TREVOSE, PA – April 29, 2010 – The Advertising Specialty Institute announced today its latest virtual trade show averaged 978 visitors per booth during the all-day, online event where distributors, suppliers and decorators network and sell in real-time through interactive multimedia booths. 

ASI reports suppliers exhibiting during virtual trade shows like the one held Wednesday, April 28, experience an average 24% increase in ESP searches the next day.

On average, exhibitors at Wednesday’s virtual trade show – ASI’s fourth – spent 66 minutes in the virtual environment and exchanged 4,548 instant messages; distributors completed 5,404 supplier surveys.

Wednesday’s show featured several top suppliers, including Tri-Mountain/Mountain Gear (asi/92125), Americanna Co. (asi/35730), Graphco Line (asi/57956) and The Magnet Group (asi/68507).  Exhibitors showcased numerous products lines, including bumper stickers, key tags, bottled water, bags, desk accessories, eco-friendly, apparel, phone accessories, sports bottles, food and gifts.

“Exhibiting suppliers love ASI’s virtual trade shows because they immediately realize a direct benefit: a big jump in ESP searches the day after the show,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI.  “We’re the only company in the industry to offer this rich of a virtual experience, which is a perfect companion to our in-person shows and provides a perfect way to take marketing and lead-generation programs to the next level.”

Distributors and suppliers who missed the virtual trade show this week can access it on-demand at www.asicentral.com/vts from April 29-June 15.

Participants describe ASI’s virtual trade shows as cost-effective and convenient, providing distributors a perfect opportunity to chat one-on-one with suppliers providing interactive video at their booths.  Other testimonials include:

“I’m just totally, totally blown away at the design, look, feel and quality,” said Jason Brandt of Promotional Partners Inc. (asi/165706).

“What a fabulous idea,” said Paula Forgione of OxaMoxa (asi/397447).  “I love the format.  It was just like walking through a regular trade show.  You could see who the supplier was, get a look at their specials and ask questions.”

The virtual show also included leading education sessions for distributors.  In addition, distributors received priority upgrades from ESP Online to ESP Web and a total of 443 training webcasts for ESP Web and ESP Orders were viewed.

ASI will host two more virtual trade shows this year, on Wednesday, June 16, and Wednesday, September 22.

Many useful features are available during the virtual shows, including:

• Exhibit Hall.  Booths from top suppliers featured product demonstrations, catalogs and samples.  Distributors and suppliers chatted online inside each booth.      

• Networking Café.  Provided distributors with a way to chat online outside of the exhibit hall and share success stories. 

• Education Center.  Distributors turned challenges into opportunities with a variety of leading education sessions. 

• Catalog and Information Room.  Offered one-stop shopping for catalogs and white papers from suppliers, which were all accessible in a PDF format. 

For more information about the ASI Virtual Trade Show, contact Dan Dienna, advertising director for catalogs and electronics, at ddienna@asicentral.com.   

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 26,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 22,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.  Visit ASI online at asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, the CEO’s blog and the ASI Social Network.

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Dawn Marie,
Executive director of corporate communications

Email industry news and press releases to Chris Ruvo, Digital News Director and Promogram Editor at cruvo@asicentral.com

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