CA2320523A1 - Hosting a virtual trade show - Google Patents

Abstract

A Web site system and method are disclosed for the hosting of a virtual trade show or exhibition in an on-line environment, allowing attendees to interact with exhibitors and potentially make purchases therefrom. Also disclosed is a business method of providing for a pooled jackpot as a customer incentive on a convention Web site or in a similar on-line context, where sponsors jointly contribute to a central jackpot and sweepstakes entries towards the drawing for such jackpot are then apportioned between customers or viewers. Also disclosed is a method of increasing the customer or attendee base of a virtual trade show or other Web site having exhibitors or sponsors whereby sponsors can indirectly provide the central Web site with the benefit of their customer lists and customer information without needing to disclose said customer information to the central Web site or any other exhibitor or sponsor.

Description

E&K 996-04-O1 - fage 1 -HOSTING A VIRTUAL TRAD>; SHOW
This invention is in the field of business methods and electronic commerce, and more particularly deals with a method for hosting a vi_rt:ual tirade show in an on-line environment. The invention also deals with methods of providing a jackpot or other incentive to increase or retain customers on a Web site. Finally, the invention is also relevant to the field of methods for increasing the customer base of Web s_i.tes .
BACKGROUND
A key component of many business or academic conventions is a trade show or exhibs_ti.on where vendors of products or services targeted towards the attending audience of the convention can be shown or sold. Exhibiting at such trade shows in this fashion give companies a method of extremely concentrated or targF:t:ed marketing, since the demographic of the audience of the trade show is very well defined.

F&K 996-09-01 One of the problems with these types of conventions and trade shows, both for exhibitors and potential attendees or customers, is the coat involved to attend. For the °> exhibitor there is the cost of travel as well as rental of exhibit equipment and the like and payment for exhibit space in the show. For attendees or customers, the costs include travel again, as well as in many cases the need to pay registration fees for the entire conference to which a trade show is attached, where the tirade show itself may be the only event of interest to the customer. It would be advantageous to prov:~.cle a method of hosting such a trade show in an el~~ctron.i_c: f=ormat so that costs for both exhibition and attendance could be 7_owerE=_d, and from the 1~ point of view of the exhibitor, the number of attendees could be incre<~sed while maintaining the advantage of careful demographic se_l.ection of attendees of the meetings.
As is the case with physical trade shows, one of the problems that exhibitors in a trade show find is that with so much information available t=o attendees of the convention or convention with asp=ociated tirade show, it is F&K 996-04-01 necessary to have same method of attracting attendees to the exhibit booth of a particular exh=ibitor, or to at least entice an attendee of a conference to spend a period of time reviewing the c:ommerc:ial e~:hibits in the trade show .'> part of that convention. It is ,~nt:ic:ipated that a similar problem would be encountered in the hosting of an on-line trade show and, as such, one problem which needs to be addressed is a method of enticing cusi:omers or attendees to stay and review various exhibit booths in such an on-line environment.
Another problem encountered in th~~ conventional art is that of maximizing the contact lists to whom marketing of the virtual trade show or ~~ physical trade show can be directed. Often the >v>est source of v_nformation pertaining to potential attendees of such a trade show or conference are the potential corr~rriercia:l exhibitors, who are understandably reluctant to share such customer information. This is another problem which should be addressed, to provide an optimal method of hosting an on-line trade show.

