VANCOUVER, Canada — Utherverse Digital Inc., a 3D web development company that created the RedLightDistrict website among numerous virtual communities, has slated the first virtual convention and trade show next month.
The two-day UtherConvention 2011 on July 8 and 9 will feature exhibitors at the showroom and informative seminars and panel discussions by noted speakers, including adult industry attorney Greg Piccionelli and Utherverse's CEO and founder, Brian Shuster.
"We've already got about 70 exhibitors and almost 1,000 attendees signed up, and I'm expecting that they will do what people normally do at trade-shows," Shuster told XBIZ. "Namely, they will see how their businesses can compliment each other, resulting in a burst of new business and profits for exhibitors."
UtherConvention also includes other events one might find in real-world conventions, including cocktail parties and meet and greets, as well as live entertainment on the trade show floor.
The event concludes with The Player’s Ball, an invite-only after party.
Shuster said that UtherConvention attendees will be charge less than $1 for entrance and that those companies taking a booth will pay less than $50.
“One of the most amazing things about this concept is the cost structure,” Shuster said. “By creating a virtual convention, we have significantly reduced the cost of hosting a global event.
"So now people from all over the world can afford to come and explore the next generation of virtual worlds, and see how the 3D web will materialize over the next few years.”
Shuster said that he's been bandying about the idea for a UtherConvention for years, "and although I've discussed it in my various speeches at various conferences as one of the early killer apps for virtual worlds, no one had ever taken up my challenge to put one on."
"With a lot of interest from our user-base in having a convention, we actually discussed putting on a real-world show up here in Vancouver, and then, like one of those 'duh' moments, we realized that we could put this on just as I had been describing for all those years — as a virtual show," he said. "Thus was born the concept for UtherConvention, and for the convention series that will be following — like the World of Warcraft Fancon that is scheduled to happen in October."
Shuster explained that World of Warcraft Fancon also will be a virtual convention but for players of the popular online role-playing game.
Throughout UtherConvention, all of Utherverse’s normal tools apply, including 3D voice and audio, which will allow participants to overhear and participate in conservations as they walk through the convention hall.
Exhibitors and speakers will be able to display products, set up screens to show slideshows or videos and use PowerPoint and props.
“These conventions showcase the power of the 3D web. It enables you to do things that the flat web can’t, and that are impossible to do in the real world,” Shuster said. “This technology opens up a whole arena of conferences that couldn’t happen before."