Virtual tradeshow

A virtual tradeshow (sometimes called a virtual tradefair) is a type of virtual event run in an online environment, that goes live and stays live online for a limited period of time. It can be considered the online equivalent of a traditional tradeshow or exhibition, but exhibitors and visitors connect with one another via the Internet, regardless of geographic location, to exchange valuable information.

The "virtual tradeshow" was first publicly described and presented as "ConventionView" by Alan Saperstein and Randy Selman of Visual Data Corporation now known as Onstream Media in April 1993 in a presentation to investors at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York city. The company was videotaping trade show exhibitors booths and then attaching the videos to HTML floor maps. Although Conventionview met with some early success the company closed it down returning to the market with a multimedia virtual tradeshow platform called MarketPlace365 in November 2010.

The structure of a typical virtual tradeshow often includes a virtual exhibition hall which users enter with specific permissions and capabilities. Exhibitors can build virtual stands or booths to exhibit information related to their products or services, just as they would at a trade fair in a convention center; visitors view these virtual trade show displays in the exhibition hall. Users - both exhibitors and visitors - within the environment often create avatars as a visual representation of themselves.

Like their physical counterparts, virtual tradeshows may have other components such as a web conference, a web seminar ('webinar'), or other educational presentations. The virtual trade fair thus provides live interaction between users on several levels (one-to-one, one-to-few, one-to-many and many-to-many) and simultaneously. Detailed tracking mechanisms allow organisers to determine the flow of traffic in the virtual tradeshow. Although virtual tradeshows are usually conducted in specialised web environments, some have been organised and conducted in tightly controlled text based environments.

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