareness about it is a huge step into saving lives of the drivers. Hopefully the drivers, who are used to drive unsafely, get the massage that we are trying to make.
I am definitely for the walk and I will probably be there next year as well. Just remember, be aware of other's mistakes on the road!