F&K 996-04-O1 - Fage 4 -SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the obj ect: of th.E: present inver_tion to provide a Web ~~ site system and method which would allow for the on-line hosting of an electronic: trade show o:r exhibition.
The present invention provides a software system and method enabling the hosting of a virtual trade show with a plurality of booths or exhibits therein. The system and method of implernente<:i by way of a Web site system, thus allowing anyone in the wor:Ld with proper Internet access to enter, view and _Lnteract with said trade show.
IS Each trade show hostec:~ by the We~> site system of the present invention would include a plurality of virtual exhibitor booths or exhibit areas. An attendee of the trade show could view th~=_ "entrance" of each booth and should they wish try do ;so, c~~uld enter the booth to interact with the exruibitor, view or purchase products or services exhibit=ed t:: h.c=rein. Whelp they were finished interacting with that E_~~:hibitor, the attendee could then go F&K 996-04-O1 - fage 5 -back out into the main "exhibit hall" and view any other exhibits that they wish to as well.
As is the case with conventiona=L physical trade shows or exhibitions, door prizes cr other incentives could be used to increase the traffi~~ flow through the virtual convention site and to encourage customers to make purchases.
In certain cases, exhibitors might wish to use a suite of e-commerce tools or ap~>lic:ations available to them on the Web site system of the present invention t:o enable them to take orders or sell products or services through their exhibit booths. A1_ternatively, in other cases, other companies may wish to conduct electronic commerce remotely through their own Web s te, whether that be for security or confidentiality reasons, which could be accommodated by simply linking that portion of the exhibit booth back to the remote site where it was desired to conduct the actual transactions.
Also disclosed i.n tree present invention is a method of providing a prize as i_rncentive for ai=tendees or customers F&K 996-04-O1 _ page ~~ _ to visit a centralized Web site sponsored by one or more exhibitors or other a:ornpanies . Eat the c:entral Web site on which information for' each of thf~ sponsor, is displayed, a jackpot is made available tc> be given away in a :i sweepstakes. The jackpot prize is ~~ontributed by all of the sponsors, according tc> some formula, and then visitors to the Web site or convention on--line would accumulate sweepstakes entries towards a drawing of that jackpot based on their surfing activities in their Web browser. The l0 awarding of sweepstakes entries c:ould be done according to any number of different formulas and it will be understood that the concept of a pooled jackpot with a centralized distribution of sweepsi=ake:~ entries is at the heart of this aspect of the inventic:m.
Also disclosed is a method of obtaining or increasing subscription or attendance at a convention Web site of the present invention or another Web site. Vendors or exhibitors who have customers it the demographic area of interest to the operators of the W'eb site are asked or invited to provide reg:istrat:ion or enrolment information to their customers for t:he ~-entra~~izec~ portal or Web site.

F&K 996-04-Ol The customer can there coo and visit the site and/or enrol, and, in light of their previous purchase behaviour with the vendor, are a pre-qual:ifie~~ lead or attendee for an on-line trade show or portal such as thi~~. The further benefit of this is that tale e~:hibitor or vendor does not need to disclose their custorner_ list to the operator of the Web site or any other sponsor thereof and, as such, maintains confidentiality over th<~t material, since the Web site does not track referr<~ls.
l0 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
While the invention i~> claimed in the concluding portions 15 hereof, preferred embodiments are provided in the accompanying detailed description which may be best understood in conjunct: ion with the accompanying diagrams where like parts in each of the several diagrams are labelled with like numbE~rs, and where.:

