The back story: Virtual space is the real final frontier. The best known of these virtual sites, which offers a semi-realistic, three-dimensional environment, is Second Life. Debuting in 2003, Second Life was inspired by the “Metaverse” in Neal Stephenson’s sci-fi novel “Snow Crash.” It quickly became the template for other 3-D sites with special software that lets registered users, called residents, create avatars — digital stand-ins for human beings — through which they can interact with others and explore the vast virtual landscape. Residents can also open stores where they hawk real products, or buy and sell virtual property with real money.
For exhibitors, Second Life and other virtual platforms provide an opportunity not to replace face-to-face trade shows, but to enhance them by bridging the traditional boundaries of geography and time that can reduce their reach and effectiveness. Instead of exhibitions running three or four days, virtual trade shows allow companies to host online exhibitions that run the same length of time as regular shows, but videos of product demos, literature, and presentations are often made available 24/7 for 90 to 180 days.
While Second Life boasts an estimated 7 million users, companies looking to host virtual trade shows and corporate events generally opt to work with firms such as Menlo Park, CA-based Unisfair Inc., Chicago-headquartered InXpo Inc., or ON24 Inc. of San Francisco, which have created virtual trade shows and events for businesses as diverse as Google Inc. and Eastman Kodak Co.
How it works: Just as you work with an exhibit house to design a booth, you work with a virtual trade show company to create an exhibit or a show. Unlike the months-long process in the physical world, the virtual one has a start-to-finish time that can run from a few days using templates to 90 days for custom builds. Most virtual trade shows employ a visual “vocabulary” that’s easy for visitors to navigate because it’s so familiar to them. Attendees, for example, can log into your virtual trade show Web site at a given time, choose from a stockpile of avatars, and then enter through a main hall into
a show floor with booths, kiosks, auditoriums, and lounges.
Logging on and off as often as they please, visitors can click on videos of product demos and services, or download company literature. Educational sessions, keynote speeches, and presentations can be both live and recorded, so that users can access them at any time.
How exhibitors are using it: After Ariba Inc. heard many of its customers were not attending trade shows due to budget cuts, the Sunnyvale, CA-based company decided to hold a virtual show that would enhance, but not replace, a six-city traveling trade show that appears in venues from San Francisco to Stockholm, Sweden. Working with Unisfair and Norwood, MA-based Cramer Inc., the company constructed Ariba Live 2009, a 3-D trade show, last April, providing an opportunity for time-starved and budget-challenged customers to attend.
When participants logged on, they were greeted by an avatar of Ariba’s CMO as he walked around a replica of a generic exhibit hall. On the trade show floor, visitors accessed networking forums, downloaded white papers, chatted with Ariba staff in real time, and viewed product demos. Ariba’s executive keynote addresses were broadcast live via video feed, while all the breakout sessions streamed live via audio. In addition, a resource center let attendees download information on sponsors’ products. Even real-life schmoozing and networking had a cyber counterpart at the “Connection Café,” where visitors joined group forums or engaged in impromptu chats with their peers.
Costing Ariba 30 percent less than an equivalent show in the physical world, Ariba Live 2009 attracted 1,571 attendees — more than twice the company’s original goal — who clocked a total of 5,232 booth visits and 3,929 downloads (roughly 25 and 30 percent above target, respectively).
The takeaway: Use virtual shows to target attendees who can’t make it to your live events. Design your virtual show to resemble its real-world counterpart with exhibit halls, booths, and presentations. Offer downloadable documents, videos, and other materials typically available at shows, and keep them available for three to six months to allow for maximum exposure and convenience.
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