How to virtual.drupa – Visitor Edition

After sharing our tips for exhibitors, we now want to take a closer look at creating the best drupa experience at virtual.drupa for our visitors as well. Only two weeks until we open our digital doors for our first-ever fully-digital drupa event, so we are finally entering the final stage of virtual.drupa preparations! Our exhibitors are ready to go, but what about you visitors? Have you planned your virtual.drupa days with events from our Conference Area or the Exhibition Space with its Exhibitor Web Sessions? Did you check the Exhibitor Index for the most important showcases? Are you signed up for our Matchmaking and have you reached out to some industry professionals and companies to schedule your meetings? To make sure, you feel prepared and ready to roam the digital halls and discover the latest innovations, technologies and products, we want to provide you with this quick guide for a successful virtual.drupa 2021!

1# Register Now

Of course, taking a look at our programme and different virtual.drupa areas is publicly available but if you have decided that you want to participate in this virtual adventure, you have to set up an account. Good news: The digital version of drupa is free to enter and if you have already signed up for one of our drupa preview days, you can use the same account for virtual.drupa again! Signing up for a web session or presentation also allows for the speaker to send you additional information and connect with you via Matchmaking, and for you to save the session to watch on demand (again) later.

#2 Plan Your Visit

Whether you are looking for companies’ showcases, web sessions of major key accounts of the print industry, keynote speakers and grand conferences or networking opportunities – with our virtual platform and advanced tools, you get the full trade fair experience, even in difficult circumstances like this. Check out our programme and different offerings to create a schedule that fits your drupa needs. And as an additional bonus, you can watch all virtual.drupa content (again) on demand even after virtual.drupa for several months and even use our Matchmaking tool the Monday and Tuesday after virtual.drupa. Connecting with the global print community and accessing inspiring content has never been easier! 

For German speaking trade fair visitors, Messe Düsseldorf even has a little quiz on their blog to help you set your focus according to your interest for a virtual trade fair and guide you through the virtual experience.

#3 Become a Matchmaking Pro

For many visitors as well as exhibitors, a drupa trade fair is not only about getting the latest information on upcoming innovation and future technologies. It is also a place to connect and build valuable, new business contacts. After a year of living with a global pandemic, stretching your “networking muscle” might be a little more challenging than usual – and with a digital showcase, you cannot simply walk around the halls of Messe Düsseldorf, stopping by this or that booth, collecting business cards and getting inspired by random products and companies – so we have worked to improve our drupa Matchmaking tool to fit those new needs and support you in your networking efforts. Plan your meeting ahead of our virtual event with the advanced Matchmaking tool. Connect with other industry professionals to further innovation or simply gain new customers, schedule your meetings and hold them in one of our virtual meeting rooms in our Networking Plaza, all efficiently in one place. With our calendar option, it is also easy to keep track of your appointments and get a quick overview of your schedule to your meetings into your virtual.drupa schedule. Our Matchmaking is available at all times, so even though the programme of our Conference Area is running on Central European Time, you can schedule your meetings whenever is most convenient for you. Our virtual meeting rooms will even be available – with a short interruption at the weekend – until April 27, so you get enough time to plan around your showcases or take advantage of it even for contacts made at the last hours of virtual.drupa.

Visitors get to find potential business contacts by setting up a profile and naming their interests. We recommend filling them out as thoroughly as possible to get the most accurate networking suggestions! Our algorithm is working tirelessly, learning through your interaction and enabling focused contact generation. Sign up now and reach out to potentially interesting partners now to get your meeting for virtual.drupa before their schedules are filling up as well.

#4 Cover Your Bases

With all the talk of the advantages of virtual.drupa and the efficient features we have set up for our exhibitors and visitors, to make your drupa experience as positive and expedient as possible, it is still important to cover your bases for your ideal virtual.drupa. When using the world wide web, it is always essential to set up a reliable internet connection – you wouldn’t want the presentations or meetings you have set up for yourself to freeze mid-sentence! This step seems pretty basic but since it is also easily overlooked or underestimated, it is still important to bring it to your attention anyways. Don’t forget to follow drupa on social media to get our coverage of the event and stay informed about short-term and spontaneous activities on our virtual “trade fair grounds” as well. We might have some special surprises prepared for you.

#5 Drift Along

What kind of trade fair visitor are you usually at an in-person event? Are you the type to be there early to get the best seat, preparing questions ahead of time and thoroughly taking notes during the talks? Or are you more the type of visitor that likes to drift along the wave of information without much preparation to keep an open mind, ready to be inspired? With virtual.drupa you can be both! Since you get to rewatch every session on demand, you can easily just join (last minute) and just follow the talk without the distraction of having to take notes. Or stick to writing down your bullet points right away, in that case having pen and paper – or an electronic device – ready to go should also be part of your virtual.drupa preparation.

#6 Set Up Your Base Camp

Another advantage of a virtual trade fair: You don’t have to go to the exhibitors, they will come to you. Virtually. To wherever you want to set up your base camp. Your desk, your living room, anywhere that works best for you. Of course that comes with additional perks for our visitors – having everything you need on hand has never been easier. Stock up on snacks (without having to worry about smells or noises disturbing anyone around you) and drinks and anything else you might need for your personal preferences. Stay hydrated and enjoy binging on virtual.drupa content!

We hope you are as excited for virtual.drupa as we are! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions surrounding your participation and go to your social media platform of choice to use the hashtag #virtualdrupa to share your preparations and experiences with us – we’d love to see what you are most looking forward to!