F&K 996-09-O1 - fage 8 -Figure 1 is a system diagram of one embodiment of an apparatus for host_ng a virtual trade show in accordance with the present invention; and :i Figure 2 is one sample of a virtual floor plan of an on-line trade show of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS:
Glossary of Terms and Acronyms The following terms and acronyms are used throughout the detailed description:
Client-Server. A mode:L of interaction in a distributed system in which a pro<~.ram ~~t one ~~ite sends a request to a program at another sire and waits for a response. The requesting program is called the "'client," and the program 2U which responds to the rE:quest is called the "server. " In the context of the Wo:r:Ld Wide Web (discussed below), the client is a "Web brow:,Eerv" (or sim~~ly "'browser") which runs F&K 996-04-Ol - fage 9 -on a computer of a user°~ t=he program which responds to browser requests by ser_~nin<~ Web pages is commonly referred to as a "Web server."
'> Internet. A collection c:~f ir_terconnected (public and/or private) networks that= are linked together by a set of standard protocols (suc:h a:~ TCP/Lf and HTTf) to form a global, distributed net:worl:. (Whi7_e this term is intended to refer to what is now conunonly ><:nown as the Internet, it l0 is also intended to encompass variations which may be made in the future, includ:i_r~g changes and additions to existing standard protocols.) World Wide Web ("Web"). Used herein to refer generally to 15 both (i) a distributed collection of _i:nte:rlinked, user-viewable hypertext documents (comrr.only referred to as Web documents or Web pages) that are accesaib:Le via the Internet, and (ii) the: client and server software components which provide user access t=c~ such documents 20 using standardized Internet protocols. Currently, the primary standard protc:~c:ol for allowing applications to locate and acquire Wel:~ documents is HTTP, and the Web pages F&K 996-04-01 - P,age 10 -are encoded using HTML. However, t:he terms "Web" and "World Wide Web" are intended t_o encompa~>s future markup languages and transport protocols which may be used i.n place of (or in addition to) HTML anc~ HTTP.
;i Web site. A computer system that Nerves informational content over a network using the ~>tandard protocols of the World Wide Web. 'typical=I_y, a Web site corresponds to a particular Internet domain name, ~;uch as "abc.com," and includes the content a~>sociated with a particular organization. As used herein, the term is generally intended to encompass both (i) the hardware/software server components that aerve true informational content over the network, and (ii) the '"~>ack: end" hardware/software components, including any non-standard or specialized components, that interact with the ser~aer components to perform services for Web site users.
HTTP (HyperText Transport Protoco.l). They standard World Wide Web client-servc:er pr«t:ocol used for the exchange of information (such as HTML documents, and client requests for such documents) between a ~~rowser and a Web server.

F&K 996-04-Ol - P<~ge 11 -HTTP includes a number of different types of messages which can be sent from the client to t:he server to request different types of server action:. There are also secure types of protocols or additions t=o the basic HTTP protocol ~~ used on the Internet. One of these, which is used to add security to transmissions, is a secure socket layer protocol, also referred to as "SSL,".
Overview of System Components and Operation Figure 1 illustrates the general <~rchitecture of a Web site system which operates in accordance with the present invention to provide for the on-line hosting of a trade show or exhibit=ion. There is at. least one attendee computer (1) and a c:c>nvention Web site (2), which are linked together by thE:~ Internet (3).
The attendee computer l) might be any type of computing device that allows a user ("att:endee") to interactively browse Web sites via a We:o browser (4). For example, an F&K 996-04-Ol attendee computer ( 1 ) might, be ~i persona_L computer ("PC" ) running a Windows operating systern.
In the embodiment of Figure 1, three attendee computers are ,s shown. It will, however, be understood that due to the nature of the Internet., and one of the core advantages of the technology, is that any number of attendee computers (1) could be used, subject only to any system limitations on the Web site (2).
l0 The convention Web sits (2) is a site that provides various functionality allowing attendees, via an attendee computer (1), to browse virtual "exhibit booths" of exhibitors in the virtual convention or trade ;show of the Web site (2), 15 and to optionally purchase products and obtain.
The Web site (2) would be resident on a Web server operatively connecte<:~ to the Internet (3). Essential components of the server serving the convention Web site 20 (2) are the actual ~~a~>b se.rver ~ipplicatic>n (4), which is operatively connected to a local store of HTML documents (5) which contain both the virtual floor plans of the on-F&K 996-04-Ol line convention as we:l1 as optionally some or all of the content of the various exhi~~it booths.
Also included in the Web site system (2) is an attendee _i database (7), consisting of a plurality of records each corresponding to a registered attendee of the convention Web site (2). There i_s an enrolment function (8) associated with the Web site (2) also, which allows an attendee to register and create an attendee record in the l0 database (7), thus allowing access t=o the HTML documents (5) making up the actual virtual t=rade show.
The system of the present invention might allow for the hosting of more than one ~~onvention Web site (2) by one 1_°. provider. In fact, given the automated nature of the system of the preseni= invention, ten: or hundreds of such conventions could be h~:~sted at the same time, potentially even using the same server hardware.
20 Each convention Web site (2) being hosted by a provider provides a method foi:v ~i registered and interested attendee to view services and informaT-.ion from a variety of F&K 996-04-O1 exhibitors or suppliers in the format of a virtual trade show. The Web site system (2) would include one or more screen layouts for eventual viewing in an attendee browser, each of which screen layouts would approximately resemble a map of a convention floor with various booths visable thereon. Each booth depicted on the map could be occupied by an exhibitor and an attendee of the on-line trade show could select to enter the booth of a particular exhibitor or a particular exhibit by clicking on that exhibit on the 1G screen in their attendeebrowser. Figure shows sample

