Mr.Tradeshow, Tear Down This Wall!

The original title for this post was about how virtual trade shows are shackled by a tactile mindset. I decided to take a bullet from the first rule to break free of the tactile mindset, and repost the article with the new title.

An article in the latest BtoB's Interactive Marketing Guide 2009 prompts this blog post. The print version of the article seems to have been targeted at a readership deeply invested in the business of tactile trade shows or face-to-face trade shows.

The article has a 'Need to Know' box which lists 5 simple rules to prepare for a virtual exhibition. I have to respectfully disagree with the sweeping generalizations being made through those rules. They may not apply in all cases - at least they have not applied in the case of our virtual participants. Quite the contrary! Listed below are 5 alternative-rules based on iTradeFair.com's first-hand experience with a variety of virtual trade show booths. These alternative rules serve exhibitors and event organizers better in the long run. Some of these rules reflect new findings on how online audiences react to virtual trade shows.

1. Tear down these walls. Placement should be irrelevant on the Internet. Search engines and matchmaking algorithms render the tactile concept of space irrelevant in a virtual trade show. Virtual trade shows should not try to compress a tactile experience within a 2-dimensional computer screen (some refer to it as 2½-D virtual trade show). In doing so, they severely limit the navigational ease for attendees, severely limit the revenue potential for event producers, and severely undermine the exhibitor's right to be found easily. Virtual trade shows must help trade show organizers break free of the shackles of the face-to-face convention center, and learn to embrace and leverage the dynamism made possible by the web (unless of course it is in a virtual world like Second Life, in which case placement makes sense and your attendees can 'fly' through the virtual world to find the exhibitors of their liking).


2. Brand your booth. Do not merely customize the virtual booth with virtual plants unless you are in the horticulture business. Ask your virtual trade show provider for enhanced services to reflect your company's or product's brand most accurately. Even if an online attendee merely gets a fleeting glance of your virtual booth or presence online, it should scream your brand and imprint itself favorably in their minds.


3. Have a compelling presence, not just compelling content. What you think is compelling content may not be compelling to the attendees. The most compelling content you can have in your virtual booth is the name and contact information of decision-makers and influencers. Since the audiences are getting very savvy with filtering out cloaked pitches - especially the generation raised on the use of the Internet - they will see through any fake marketing tactics or gimmicks. Make real and relevant people accessible through your virtual booth, no matter where they are located in the world, so that no attendee who requests attention is left unattended by a clueless booth staffer. Plain and simple - the online attendees are your guests - treat them nicely and even if they do not seem like a strong lead, and they will speak well of your company and help you grow your brand.


4. Go beyond gathering a list of leads. Start a relationship. Offering a prize is old world. The presumption is that the attendees' names will get on a telemarketing list that they have to then be dodging forever. In a virtual trade show the attendees will not only see through such gimmicks, they will also learn to beat the system and still take home the goodies. Find more entertaining ways to keep audiences engaged with your virtual booth and brand. Personalize a complimentary offering for every attendee who passes by your virtual booth. You know a lot more about an online attendee than you would in a tactile trade show. Use that capability creatively to amuse your attendees and win their affection. Do not chase them.


5. Resist that urge to tap a stranger on the shoulder. Do not start a conversation if the attendee wants to be left alone (permission required - so there are special ways to do it - and no I do not mean sneaking in a fine print in registration terms). Do not chase the attendee. Not only will it startle them or possibly annoy them but also drive them away from your virtual booth. The approach is as intrusive and old-world as the cold-call from the telephone company at dinner time asking you who your long-distance provider is. Do not try this capability in the virtual trade show even if your virtual trade show software provider offers it for free. To quote Ardath Albee after her recent virtual trade show experience, "Oh, and for those of you who spent time pitching your stuff in the lounge—you still don't get it."

Attendees in a virtual trade show are just a click away from abandoning your virtual booth or your virtual trade show. They do not have 30 seconds to watch your CEO's corporate spiel. Treat them with respect and appreciation for having given your virtual booth their precious time and attention. Respect their desire for privacy. Sell without trying to sell. Make a positive impression, and encourage them to come back. They will. The best way to make your virtual booth and your virtual trade show successful is to free yourself of the mindset of the tactile trade show.

