The organisers of virtual.drupa, Messe-Düsseldorf, have turned on the Networking Plaza, enabling exhibitors and visitors to use the intelligent matchmaking tool to find companies and contacts that are relevant to their business.
This would enable them to boost their network building and generate new, valuable leads even before the trade show starts, according to Messe-Düsseldorf.
“This is where participants can also already make appointments in virtual meeting rooms for the trade fair duration from April 20 to 23, 2021, in order to be optimally prepared for the start of virtual.drupa,” the organisation said.
To participate in matchmaking, visitors must create an additional personal profile in the Networking Plaza during registration. Exhibitor personnel need to be invited by the company’s main contact. The more precise and detailed the personal information on activities and interests in the matchmaking profile, the better participants can benefit from the networking options and the more likely they are to find the contacts they are looking for.
On this basis, the tool makes initial suggestions about companies and users who meet the set search criteria. The participant then has the option of inviting them for a meeting, marking them as interesting or irrelevant. The intelligent algorithm learns from these actions and thus suggests contacts that are more suitable.
Anyone who has already discovered products and services in the Exhibition Space or one of the exhibitor Live Web Sessions can also contact exhibitors directly to arrange bilateral meetings.
Companies and contact persons can be found easily in matchmaking via a search field function – and there is also the option of targeted communication via the exhibitors’ online showroom in the Exhibition Space.
Relevant contacts can also be saved on an interest list in matchmaking in order to contact them later or to arrange an appointment.
“This way, participants can first get an overview before scheduling their meetings. Afterwards, the pre-marked contacts can be invited to an individual meeting in a virtual meeting room. In the matchmaking calendar, participants can find an overview of personal appointments and – for exhibitors – also those of their team colleagues. Here it is possible to enter availabilities in order to organize meetings with larger numbers of participants if required,” Messe-Düsseldorf said.
Exhibitor representatives, who are added by their company’s main booth contact and thus linked with each other, have additional options in the team area to organise their contact requests and appointments. They can also coordinate with colleagues or take over appointments from each other.
When registering for virtual.drupa, visitors can activate their participation in matchmaking at the same time.
This means that the initial settings from the virtual.drupa profile are automatically transferred to the matchmaking profile.
“Company information of exhibitor representatives is automatically copied when invited by the company’s main booth contact. After successful registration, matchmaking can be used via the browser and also via the drupa app to effectively connect with the community,” Messe-Düsseldorf said.
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