2 a of one possible virtual floor p~_an layout for an on-line convention of the pre~~ent invention.
The system would need to contain certain information IS related to each booth in the Web site system (2). For example, when a user c'_ick:~ on a Booth on the map interface to enter the booth and reek further information or buy products or services from an exhibitor, the system would either need to storey Lin'~i.ng cc-ordinates such that the 20 attendee could then be linke~~ either internally or externally to the content of the exhibitor booth, such as additional HTML file:=s or the like, or alternatively the F&K 996-04-O1 content of each exhibitor booth itself would need to be stored in the system (a). It will be understood that the content of each exhit>i.tor booth could be either stored in the local Web site ~:>ystem (2) or could be situated on a remote server and be simply linked using conventional Internet browsing prot:c>col, and that each such method is contemplated within the scope of t:he present invention.
Once a convention is scat up, ie. the exhibitors have been t0 registered and set up in the Web si.t:e system (2) and the map of the various booths present in the system has been set up for attendees to browse, t:he convention can be opened and attendees can be allowed to enter the virtual exhibit hall populated toy t=he exhibitors and their booths.
1 _'.
Each 'exhibitor booth" could be customized or configured to the desire of the particular exhibitor. The trade show format of the present invention could be used either in an informational context to disseminate information about 2o products or ser~;rices, or with the addit=ion of the proper software tools could be e-commerce enabled, such that F&K 996-04-O1 - P<~ge 10 -products or services c:ould actually be sold to visitors from such a virtual exh_bit: booth.
The content of each "exhibit boot=h" could either be hosted on the Web site system of t:he present invention, or could, by conventional linking technology, be connected to content on a separate server such as the exhibitor's internal Web server. In the case where a particu7_ar "~sxhibit booth" in the virtual trade show was linked to content on a remote l0 server, the customer_ or convention attendee would not necessarily even be aware o.f the different server locations and technologies involvf~d, but rather would still encounter a seamless viewing an<:~ purc:base e~;perience.
1°. Upon "entering" the virtual trade show of the present invention by providing the proper aut=horization or security input to the Web sitar :system of the present invention, the attendee's browser would display t=he main trade show convention floor. This would cony>ist of one or more 2U screens in the phy::~ie:al layout. of a convention floor showing icons representing the trade show booths of the various exhibitors irl That particular on-line trade show.

F&K 996-04-01 These icons might b~~ grouped or stratified based on sponsorship levels of the convention or the like, or alternatively might be randomly displayed. It will be understood that any type of display thus resembling a ~> virtual convention f:Loor is contempl,~ted within the scope of the present invent:iorn.
In any event, the attendee could view the map until one or more booths attendee wished to were lc:>cated which the 1(1 visit. By clicking on the booth as shown on the map, the browser of the atterudee would then be redirected to the content of that particular exhibitor booth, whether hos ted locally on the Web site system o:E the or present invention alterna tively if hosted externally another server.
on The convention Web site (2) includes enrolment software which implements ar-i on-line regi~~tration process for allowing attendees to register to participate in various trade shows on the Web sitf=_ (2). Fn individual enrolling as an attendee provides the convention Web site (2) with a completed on-line registration application which is processed by an enrolment software program at the site (2).

