CommunicAsia's cyber double
Touted as a "networking oasis", the CommunicAsiaOnline platform promises to serve as a “dedicated business community where professionals from various industries can ‘congregate’ on the Internet to share information, network, and form new business contacts”.
“What is important is that the networking which takes place at CommunicAsia does not end here after four days,” said Lee Wai Ling, marketing communications manager of event organizer, Singapore Exhibition Services (SES). “CommunicAsiaOnline maintains the continuity for the event and opens even more avenues for new businesses.”
Lee reported bookings of over 110 virtual booths, of which 106 are already lived. Among the early exhibitors at the online show are 3Com, NTT DoCoMo, Hewlett Packard, KRONE Far East, UT Starcom Inc and Agilent Technologies.
The biggest exhibitors at CommunicAsia, the actual event, get the virtual booth for free while smaller vendors pay a rate of S$1,000 (US$550) to maintain the online presence for a year. Non-exhibitors who want a booth online will have to pay a going rate of approximately S$4,800 (US$2,640).
“This interactive business platform allows exhibitors and visitors to communicate on a 24/7 basis. This constant interaction allows for the generation and maintenance of valuable business leads and relationships,” stated Lee.
CommunicAsiaOnline is developed upon a partnership between SES and DCS Solutions. Built primarily on DCS’s Business Builder suite of products, the platform comprises four major pieces of Visitor Centre, Exhibitor Centre, Press Centre and Resource Centre. These pieces function together to incorporate exhibition features such as booth building, information sharing and inter-business networking. Additional applications give the platform sophisticated calendaring and contact management functionalities.
The online destination made its debut as of February this year. Since then, it has raised over 20 000 registered users and hits to the site has exceeded one million since beginning of April.
Organized by Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd, CommunicAsia 2001--one of Asia's premier telecommunications and IT events--runs from June 19 to 22 at the Singapore Expo.