Virtual ExpoAcaire 2020:
Case Study

In 2020 the Colombian Association for Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, ACAIRE, innovated with their 3D virtual event which had attendees from 17 countries around the world.

ABOUT THE HOST

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ACAIRE is an association that promotes the use of engineering and technology in a sustainable manner for the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning industry (HVAC). For around 20 years they have been hosting annual events with the main goal of connecting all the industry in one place, bringing along new and exciting business opportunities.

THE CHALLENGE

Due to the pandemic a lot of things have changed and one of them is the realization of massive events. Most of the fairs have been cancelled because of safety concerns, bringing the challenge of finding alternatives that allow people to gather in a place without worries.

ACAIRE was in a situation of trying something different to what they were doing and therefore, demanded a virtual expo with an easy to use as well as highly accessible platform for people throughout the globe.

Moreover, they wanted to bring approaches based on digital transformation and the fourth industrial revolution to not only innovate, but also, to encourage the adoption of more cost effective solutions for the industry.

WHAT WE DID

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We established fluid communication in order to empathize with ACAIRE and understand their needs. Since the aim was connecting the whole industry in one place, we thought of using the internet and immersive experiences. As Miri Rodriguez from Microsoft states: “customers are not just seeking, but insisting on, immersive experiences as they come in contact with the brand and on every touchpoint of the customer journey”.

In order to provide an immersive environment with engaging content, we built a demo of what a 3D booth would look like in the Virtual ExpoAcaire 2020. This interactive space also allowed us to mitigate risk and uncertainty, considering that it was used as a tool for acquiring the first exhibitors.

Through our digital design process, we developed a reception, a chat for networking, an auditorium for live and recorded conferences, a virtual host with artificial intelligence for welcome speech, video tutorial, interactive maps and 3 types of booths ready to be customized with the exhibitor’s logo, images and speech.

Depending on the type of virtual booth, it could have branding according to the exhibitor’s brand manual, a screen for displaying corporate videos, a virtual host with text to speech technology, and interactive buttons for email, whatsapp, website, brochure and calendar.

Consequently, ACAIRE launched their first virtual expo through a webinar that had very good reception, so good that we ended up having 58 exhibitors! Furthermore, a second webinar was launched prior to the event for us to showcase a preview of the virtual expo, explain how it works, and answer questions from exhibitors.

RESULTS

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The 3D virtual expo was cloud hosted, meaning that it could be visited using computers, mobile phones and tablets connected to the internet. For the first day we had more than 3.000 visitors, and by the end of the event, more than 26 millions of characters were processed with artificial intelligence. In addition, we had views from countries all over the world: South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Here are some of the comments provided by our customer:

“The interaction in the 3D virtual booths is phenomenal, I loved the virtual hosts from the premium booths, as well as the design of the booths. The buttons were very useful to find information related to each company.”

“The graphic quality was outstanding, the interaction in 3D environments was pretty interesting, very good distribution of the virtual booths, and impressive design in general.”

“I felt it was a very user friendly platform, easy to use and with an excellent design. The way the virtual booths were distributed allowed us to easily navigate among them in a quick and organized manner.”

ACAIRE, the exhibitors and the public experienced a new way of connecting with the industry and to develop new opportunities. They were happy with the virtual expo and congratulated us for our professionalism, engineering, technology, organization and quick response.

WHAT WE LEARNED

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The internet is the space where we can connect with more people, and with immersive experiences like 3D web environments, users can have a deeper engagement with the brand.

The exhibitors like to customize their booths and to have a virtual host with a speech from their own words, it is like having a real host welcoming the visitors. Moreover, the conferences played at the auditorium increased their audience and made their company more visible.

The virtual expo also reduces costs since no one has to travel or pay for a hotel, it is like Klaus Schawb from the World Economic Forum says: “technology has made possible new products and services that increase the efficiency and pleasure of our personal lives”.

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