F&K 996-09-O1 The enrolment software would create an entry in the attendee database (7) according to the information provided by the enrolling attendee.
i Because the convention Web site (2) includes software for automating the primary function:; of doing business with both attendees and exhibitors (such as exhibitor or attendee enrolment, tran~~action processing and other information tracking), the architecture allows for the host 1() of the Web site (2) to run numerc>us t=_rade shows at the same time and to do business with large numbers in the magnitude of thousands of attendees with minimal supervision. In certain cases, it will be the desire of the operator to let attendees register fcr_ free, in order to get the largest 1~ possible number of attendees registered for various conventions to be provided. ~~lternatively, in certain circumstances, it may be the case that the operator wishes to charge a tee for enrolrnent as an attendee, and it will be understood that both such approa<:hes are contemplated 24 within the scope of tlue present invention.

F&K 996-04-O1 The enrolment function has the added advantage of collecting a good sample of demographic data. For example, where an on-line convention and t=rade show is being hosted where the topic was related to prot=essional photography, for example, the att:.endees who enrol identify themselves within that particular demographic. How that information is used, if at all, by the operator beyond the operation of the system is up to them - it can be foreseen that in certain circumstances complete confidentiality of this l0 information would be advantageous, but there are other circumstances in which the inform,~tion might be used by the operator or the operator and the exhibitors of the convention for subsequent or supplemental marketing purposes as well.
Once enrolled, attendees o:f various conference Web sites (2) of the present invention can view the trade show from anywhere in the world that they suave acce=~s to an Internet browses. The vast savings in travel cost: and convenience will be immediately appreciated ~~y those currently engaged in the practice ~.~f phy:~icall.y att:.ending various trade shows on an annual or periodic: basis.

F&K 996-04-O1 - Page 2 ~) -In addition to the trade show or sa:Les aspect of the convention, the Web site (2) might also include the facilities for a Web cast or other type of interaction with :> professional speakers or other means icy which presentations or other educational or informational sessions could be conducted, either by exhibitors, representatives or other parties. This could also be accessed on the floor plan map through entering a section of the reap marked "auditorium"
l0 or the like. It wi:Ll be understood that all types of technologies allowing for the broadcasting of presentations or information, and/or the participation by attendees therein, are contemp1_a.ted within the scope of this aspect of the present invent-ion.
1 '~
Another function which mig~t: be added to the convention Web site system of the present invention would be the ability to facilitate electronic purchases from exhibitors through their exhibit booths. The extension of this electronic 2G commerce capability o= tr,e convention Web site might be advantageous to cert:mi.n exhibit:ors. Alternatively, in certain circumstance:., cert=ain exhibitor: may prefer to F&K 996-04-O1 conduct any actual cc:~mmerce tran~~actions t=hrough their own Web site via a hyperlink so that the pur~~hase information is remaining confident:ia:l them and not being aggregated to anywhere on the convention Web site where it might potentially be shared by the oper,~tor of the convention Web site or any other exhibitors. It wall be understood that both such methods of electronic commerce from the exhibit booths of the virtual tirade show of the i?resent invention are contemplated within the scope hereof.
aeration of an On-line Trade Show in Accordance with the Present Invention To summarize then, a trade show would be operated in accordance with the p:~e:~ent: invent=ion as follows. Firstly, a group of exhibitors wc>ulc~ be identified and/or signed up, who were interested in participating in a trade show of this fashion related to some particular demographic audience. Dependent upon. the number of exhibitors and format of the trade shc~ua desired, the next step would be to design a virtual floc:~r plan layout for the convention and F&K 996-04-O1 assign the exhibitors to the various booths depicted therein. The content. fc>r each booth would need to be generated or linked and then the convention would be ready to go live.
Once the convention itself were set up, a potential attendee could browse to the Web site on which the convention was residernt from t:heir computer and could enrol, if not already enrolled, in the trade show using the enrolment function of the Web rite. Once enrolled, an attendee could use t:heir user particulars, such as a password or the like, t.o access t:he trade show at any time from any computer with an Internet browser. Once enrolled, the attendee would enter the a~ltual trade show area by 1~ entering their authentication in:Eormation at the Web site and would then be redirected in their browser to the virtual floor plan of: the trade :show from which they could select the booth or boot:hs which they wished to visit.
2G In operation, the atten:~ee accesaes t:he convention Web site using a standard Web brows>er, such as Microsoft' s Internet Explorer or Net:scapte' :> Tlavigator, which uses the HTTP

