In an effort to provide an even more efficient and valuable show experience, the sponsoring organizations of AAPEX — AAIA and AASA – along with SEMA, have partnered with Orlando-based NFi Studios to provide exhibitors and buyers with an opportunity to network prior to the shows through an online show matching community, similar to the social networking site, Facebook. 
“Everyone’s increasingly used to getting their information online,” says Sterling Raphael, president and CEO of NFi Studios, a provider of creative marketing solutions for associations and companies. “If you need something, Google it. So this is another tool or resource for potential and actual attendees to say, ‘I want to really see and start connecting to the show. I’m going to go on the show-matching feature and connect with people, so I can start networking before [the show] and make this experience, during and after, much more beneficial and valuable to me.”
Each registrant for the AAPEX and SEMA shows will get an email with a short description of the functionality of the online matching community, including a list of some of the matches they’ve received based on criteria specified during the registration process.
“Once they see that email,” Raphael says, “they’re going to click on a link and log in for the first time.”
After confirming their information, users can upload a photo of themselves to be displayed along with their business profile.
“We think that’s important because as you’re connecting with individuals and being matched to them, you get more value and personality out of the system by seeing who you’re interacting with,” Raphael says.
With those two tasks completed, users are then ready to start taking advantage of all that the site has to offer.
“Those are the only two things that you really need to do to get going into the system the first time,” Raphael says. “Based on your registration information, the system has already matched you to a variety of content and people.”
A user’s main page is comprised of easy-to-navigate boxes divided into three columns, including SEMA exhibitor/buyer and event matches on the left, AAPEX exhibitor/buyer and events matches on the right, and “My Matches” and “My Itinerary” down the middle. “My Matches” and “My Interests” can also be accessed via drop-down menus at the top of the main page, which includes an “Event Directory” as well as links to floor plans for both AAPEX and SEMA. Changing “My Interests” — which are broken down into market segment, product category, job function and region — further defines matches for the user.
“Once you’ve been matched to people, you have to remove that match,” Raphael says. “Changing your interests won’t remove the matches for you, it will just add new matches to your matching list.”
Also beneficial to show attendees is the ability to access “My Itinerary.” Users can add items to their itinerary based on events they’ve been matched to automatically by the system, or they can choose to enter custom meetings.
“There’s so much to do at these shows, that nobody can do it all,” Raphael says. “So now I’m able to get a relevant experience of content and networking based on who I am and what I’m interested in, and put that together in an itinerary before I go to the show.”
In addition to a printout of their itinerary, users can download it to their Outlook or iCal programs and hit the ground running at the show. Raphael says he hopes as users become more familiar with the benefits of the site that it becomes “their show resource — the place that they go to really customize their experience and get the most out of the show.”
