Are virtual trade shows for real?
When I first heard the term “virtual trade show” a few years ago, I’ll admit I didn’t take it too seriously. I was working for an IT media and publishing company at the time and our online sales teams had begun pitching them to vendors.
The idea of a virtual trade show just struck me as gimmicky—another in a seemingly endless line of new online marketing products that were popping up (no pun intended) every day. Isn’t the whole point of attending a conference or trade show to escape your office and daily monotony for a couple days, rub shoulders with thought leaders, and add a human element to all those business relationships you nuture via email and phone? And who in their right mind would ever pass up all that high-quality, logo-emblazoned schwag, like the odd-shaped pens and golf shirts that pile up in your empty drawer?
Well, apparently plenty of people. I was curiuos to see if virtual trade shows had caught on at all, and it seems they have. Here’s what I found after doing a quick Google search for “virtual trade shows.”
The two big virtual trade show players appear to be On24 and Unisfair. Unisfair received $10 million in financing in January ‘08 and claims revenue growth of 350% in 2007, while On24 boasts an impressive client list and thousands of sponsored webcasts under its belt. Both companies offer similar products—virtual Web environments that mimic the conference/trade show experience. They feature conference halls with live and recorded audio/video presentations, exhibitor halls lined with vendor booths and avatars, lounges for networking and scheduled chats, etc. You can check out demos on both the On24 (registration free) and Unisfair (registration required) websites.
Of course, the primary benefit of producing a virtual trade show versus a physical one is cost savings. A company can produce a virtual trade show for the same cost of shipping materials to a physical one. And since it’s all online, sponsoring companies can track and capture an attendee’s every click, leading to targeted lead generation.
Attendees save, too. No travel is required and most virtual trade shows and conferences are free. But the attendee downside is that virtual trade shows don’t get you out of your office or let you rack up frequent flier miles. And as best as I can tell, there’s no virtual equivalent to the complimentary vendor-sponsored open cocktail and sushi bars. —Bill Golden, managing editor
Views: 4