1. INTRODUCTION
ExbitOnline is a unique concept which offers exhibitors to provide them with a complete service to produce their exhibition catalogues and the clients for their needs for source of Exhibitors' and exhibitions' information worldwide. The website has two major services. One is ExbitOnline business cards (list of all exhibitors' business cards in GULF and worldwide organized by event type and product range), and the other is ExbitOnline Virtual Exhibition (interactive list of Exhibitors sites including additional features of face-to-face contacts). Exhibitions are not just collections of interesting objects brought together at a certain place and time.
They are human activities, human enterprises, undertaken for definite reasons and in order to achieve certain specified results. They are a form of human exchange, whereby the promoters and exhibitors on the one hand communicate with the visitors on the other. Their results can only be told in terms of further human thought and activity.
Benefits of Virtual Exhibition
From a marketing perspective:
- Reaching more effectively targeted and geographically dispersed audiences
- Presence online 24x7 - be seen at prospect's convenience
- Focused attention of visitors - no side distractions
- Available from prospect's armchair - no hassle of traffic and travel!
From the Exhibitor's point of view:
- Easy to present - no logistical problems for exhibitors
- Easy to update, modify, and expand - data or images can be changed instantly
- Economical - without the costs of travel, movement, set-up
- Maximum eyeballs for minimum fuss
2. BACKGROUND
The website has two parts comprising virtual exhibition and business cards. The virtual exhibition is a platform for the exhibitors to provide their information including additional features of face-to-face contacts with the clients. The business cards provide the list of companies which will attend the exhibition.
Purpose and Scope
This website benefits both the exhibitors and the clients on providing their information based on the company details also by face to face contacts and provides an easy way for the clients to know the exhibition that is going to undergo in different parts of the world. Here the authorized employees within the company on a need to know basis only use any information collected from individual customers. We constantly review our systems and data to ensure the best possible service to our customers.
3. ABOUT THE SYSTEM
This website is mainly divided into below modules
- Business Cards
- Virtual Exhibition
- Calendar
- Others
BUSINESS CARDS:
Familiarization with the user panel
Business Cards is all about giving the necessary details about a company which include the address, phone number.. While going to the business cards we provide you with a site map which includes different hubs which has been added in the admin side. On pointing each locator, we can find the name of the hub. Selecting the desired hub will move you on to a page which displays the different exhibitions that are to be conducted or that has been conducted on that present month. On scrolling down to the bottom we can find the recent exhibitions. On selecting one among them will take you to the exhibitions of that month. We have an option to change the hub in this page itself. We also provide an area to move back at the bottom. Clicking on the desired menu will take you to that page. Selecting each exhibition (ie., either by clicking on the image or by clicking the more button) will take you to a page which displays different companies that has been / that are present in that particular exhibition. We can categorize these companies based on the country which they belong on selecting the flags mentioned, also the green mark resembles all those companies which has attended that exhibition. On selecting each company will display you the business cards which include the details of the company. On selecting the website url in the business card will take you to the website of the company. In the same way if the same company has registered for a virtual stall, on selecting this name will take you to the virtual stall.
Familiarization with the admin panel
On logging on to the admin with a username and password (can be changed) we will reach the main page, in which there are several quick links present to go to that particular page and statistics. It will be clearly mentioned in the statistics the number of exhibitions, the number of stalls..In order to add an exhibition our primary necessity is to add a hub. While selecting the 'hubs' menu from the navigation panel, we have 2 options. Adding the new hub and managing the existing hub (edit and delete) While adding new hub we have to give the hub name (eg: Dubai) and we can place the locator on the desired position of the hub in the site map (the latitude and longitude will be adjusted based on this). Similarly on editing we can make changes to the above mentioned. These hubs will be displayed in the site map while selecting the Business Cards. To add the exhibitions, select the 'exhibition' menu from the navigation panel. Here also we can add and manage the exhibition. While adding the exhibition it shows a select box 'Hub' in which all the hubs which we have added from the hub menu will be displayed. This specifies under which hub that particular exhibition comes. The next part is to add the business cards. For this select the 'business card' menu from the navigation panel. On selection we can find that there are 4 submenus. By selecting the 'add card' we can add the details of the business card of the company. Here the field 'attended' means whether the company has physically attended for the exhibition or not. Based on this value (ie. If attended) we can find a green mark above each company card. On selecting the country we can categorize the company based on this mentioned country flag from the user panel. After adding these details the main part is to assign these companies to their corresponding exhibition. For that we have to select the submenu 'Assign'. Here we can find 'Hub center' (contains all the hubs which have been added), 'Exhibition' (contains the entire exhibition which has been added under the previously selected hub Company (contains all the company which has been added). Now to display these Business cards in the user panel we have to approve them. For this we have to select the All assigned submenu. In this page we can view all the company which has been assigned to particular exhibition and hub, now to approve it we has to click on the Approved button which in turn become button. We can also make it unapproved on clicking the green button.