F&K 996-04-O1 protocol to communicates with a Web sc=rver of the convention Web site. Thf= Wex:> server acces:~es a local store of documents including t:.he virtual -=loor plan layouts (in the form of HTML or Web documents) which can be requested, retrieved and viewed by the attendee via the Web browser.
These documents include the links to other content included either in the local W formation store or remotely, which are the contents of ea.c:h exhibit booth shown on one of the virtual floor plan layoi.zts.
The virtual floor plan layouts served by the convention Web site include hyperlink=~> to other Web pages, either stored locally or on the exhibitors' Web sites remotely from the system of the present invention, allowing attendees to view IS information from a particul<~r exhibit. booth, make purchases or the like. Typically, one such hyperlink would be provided for each exhibitor displayed on the convention Web site. Alternatively, a hyperlink might ~>e provided for a group of exhibitors and when a customer selected or clicked on the hyperlink as:aociated with a particular exhibitor, the customer would 'oe automatica.l_ly connected to the content of that exhibit booth, ~ahet.her that be stored in F&K 996-04-O1 the local store of HTMI_~ document. on the Web server of the convention Web site, or alternatively remotely at another Web server or Web =cite operated by or accessible to customers of the exhibitor. At that point the attendee could be presented with var_Lous options, including links to other Web pages allowing for the provision of information or purchase of selected products >=rom. the exhibitor. As is shown here, although the exhibitor booths and their content are described in the context of "the" convention Web site, l0 it should be recognized and will oe understood that a given exhibitor could store and disseminate its exhibit booth content or document:.s from multiple different sites, including sites using different document formats and transfer protocols. 1~urther, it will be understood that 15 the system of the present. invention cc>uld be used by exhibitors to sell both products and services as well as on-line services provided over the Internet .
20 Addition of Collective Sweepstakes Prize to a Virtual Trade Show as a Customer Incentive F&K 996-04-01 - Page 2 '~ -Also contemplated within the scope of the present invention is a jackpot met=hod by which a content aggregator or host, such as a convention provider of the present invention, could provide a collective prize on t;heir_ site sponsored by ~~ all of the exhibitors in the trade show. The applicability of this method would be wide, a;~ it would be potentially useful in any scenari_c:> where there is a Web site with numerous sponsors, al.l of whom wish to generate traffic on the central Web site foz~ their mutual benefit.
t0 Specifically, there would be dis~~losed a central Web site system of an operator, whicr. Web site system has advertising content or other links to a plurality of sponsors therein. Each spons~~r would contribute, in t5 accordance with some formula, to a central jackpot prize, which central jackpot prize would then be used as an incentive to drive traff=is to the central Web site containing the advertising of the collection of sponsors.
Visitors to the sit:.e wculd then gain entries into a 20 sweepstakes from which a winner of t:he prize would eventually be drawn, and t:he entries to the sweepstakes could be apportioned eith~=_r on the basis of each person F&K 956-04-Ol getting a single entry for visiting the Web site, or each person getting entries for each time they visit the Web site or the amount o.f time they spend on the Web site, or in certain cases they may lso obtain a cJertain umber <~ n of . sweepstakes entries f=or content each c1=ick through to the of a particular sponsor.
The aggregation of prizes such as this allows for the collection of a large prize which should be sufficient 10~ enough to merit the ai=tendon of consumers choosing a Web site from which to obtain information or make purchases.
In the example of tine present invention, each of the sponsors of a particu_l.ar virtual trade show might donate, 15 in accordance with same formula, money t;o a jackpot. The jackpot might at the end of the clay total $150, 000. 00, for example. A $150,OC',~0 cash prize should be sufficient incentive to get consumers, of a garti.cul.ar demographic who might be interested in the trade show anyhow, to visit the 20 site more often and pot:ent.ially make more purchases. For example, each consumer or r~=gistered attendee in that case might get one entry in the draw for the jackpot for each F&K 996-09-O1 time that they visit the on-line trade show Web site, and might obtain, for example, three additional sweepstakes entries for each purchase that trey make from a sponsor of the trade show or exhibitor at the trade show through their trade show booth. Then at some point in time a draw could be made to give away t:r.e prize and a new prize collected.
It will be understood that the particular method of apportionment or award_ung of: swee:osta.kes entries might vary between implementations of the c~~ncept, but that all such implementations are within the concept of the present invention, whereby a ~>ooled jackpot. would be used as a sweepstakes pri<~e and, in accordance with some set of rules, viewers of a Web site would accumulate sweepstakes entries from which a winner of a jackpot would eventually be drawn.
In the embod=invent illustrai=ed ire Figure l, the Web site system (2) includes a sweepstakes software component (6) which is operatively connected to the attendee database (7) as well as the Web server applic:tion suite (4) and/or the HTML document repository ~;5) such that the sweepstakes E&K 996-04-O1 software component (6) will monitor, track and assign sweepstakes entries to various attendees based on their activity on the Web site (2) and store th<~t information in the relevant attendee records in the <~ttendee database (7).
~~ It will be understood that. any number of different data engines or data structures could be ~ssed both in terms of the actual attendee database (7) as wall as the sweepstakes and enrolment software components (6) and (8), and that all such variations obvious to one skilled in the art are l0 contemplated within the scope of t:he present invention.
Method of Aggregating Customers or Attendees at the Convention Web Site 1.'i Another invention contemplated herein is the business method of aggregating customers or attendees for a virtual trade show such as that of the present invention using demographic and cu:->tc_~mer or mailing data of various 20 exhibitors, without r_:m-, exhibitors needing to provide any of such confidential information ~o the host of the convention Web site or ~o other e:chibitors.

