Bring up the words “virtual trade
show” around many in our industry and eyes start to roll. You’re even
likely to get the cold shoulder here and there. At least one person will
emphatically state, “virtual shows will never replace face-to-face
events.”
But two organizations have embraced virtual trade shows, while taking two very different approaches.
The International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) uses their virtual trade show as a marketing tool for their real world event. The virtual show, held almost four months prior to their real world show, gives attendees a preview of their live event.
Stacey Orlick, event and content director for IWCE and Urgent
Communications, said that their virtual tradeshow "gives people a taste
of wha tthey would get at the live event.”
Stephanie McCall, brand director for IWCE and IWCE Urgent
Communications, added, “We wanted to keep the conversations going more
than one event a year.”
Utherverse, a company that creates 3-D virtual environments for live
entertainment, online dating, charitable events, business opportunities
and education; created a virtual-only B2B trade show for the virtual world industry.
Virtual Con also
is celebrating their third show this year, which was held this past
August with more than 3,000 attendees. Brian Shuster, CEO of Utherverse,
said that Virtual Con came about when he discovered a trade show for
the virtual world industry. Shuster reflected back to that discovery when he thought, “This is
interesting, this is a virtual world trade show. We’ll just pop online
and go, but we had to fly to New York to go.” Shuster saw no reason he
could not replicate that experience online. Both shows say their feedback from exhibitors is positive and that business is being done on the virtual trade show floor.
Orlick said what they heard from exhibitors was that they made
contact in the virtual trade show and that contact either led to a sale,
or an actual meeting at the live event.
“Unquestionably the sponsors always come back to us and say the
actual sales they do exceeded expectations. We get the same sponsors and
new sponsors and continue to increase revenue each year,” Shuster said.
McCall said, “That’s the beauty of the virtual event .
People can sign on to participate up to a week to 10 days before the
event. (In past years), we have signed up an exhibitor three to four
days before the event.”
Shuster also commented on the flexibility advantages of the virtual
trade show. “One of the key differences is, for a virtual convention we
are able to adapt at the last minute. We can add another hall to the
convention center.” Imagine for a minute a show that never sells out of exhibit space simply because there is an unlimited supply of space.
One of the aspects of the IWCE show that attendees liked was the
ability to go to one place online to get all the exhibitors' information
rather than doing a Google search on each different company.
They also found a virtual event to be less intrusive than the real world component.
Attendees can wander into a booth and choose whether or not they want to interact with the booth staff via a chat function.
One popular aspect of Virtual Con is its job fair . Shuster reported that approximately 100 jobs were filled during Virtual Con this past August.
With attendee and exhibitor budgets - both those for time and money -
still being tight, virtual trade shows may be something that deserves a
closer look.
McCall’s advice to other shows is, “Don’t be afraid to take the
plunge. Most people get into the mindset that we can only do the live
event. In this digital age don’t be afraid to experiment because you
never know.”
Orlick added, “It is such a different experience. Use it to your
advantage, use it to preview your show, use it for a post event.”
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