With the fall debut of eShow, an Internet expo created solely to help consumers interact face-to-face with Internet brands, online marketers will have another way to reach their consumers.
eShow, to be held Sept. 9 and 10 at New York's Madison Square Garden, is being marketed to prospective exhibitors as a cost-effective method to touch consumers in an environment clogged with multiple marketing messages.
“It helps them break through all this dot-com clutter in terms of there being so many different radio and TV commercials,” said Bob Zuckerman, president of Three Z Productions, which is producing eShow “So, it's a way for them to interact one-on-one with their ultimate customer.”
Among the early exhibitors are title sponsors The New York Times and Ziff-Davis Media's Yahoo Internet Life magazine; Intel Corp.; travel Web site iExplore.com; Sickbay.com; Zero Knowledge; netmarket.com; eLance.com; Internet telephony providers deltathree.com and visitalk.com; iParty.com; the Walt Disney Co.'s family.com; Family PC magazine; and Kodak.
In all, Zuckerman expects more than 150 Internet marketers to sign up for the weekend show. eShow will offer exclusive sponsorships in categories such as e-commerce, music, finance and recruitment. A standard exhibitor package costs $2,100, but advertisers in The New York Times are entitled to discounted rates as part of a deal between the newspaper publisher and eShow.
The idea for eShow (www.eshowny.com) was born after research conducted by Zuckerman showed that there were many Internet- and technology-focused shows such as Internet World and Comdex, “but no one was focusing on the consumers, which, we felt, was a real void in the marketplace,” he said.
According to a recent Jupiter Communications survey cited by Zuckerman, 90 percent of the polled online consumers like human interaction — a key point that the show organizer seeks to address.
“There are so many different products and services available on the Web now that most of the general public isn't even aware it exists,” Zuckerman said. “This event is really a way for them to find out what's available on the Internet that can enhance their everyday lives.”