F&K 996-09-Ol The concept of establishing portal Web sites through which different demographic groups can access myriad information of interest to them is not new. However, the problem that the developer of a new portal faces is that of how to generate traffic and users for their site. The virtual trade show of the present. invent.icn is similar - the operator of the convention Web site would want to ensure that a large number of attendees could be generated who were of the proper demographic group. Specifically, in order to maximize revenue for both the convention Web site provider as well as the exhibitors, it would be necessary to get as many qualified lead or attendees as possible attending the Web sit=a either once or on a repeat basis.
Take, for example, the case of a virtual tirade show of the present invention being hosted in the field of professional photography, wherein the exhiE=>itors were professional photography supp.Liers and informat=ion was <~vailable in that particular field. It would be dF~sirable to secure as many professional photographers as pos:~ible as registered attendees of the vi rt~ual trade show, and then also to ensure that their interest levels were maintained in the F&K 996-04-O1 site so that they would return. to get additional information or make additional purchases at future dates.
The best source of qualified Leads in terms of demographically appropriate attendees for such a trade show would be the exhibitors. E;xhibit:ors who are registered in a virtual trade show f'or professional photographers might include camera equipment manufacturers, film suppliers, suppliers of other phot=ographi.c equipment or service l0 providers used by professional photographers in the provision of their photography services to their customers.
Each of these exhibitors would have a customer list and it would be safe to assuune that a customer of one of these exhibitors would likely be an interested and potentially 1_'. attractive attendee t;o t=he virtual trade show of the present invention.
Understanding that there would be some reluctance on the part of exhibitors t=o share their customer lists either 2(1 with the convention Web rite proviclE~r or indirectly with other exhibitors, it is t:he object cf the present invention to provide an <~lternat~ive meth<.~d by which the exhibitor F&K 996-04-O1 could encourage their individual customers to attend the virtual trade show and register as attendees without necessarily needing to disclose themselves as a customer of Company X, for example.
The contemplated method of the present invention for doing this is as follows. Each exhibitor m=fight, in their virtual exhibit booth i.n a convention Web sit=e of the present invention, offer specials or additional exclusive information that wou:Ld only 3vai7_able customers by be to registering as an att=endee in Web site and the convention attending to where that the virtual exhibit booth information could be obtained or, for example, a special price on a particular product o:~ service might be found.

