Our experience at GECO
Do you remember the article about fairs in the days of Covid?! If you haven’t read it (I invite you to do so), we introduced the theme of so-called "virtual fairs", explaining very simply how they work, what are the positive aspects and what are the critical issues.
Today I want to tell you about GECO, the virtual fair on sustainability, experiential tourism, mobility and energy that was held from 28 to 30 January 2021. The event, sponsored by the City of Milan, was attended by some of the most authoritative personalities of Italy in the green, but also associations, research centers and companies engaged in the implementation of the long-awaited "sustainable revolution." The aim of the fair was to spread the knowledge of technologies, models and trends related to sustainability, encouraging the meeting and exchange between all the companies, which are sensitive and attentive to these issues. Needless to say, we couldn’t miss it!
We immediately enter into the merits of this experience. The first thing I want to underline is the fact that this organizational modality has allowed to carry out the fair with a minimal environmental impact (the energy consumed by the servers was unavoidable), giving a practical demonstration of what it means to organize a sustainable fair!
How was it possible?! Thanks to an intelligent use of technology! The location of the fair was reproduced on the Hypersmarter platform and anyone (upon registration) could access it through a PC and an internet connection. Once registered, visitors could move between the pavilions, visit the stands of their interest, watch smart talks or participate in the round tables... all in a realistic and immersive way.
The registration procedure was quite simple and intuitive; however, before the event, the organizers produced and released a series of informative content to dispel any possible doubts (video tutorials, guide, etc.). As a first step, visitors had to enter their personal data fields and customize their business card, so they could exchange it with other visitors to be easily contacted. After entering all the required fields, the user could customize their avatar, choosing physical appearance and clothing. How long did this procedure take? Personally, I took about ten minutes to complete it... a few clicks and I was at the fair!
The first thing that struck me, once entered, was the great attention to detail: the feeling was to be really inside a fair, with lots of bustle, advertising banners, Info Point, stands, spaces dedicated to networking and round tables.
How did I get my bearings?
The platform provided a dashboard, designed to simplify all the strategic actions required, such as change your profile and avatar, access the "Map", request support from the organizers (in case of technical problems), exchange business cards, get in touch with other users or check at any time your (virtual) bag. All the documents saved (business cards, brochures and product cards), ended up right there, in the bag, and could be viewed and/or downloaded. I personally appreciated this aspect very much, because it allowed me to save a lot of time and to live the fair serenely, without having to worry about keeping tickets and paper documents!
Moving on to the logistical aspects (I’m sure you want to know more), the fair was divided into 5 pavilions:
- reception with Info Point, instructions and map;
- an auditorium with a round table area;
- the Tourism pavilion;
- Tourism and Smart Talk pavilion;
- Energy, Tech and Mobility pavilion.
The last 3 pavilions were dedicated to exhibitors: there were 57 at the fair!
To move from one pavilion to another, you just had to enter your dashboard, select "Map" and click on the pavilion of interest. Once there you could move with the arrows of the keyboard or with the mouse, or (more simply) you could go back to "Map", select the stand of your interest and reach it with a click.
The exhibitors' stands, customized and branded, presented a series of clickable multimedia content (videos and infographics), the avatar of a contact person, with the company’s main contacts, a brochure and one or more downloadable product sheets. In this way, the user interested in deepening the knowledge of a company had to do nothing but collect all the material available and eventually write in chat to the contact person, to provide him/ her the possibility of a cognitive call/ video-call! Nothing could be simpler! Another feature that I really enjoyed was the "Search", available in the dashboard. The search bar allowed you to search for companies, products and users present at the fair, filtering them by category.
Did it work?!
Judging by the numbers, it would seem so! How can I tell? Anyone who attended the fair could notice that around the pavilions there were "gatherings" of avatars almost everywhere! Personally, I had the opportunity to get in touch with many companies and the same goes for my colleagues. In addition to this, I participated with great interest in the round table proposals. By the way, if you are interested in listening to the webinars that aired, you can find them on the Youtube channel of the Fair, along with all the smart talks!
Was it like attending a fair in the presence?
Certainly not, let’s not fool ourselves. No instrument can replace a real and genuine human interaction! I’m not even going into the merits of economic sustainability. As we have already pointed out in the last article on virtual fairs, in this way all the economic turnover of a fair is lost.
However, I firmly believe that this kind of organization is absolutely commendable. It is important to acknowledge the great merit of the organizers, who in this way gave the opportunity to many people and companies to participate safely in a trade fair, despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and (not less important) without any impact on the environment!
There is no doubt, therefore, that a fair in presence is not comparable with a virtual one. At the same time, the great usefulness and effectiveness of the technology put in place is out of the question, and everything points to a future in which real and virtual will be increasingly integrated. We hope that all these innovations will be used wisely and consciously to improve the quality of life on the planet, ensuring sustainable, fair and inclusive development.
What do you think?! Let us know in the comments.
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