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BY ELISABETH A. SULLIVAN//STAFF WRITER

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>CONSIDER ADDING VIRTUAL EVENTS TO YOUR
MARKETING REPERTOIRE. HERE'S HOW.
IN AN AGE of constrained budgets, rising
airfares and an increasingly global marketplace, companies are looking to connect
with their customers, potential customers
and employees scattered across the country
and around the world in ways that don't
require a plane ticket. For many, the solution is virtual events.
Virtual events can include everything from webinars and live webcasts toonline conferences and tradeshows held in a two-dimensional, video game-like virtualworld complete with a branded
entrance hall, exhibit space forsponsors, conference rooms,
breakout sessions and nearly
everything else that a physical event offers, save for a freecontinental breakfast. An added
benefit is that virtual events
aren't necessarily over when
the conferences end: Hosts canallow content to live on in the:virtual environment for several
months to serve as an ongoingresource.
Also, while marketers often
are lucky to collect a fishbowl full of business cardsrandomly submitted for an iPodraffle-with notes scribbled on the backs ofthem at physical events, virtual events allow
marketers to collect data on almost every
move each attendee makes: presentations
they watched, collateral they collected andquestions they asked, says Joerg Rathenberg, senior director of marketing at Menlo
Park, Calif.-based virtual event provider
Unisfair Inc.
That's not to suggest that virtual reality is preferable to, well, reality, says
Scott Kellner, CMO of 6Connex, aCampbell, Calif.-based virtual technology company. "I think all of us in theindustry agree that virtual events are
not here to replace phYSical events;' hesays. Instead, they can extend the reachand scope of phYSical events, allowing a global audience to participate inreal time and expanding on content
presented in a real-world setting.
Companies across the marketplace
are beginning to add virtual events totheir repertoire. According to the Digital + Exhibit Marketing InSights 2009 study
conducted in April and May by the Center
for Exhibition Industry Research, George
P. Johnson, the Exhibition Industry Foundation and Rudder Finn Insights, 40% ofcorporate brand marketers report using
virtual media. The vast majority of those
respondents-83%- primarily use webinars, while 55% use Web conferences, 48%
use live webcasts and 10% host events inthe virtual world.

Houston-based online marketing
resource MarketingProfs has hosted four
virtual events for its Web-savvy audience. The first event in 2007 attracted
4,000 attendees. The third event, held thisApril and supported by virtual technology
provider InXpo Inc., attracted 15,000, says
Susanne Sicilian, vice president of eventsfor MarketingProfs. (Attendance for the last
event was not available before this issue wentto print.) The key to success, Sicilian says,
is to remember that "what you put into it iswhat you get out of it, and that's the same forboth a phYSical event and a virtual event:'
MarketingProfs relies heavily on viralmarketing to promote its virtual eventswhich, thus far, have been free for attendees, but the company is contemplating
creating paid registrations down the line,
maybe requiring payment for access toohigher-tiered content. When drawing
up her event schedule, Sicilian keeps themedium in mind and incorporates breaks,
offers shorter presentations than in thereal world and includes an on-demand
function so that attendees can access thecontent at their leisure once the event hasended. InXpo's analytics tools help sponsors collect leads, and allow MarketingProfs to track attendance and improve
event content based on which presentations are popular.
Sicilian is particularly impressed withthe amount of networking that goes on atMarketingProfs' virtual events. "People arereally engaged;' she says. "Everybody asks
for the virtual happy hour:' m
Editor's note: An AMA virtual event is in theworks. Stay tuned!

If you're interested in giving
virtual events a try, here's how:
1 Figure out whether your audience is Web-savvy and what kind of virtual event
suits your purposes-each case is unique. Providers offer a range of virtual platforms for various needs, whether you want to host a souped-up webcast series
or a conference in a more immersive Web environment, experts say.

2 Identify your objectives or "key performance indicators" for yqur virtual
event, such as whether you want to generate leads, or train or attract employees,
6Connex's Kellner says.

3 Define your content strategy. "Just because it's virtual doesn't mean you canwing it," Unisfair's Rathenberg says. Recruit industry thought leaders as speakers. Plan a schedule of sessions each day in a variety of formats. Steer clear of
the hard sell and offer your audience useful takeaways.
Keep in mind that it's unlikely that attendees will want to sit in front of their
computers for six hours of virtual presentations. According to research
conducted in 2007 by Unisfair and The Fact Point Group, virtual event attendees
spend, on average, 2.5 hours at an online event visiting 16 locations, downloading five resources and participating in 13 interactions via e-mail and chat.

4 Make the experience truly interactive, says Malcolm Lotzof, CEO of Chicagobased virtual technology provider InXpo Inc. Online chats at virtual events allow
attendees to participate, move from conversation to conversation, speak with agroup or one on one, and use profile-matching technology to speak with likeminded attendees. "That is engaging. That keeps people inside the environment," Lotzof says.

5 Create an audience acquisition strategy. Include an educational component inyour marketing strategy to ensure that potential attendees know what a virtual
event has to offer.

6 Enlist sponsors' help. The majority of virtual events offer attendees free registration at this point, experts say, but sponsors often are willing to help foot the bill
because their return on investment-qualified leads-can be worth their while.