I’m sure residents of Qatar have already heard the news.  That’s right; Vodafone will be coming to Doha to be the biggest competitor of the one and only telecommunications company in Qatar which is Qtel.  “Vodafone is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £75 billion (August 2008)”, according to Wikipedia.  It is a mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England, UK.  is a mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England, UK.  Vodafone currently has operations in 25 countries and partner networks in a further 42 countries.

The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones."  Here in Qatar, with only 3 months away from its official launching date the 1st of March 2009, Vodafone has already made steps in making its presence known to everyone.  Yesterday, at the Villagio Mall, the mobile company held its promotional campaign via a contest that a lot of mall-goers willingly and eagerly participated in.

The mechanics of the game:
The contest begins at 5pm and ends at 7:30 pm. Vodafone representatives were to hide puzzle pieces all over the Villagio but outside the stores to avoid the disruption of their normal operations.  Anyone could participate as long as he is able to find at least one of the 500 puzzle pieces.  After which he has to register the puzzle with a corresponding number to a Vodafone representative.  Each person is only allowed twice to register.  This in turn becomes one’s entry to the raffle draw that was to happen when the contest ends. 

The prizes:
Out of the 500 entries, only 45 registered contestants get to win a prize package consisting of a mobile phone, as to what model I don’t know although I’m sure everybody hoped for an iPhone; and then there’s also a QR1000 worth of Vodafone airtime.  But the luckiest of them all (out of the 45 winners) gets to win a QR100,000 worth travel reward, whether it was convertible to cash I also don’t know.

Once the contest began, the three of us frantically searched every nook and cranny at the Villagio but were only lucky enough to get a puzzle piece with number 16 on it, not my favorite number.  We kept searching some more but then we realized how tiring it was especially for our daughter who was really supportive of her mom and dad’s ordeal.  So we called it quits and decided to just eat at the food court.  We had food from McDonald’s as Xiane was keen on getting a Madagascar 2 character toy from a Happy Meal which was also fine with us because we’ve always loved the fries at McDonald’s.  However, our meal was spoiled by the loud music coming from the show that they had at the skating rink.  I wonder how we put up to that deafening sound.  Then at 7:30pm we had to rush back to the site where the winners were going to be announced.  It was right in front of the future Vodafone office in Villagio, just beside Maison du Café.  Naturally, all the 500 people with raffle entries gathered there, along with their companions such as their families and friends.  The three of us stayed at the side, nearest to the open space just to be on the safe side.  Some people tried to squeeze their way into the crowd just to be able to get a view of the stage. 
After some pleasantries and a short introduction about the company, the emcee started calling out the winning numbers.  He gave a roster of numbers mostly the 3 digits.  We could hear groups of people among within the crowd in shouting out with glee as their numbers were being called.  Unfortunately for us, we didn’t get to use our voices last night.  However, we stayed long enough until the last winner was called, hoping that it would finally be number 16.  Alas!  It wasn’t our lucky day.

But that’s just how it is.  As they say, you win some and you lose some.  It was a game of chance.  At least we got to experience it.  And by the way, we got some souvenirs (a bag, cap, pen and a notepad) from Vodafone just by getting a puzzle piece.  Congratulations to all the winners!  But most of all, here’s hoping that indeed Vodafone will make a difference in the telecommunications arena here in Qatar.