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Have you ever attended a virtual trade show or conference?
Virtual trade shows or conferences are the rage right now (especially in the IT market) as companies look for less expensive ways to reach prospects, customers and employees. Companies such as SAP and Cisco have turned their annual sales meetings into virtual meetings and most conferences are adding virtual as an attendee option. Have you participated in any and if you did, what did you like about them and what don't you like about them? What could make the experience better for you?
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9 Answers
I have attended a virtual job fair and based on this expreience, I will not sign up to do another one. The candidates were from all over and most not qualified for the positions I was recruiting for.
Dai, do you think it was because the event was a virtual event or because the event promoter/producer just didn't get the right people to attend?
I've been to one and am preparing to attend another. The concept is great, the potential is there, the experience itself has just been OK. Both conferences have been dominated by vendor presentations and have had very little technical knowledge or user experience thrown in. If there was a way to incorporate a virtual expert panel discussion, the whole thing might really take off.
While I realize there is a need to control costs, a virtual convention is no substitute for a face to face meeting. Body language, facial expressions, whatever the mysterious ingredient there is when one meets another person just isn't available. Even a Second Life avatar doesn't come close to a true representation of a person. Maybe when we have tactile holograms with an olfactory component we can approximate a convention.
Rick, you are right on when it comes to one of the KEY things that it takes to makes a good event (virtual or otherwise) quality content. It has to be good and has to be easy to consume. Virtual expert panels is a great idea and I will steal it if you don't mind.
William, I agree there (probably) currently is no replacement for face-to-face encounters that are cost effective, I think that there are plenty of times and circumstances where virtual could or simply needs to be substituted for physical attendance. You're right cost is a big driver--it is expensive to travel and expensive to register for a conference in most cases but there is also the wasted travel time and soon to be, cost of carbon.
But your point is well made and something the virtual event platforms need to be working on. Have you been in a telepresence meeting yet? Very cool but pretty pricey still.
I attended a IT software vendor conference. My reaction was "this is nice but..." Since it was a single vendor not a true multi-vendor conference maybe it is not a fair comparison.
In my field (it and software) I go to shows to get up-to-speed with what is new, find new products and companies. If the virtual world can do that, I see that as a supplement not a replace to physical shows..
Right, they will not replace physical but used in conjunction with like you say can add value. Some physical events are now using virtual environments to house community activities (chats, forums, articles, blogs etc.) and more frequent targeted "events" that support their larger physical events.
They are a great idea and AMD have executed the best ones I've been involved in. You talk to people and get a virtual-show bag with pdf datasheets and other give-aways. You can avoid the crowds and deal with automated replies where appropriate and talk live when needed. Very handy,
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