VIRTUAL EXHIBITION
Virtual Exhibition provides a virtual impact of the stall for different companies. It also provides a platform for the clients to have a detailed idea of the different specifications of the company in a face-to-face manner.
Familiarization with the user panel
While selecting the 'VIRTUAL' menu we will reach a page which specifies the halls (A, B, C, Z), all categories coming from the admin panel will be displayed inside these halls in alphabetical order. At last there is a demo hall which will show a demo of how the virtual stall looks like. While selecting on each hall we can find the different categories of exhibition. Selecting each category will display the companies that have registered in the virtual exhibition. Selecting the company will lead you to the stall. On selecting the menus on both side of the stall will give the information about that particular company. In order to make necessary changes in these stalls for the registered users they can login through the login button on top or either they can register. Registration can be done for both Business cards and Virtual Exhibition. Only the approved stall from the admin panel can login to the stall details. Once logged in, we can make necessary changes to display in the stall.
Familiarization with the admin panel
Stalls can be added from both user panel and admin panel. From admin panel while selecting the 'Virtual Expo' menu we will have a submenu 'Add Stall', in which we can add the categories and the necessary details to be found in the stall. In the submenu 'Manage Stalls', we can approve the stall to be found in the user panel. All the stalls (which have been registered from the user panel and added from the admin panel) can be seen here. Only approved stall can be viewed in the user panel. Categories of the stall can be added by selecting the Categories in the menu.
CALENDAR
Calendar menu is mainly used for the systematic view of the exhibition in a particular year.
Familiarization with the user panel
On selecting the calendar menu we can see all the exhibitions that are to be occurred in that particular month. We have an additional option for filtering. ie., On selecting a particular year and/or a hub center will list down the entire exhibition on that particular hub for the mentioned year. On selecting each exhibition from the calendar will display all the companies to be participated in that exhibition as in the 'Business Cards' menu.
OTHERS:
NEWS LETTER SUBSCRIPTION
Familiarization with the user panel
If a client (user) needs an updated news on ExbitOnline, she/he can subscribe for the newsletter. The only thing is that she/he needs to provide the email address. At the bottom of the site there is a link for the 'News Letter Subscription'. On providing the email id he/she can receive mails from exbitonline once the admin active the subscription. She/he can also unsubscribe the newsletter (the link for this will be present in the mail which has been send). Only the active email id can receive the newsletter from ExbitOnline.
Familiarization with the admin panel
In order to active the subscribers and to send the newsletter we have to select the 'newsletter' menu. 'Mass Mail' submenu will send all the active subscribers the content which is added in the text area. 'All Subscribers' menu displays all the subscribers (both active and inactive). Mass mail will be send only to the subscribers which are active. To make the subscribers active, click on the red button and to make it inactive click on the green button . Subscription can be deleted by the user on clicking the link specified in the mail.
4. CONCLUSION
ExbitOnline is mainly built to create breakthrough in the world of Exhibitions for the good of entrepreneurs and the business world. The major mission of ExbitOnline is to become 'a must-visited website' for any visitor to world Exhibition hubs. The values we ought to follow is to work as teams, serve our customers through our clusters of data, respect our employees and our partners, strive to exceed our customers and partners' expectation, focus on what we do, we are in the world of exhibitions/ business cards/ and online-exhibitions, always look and encourage innovation and new ideas, silly idea does not exist in our dictionary, being part of the society around us and living as a good citizen.