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| Virtual Demand For Exhibitions As Well More than 10,000 exhibitors and about 50,000 products are currently presented on the 13 online industry platforms of NürnbergMesse. Many of the Nürnberg exhibitions are growing constantly. The ask platforms on the Internet have long been indispensable tools for visitors' detailed preparation, as ask enables information about the exhibitors to be called up around the clock. The number of users of the ask platforms speaks for itself: the platforms have already been visited some 30 million times. Planning the next visit to an exhibition with the help of the ask platforms is almost child's play. "The online hall floor plan and the stand numbers marked on each floor plan are linked to the companies' entries on the online industry platform. This helps me plan my optimum tour of the exhibition in advance, " said a visitor to HOLZ-HANDWERK 2008, whose ask platform has been on the Internet since March 2008. Whether for the BioFach/Vivaness duo or EUROGUSS – each of the 13 online industry platforms offers trade visitors and journalists extensive information about the exhibitors and products at the various exhibitions. The breakdown of products by sectors, manufacturers and product groups guarantees a rapid overview. Short descriptions and photos enable product comparisons on the screen and new products are listed separately. The data is compiled by specially trained editors, which saves extra work for the exhibitors, whilst the amount of information for each exhibition is growing all the time. The 10,000 exhibitors and 50,000 products involved mean thousands of new products for visitors and just as many reasons for being accurately informed before the event. Search functions also provide facilities such as scouring the exhibitor and product databases. The usage statistics show that especially the search for specific products and new products is one of the most popular functions of the ask platforms. Personalized newsletters also keep visitors up to date without overloading their mail box: The newsletter is only sent when news is received on the main topics selected by the user himself. Another tool helps to arrange appointments and enables the user to compile, save and print out individual lists of exhibitors. Interactivity is called for The various industry platforms also score with a number of interactive features. The most frequently used of these are direct inquiries to the exhibitor (supplier), bookmarking own search results and telling a colleague about companies or products. According to leading communication experts, particularly the latter feature is increasingly important in view of the constantly growing flood of information. The visitors value such recommendations and the exhibitors accordingly appreciate the advantages of the ask platforms, as better informed visitors ultimately mean more effective contacts at the exhibition. "We notice that exhibitors are very interested in including their products and new products on the ask platforms, " reports Simone Heckel, Director Special Marketing Projects at NürnbergMesse. The ask service is therefore to be expanded: "The industry platforms will be introduced for all our own events and will in principle also be available as a service for all guest events at the Nürnberg exhibition venue, " explains Heckel. A team of editors constantly updates the databases even between exhibitions. "The instrument for preparing and following up an exhibition visit is also increasingly developing into an industry survey, " says the marketing director. The development of the ask platforms is nowhere near completed: For www.ask-BioFach.de and www.ask-Vivaness.de, industry job markets are being integrated for the first time, and audiovisual elements are also to be used more. The interactive nature will be intensified in future through direct communication between the different user groups (visitor-exhibitor, visitor-visitor, exhibitor-exhibitor), which will simplify the exchange of views within the industry community even more. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Exhibition News :: home page |