Virtual Tech Trade: Everything but the cocktails

For those of you enamored by the phenomina which is Second Life; you'll enjoy the attached article. There is a small but growing market for virtual trade shows that come complete with grand entranceways, conference halls for keynotes, exhibition booths and professional networking lounges.

"The only thing we can't do is serve cocktails," said Brent Arslaner, vice president of marketing at Unisfair Inc., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based company that specializes in virtual events.
Unisfair unveiled its Virtual Events for the Enterprise software, which provides multiple venues, rich media interaction and networking for companies to use when hosting their own virtual events.

For those out there like me who were skeptical, the next few lines will open your eyes. Unisfair has hosted 200+ virtual events for companies including IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Tibco.

The tool is aimed at fostering real-time interactivity among attendees, presenters, panelists and exhibitors through rich multimedia technologies such as text, audio, video and voice. Attendees do not need any special software except for a Flash player to participate.

For example, attendees can ask questions during a panelist session just as they would at a live event -- and hear an answer via voice. Attendees can also chat online with one another in a networking lounge.

The tool is attractive to companies for obvious reasons. Not the least of which is connecting representatives from multiple countries in a very short time and those that want to avoid the high costs associated with physical conferences, such as buying food and renting space, he said.

A Smash Hit Displays understand the importance of this new software and how it will become "second nature" in our society in the not-so-distant future. But, until that time arrives, we shall continue to offer the best in trade show exhibits with the likes of portable folding exhibits, trade show signs, truss signs, and xpressions trade show, etc.