1. In additio n, the exhibitors wou_Ld also potentially participate in a pooled swE~epstakes that outlined such as above which provides additional i.ncent:ive for example, for, professional photogra;~hers to attend the professional photography virtual t=rade t;howmany times increase the to number of sweepstakes entries t~~~ which they are entitled and/or to obtain special pricinc-~ on photographic products or services. Wittu these incentives in place, each F&K 996-04-O1 - Page 3~' _ exhibitor could encourage their own customers to become registered attendees of tr.e virtelal trade show in question by direct contact between t:he exhibitor and their customers.
a Rather than providirvg incentives, exhibitors might also simply encourage their customers to join such a virtual trade show as a sere:ice to their customers, since the customer might see this; as a benefit. to be able to obtain all of their necessary products or services from one site, and so long as the exhibitors are not concerned about competition amongst tlzemse7_ves in particular products or services they should feel free t~a refer as many people as possible to the site, wince the higher the number of people using the conventiorr Web site to access their virtual exhibit booths, the higher tree likelihood of making increased sales or winni..ng new acc,ouni_s.
The customers could be provided with the necessary information to contact or acces>; the convention Web site and register as an at=tendee, or alternatively the exhibitors could each rf~gi:~t.er their own lists of customers F&K 996-04-Ol as attendees of such a ;onvention Web site and then provide the access information to the cu~~tomc~rs for their use. In this fashion it is possible for t=he convention Web site to gain access to and ~:~e~nefi.t of the c:ustorner lists of the individual exhibitors who have signed on for a particular virtual trade show or convention Web site, without requiring the exhibitor to disclose specifically their customer list to either the oper~itor of the convention Web site or the other exhibitors in the virtual trade show.
!U
Maintaining Customer Interest in an Ongoing On-line Trade Show 1°~ It is also contemplated that there are numerous other methods by which traffic: could be retained at the convention Web site (2), since the on-line trade show itself might be ongoing eit=her indef=finit=ely or for a long period of time betwea:~n wholesale content turnovers. It is 20 contemplated that one metho~~ for do.:ng this is to have the enrolment software (8) capture contact information such as e-mail addresses for attendees ~-end store that information F&K 996-04-O1 in the attendee databa.~>e (7) along w;_th other information.

The site operator oi: the convention Web site system (2) could then, on a periodic basis, send out e-mail updat es, coupons or the like to reg.i;stered attendees of the particular on-line tirade show inviting them to visit the site again to see new sponsors, new content or new specials. People visiting the sate again would, in addition to seeing the new inf~rmat.ion on the site and keeping the traffic oi= the convention Web site system (2) 1(> up, also potentially garner additional entries in any sweepstakes, contests or the like which are presented for the purpose of retaining traffic or inciting interest in the content of the site as well. For example, in the embodiment outlined <~bove, including a sweepstakes ent ry, 1'> each attendee might get another sweepstakes entry each ime t they subsequently visited the site to see new material or make an additional purchase. Keeping the content of the on-line trade show fresh and up-ro-date, coupled with t his on-line update proces~~ by an e-mail. distribution list of 20 attendees, will keep thae potential_ traffic numbers high.

F&K 996-04-O1 Thus it can be :peen t:t~.at t=h.e invention accomplishes all of its stated objectives. The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention.
Further, since nume~-ous changes and modifications will readily occur to those :killed in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all such suitable changes or modifications in structure or operation which may be resorted to are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed invention.

Claims