Making the Virtual Event UX Your Own

First, assume that your Virtual Trade Show Venue is a tab or a link on your Corporate Website. Now, how can you make your Virtual Venue reflect what you are about as an organization? The questions that prospective customers ask us as they go through understanding how to use virtual venues reveal their thinking. The reality is that it does not really cost much to insist on a tailored user-experience (UX). This article talks about making the UX in your virtual venue your own, so that it represents your brand accurately.

Prospective virtual show organizers want to discuss

• how others are using it
• the recommended duration
• what the look and feel is like
• best practices in launching and running a virtual trade show
• what the price is
• what the technical requirements would be for users to enjoy the virtual venue
• that they are talking to other vendors.

Prospects rarely address the most important matter: Will your virtual trade show adapt to our branding needs? Do we have the freedom to dictate the experience that we would like our users to have as virtual participants? Will our virtual venue look just like every other venue out there? Can you serve tailored visuals that make sense to our audience?

The key to a successful virtual event strategy is for it to

• extend your brand, and not the brand of the convention center where you held your last face-to-face event,
• position your virtual events in a way that will only grow related legacy iniatives, and
• be self-sustaining so that it breaks even or makes you money in your virtual event, or brings you other measurable returns.

To make the virtual event your own, no matter who your virtual trade show provider is, ask the following additional questions:

1. Have you studied our website or our past events?
2. What do you understand about our branding and mission?
3. What do you know about our target audience, and what might appeal to them?
4. Do you know who our customers are?
5. Do you know what is going on in our industry that we are considering a virtual event?
6. When can we do a user-experience conference call with some of our exhibitors, sponsors and attendees included?
7. Are you open to building a completely new navigation just for our show?
8. Will you let us mix and match some of the tools and content that we already own or rent internally?
9. Can you designate one person to be on our weekly internal conference calls as we ramp up our event?
10. How will you partner with us to position our virtual event for the long term to grow our face-to-face events, while simultaneously growing our brand?

I have been on conference calls where the prospects, armed with a certain budget, have simply interrupted our salesperson asking to jump right into a visual of the virtual venue - wanting to know how much glitz can be bought for the budget, with absolutely no sensitivity to the virtual venue as a branding mechanism. The best and most effective virtual events are the ones that are tailored to your user-base. You, as the event organizer, know your audiences best. Not the technology provider. We do not do cookie-cutter virtual shows because when done that way they are difficult to wrap effectively around an event organizer's branding needs. Virtual events created with a branded user-experience in mind have a higher chance of repeat users, and with repeated usage, participants climb the learning curve faster to start enjoying the content as the technology that once seems to crank away soon begins to gently fade behind the scenes.

Consider creating a Virtual Venue User-Experience (UX) Task Force with representation from various users, and of course the technology provider. When you thus take ownership of your virtual event brand, you will see a positive impact not only in word-of-mouth, but also through the grass-roots generation of ideas on what would be the most logical next step for your virtual event program.

New to Web Events? Expo Magazine's caveats on 'The Virtual Unknown'

It was refreshing to see a story in a trade show industry magazine that did not carry a message crafted by the PR department of a virtual event technology provider.

Expo Magazine in its latest (March 2009) issue interviews three event organizers who share their 'virtual world'ly wisdom. Besides being the voice of reason long overdue in the realm of online venues and events, I like this article more so because it echoes what iTradeFair.com's customers experience - simplicity leads to success, allowing the virtual event to be more inclusive and more focused on desired outcomes, while making the technology itself seem invisible to the end-users. Each type of virtual venue or technology appeals to a certain demographic - one size does not fit all. The choice of the venue, platform and components therein need to be tailored to fit the needs of the event organizers, the exhibitors and the relevant audience. The technology should aim to work behind the scenes, and stay as invisible as possible.
Expo Magazine's article titled 'The Virtual Unknown' has insights provided by Ingram Micro Vice President Ms. Carol Kurimsky, Manageability Community Manager for Intel Mr. Ajay Mungara, and Cisco’s Director of Corporate Events Ms. Kathy Sulgit. Here's the link: http://www.expoweb.com/Current_Issue/2009MarchOpeners.htm

I believe you will find the article useful!