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For weeks, we’ve been rapidly accelerating the development of PheedLoop’s virtual and hybrid event platform and it has been humbling to see so many events powering their events with PheedLoop.
If you’re looking for the right software to use for your events, we know it’s getting a bit confusing because it seems every event technology company is releasing some form of virtual event technology.
We’ve taken a very different approach at PheedLoop. Instead of retrofitting our existing live/on-site event technology systems to work for virtual events, we’ve built a brand new platform with the virtual event experience in mind first.
This has allowed us to innovate without bounds and craft a truly native virtual experience instead of simply embedding a video feed into an event app, for example.
As has been our ritual for years now, we release a major new feature every week. This week, we took our virtual trade show and exhibit hall out of beta. PheedLoop’s brand new exhibit hall experience has 4 key pillars to it which we decided early on are fundamental to a successful virtual trade show:
1. Real-Time
Experiencing a trade show isn’t a “follow-up with me later” situation, the whole point is that exhibitors and attendees are aware of each other in real-time. They can communicate, exchange ideas, generate business opportunities, and more without delay.
Solution: Exhibiting staff in PheedLoop’s virtual event portal have a real-time feed of all attendees visiting their booth. They know precisely who is there, for how long, and can immediately start engaging them in real-time.
2. Face to Face
Experiencing a trade show isn’t a “I’m going to send you a text message” situation, people want to see people! The best interactions are ones where exhibitors and attendees can see each other, shake hands (oh, how we miss this!), smile, laugh, and be human.
Solution: Exhibitors and attendees can instantly jump into live video/audio conversations straight from the virtual event portal. No additional technology is needed, it’s all built-in to PheedLoop. Exhibitors and attendees can share screens, videos, files and so much more. Going virtual doesn’t mean going faceless.
3. Lead Generating
Exhibitors are typically exhibiting at your event for one reason - to generate leads and grow their businesses. If this critical element disappears, so does the ROI exhibitors expect. The problem is, lead generation cannot only be attendee initiated (i.e. attendees express intent). Like any live trade show, exhibitors have the opportunity to capture leads and convince attendees to pay attention who would have otherwise wandered off.
Solution: Thanks to PheedLoop’s real-time booth visitor feed, exhibitors can get a powerful list of all attendees who ever stopped by their booth and expressed interest. A real-time experience like PheedLoop’s can allow for this, and give exhibitors the opportunity to initiate conversations instead of waiting for attendees to.
4. Context Aware
Trade shows and exhibit halls aren’t experienced in isolation. As an attendee, you want to know and see who’s around you, maybe join a conversation someone is already having with an exhibitor or meet a fellow attendee who’s waiting in line because they share similar interests.
Solution: PheedLoop’s exhibit hall experience is social, not isolated! What this means is that attendees always can see and chat publicly with all live attendees at any booth. They can branch off into private conversations, or join larger ones that an exhibitor is having with a large number of attendees (like an AMA).
So many events have very significant exhibit halls and trade shows planned, and there are very limited options available in the market. Simply viewing an exhibitor’s profile and sending them a message isn’t enough. It’s the equivalent of having a live trade show with no exhibit staff, and attendees just drop their business cards into a fishbowl. We can do way better than that!
There’s so much more that we’re launching to enhance the exhibit hall and trade show experience in the coming weeks. Do you have any ideas or questions for us? Give us a shout at hello@pheedloop.com, and we’d be happy to chat with you.
