Use Virtual Tradeshows to Get Real Results
By Alec Rosofsky, CAE, CMP
Technology has long enabled civilization to recreate time-honored social experiences in alternate times and places. Consider, for instance, the record
player, which allowed people to recreate “live” music in their living rooms;
the telephone, which allowed them
to recreate face-to-face conversations
across long distances; the television,
which allowed them to recreate at home
a night at the theater or cinema; and
e-mail, which allowed them to recreate
on their computers the experience of
writing and mailing letters.
Like society at large, associations
have used technology to expand and
enrich their members’ experiences.
They’ve capitalized on the Internet, for
instance, to create new distance edu-
cation programs with webinars, and to
make their annual meetings last longer
with digital audio recordings.
