Unisfair captures $3.2M to host virtual events

Unisfair captures $3.2M to host virtual events

Unisfair, a firm that hosts virtual events, particularly job fairs that you don’t have to attend in person, has brought in $3.2 million of an anticipated $9.3 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company just bolstered its offerings by integrating Facebook and Twitter into its event experiences.

Unisfair’s platform allows you to create a digital character, or avatar, that you can navigate through a faux exhibition hall… Continue Reading

Virtual events draw a live in-person crowd

Virtual events draw a live in-person crowd

Yes, these people in the picture are real. What’s weird is they’re attending a conference about virtual events. You know, the kind they have only in cyberspace where you pretend you’re at a live event.

As surreal as it sounds, the fledgling virtual events industry gathered today at a first-of-its-kind Virtual Edge event at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, Calif. While other conferences have been pummeled by the recession, there were 500 people… Continue Reading

Virtual event companies report boom amid downturn

Virtual event companies report boom amid downturn

A host of companies offering virtual events are doing well, now that the sluggish economy has people wanting to save air or car expenses for in-person meetings.

Unisfair, which offers virtual job fairs, is the just the latest. It lets people go online to a faux exhibit hall, create a virtual character and then interact with people attending the same event, says signed up 25 new customers for the business in the first quarter.

Separately, the Menlo… Continue Reading

Unisfair partners with Cramer to make virtual events into better experiences

Unisfair partners with Cramer to make virtual events into better experiences

Virtual trade fairs have been taking off as a business, but now it’s time to up the game.

Virtual trade show company Unisfair is partnering today with digital marketing agency Cramer to produce virtual trade events that are more memorable experiences. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Unisfair has been staging events like virtual job fairs, where people can go online to a faux exhibit hall, create a virtual character and then interact with people attending the same event.

Unisfair… Continue Reading

Sony Electronics holds a virtual trade show

Sony Electronics holds a virtual trade show

Sony Electronics staged a virtual trade show today for fans of professional broadcasting equipment. The company said thousands of people registered for the event, which was staged by InXpo in Chicago.

The event marks the first time that Sony Electronics has endorsed the virtual trade show concept, which has been pushed by a variety of startups in the past couple of years as a way to cut travel and hotel expenses.

Alec Shapiro, senior vice president of… Continue Reading

Unisfair launches virtual job fairs so you can surf for jobs from the office

Unisfair launches virtual job fairs so you can surf for jobs from the office

Unisfair is launching online virtual job fairs for businesses as an extension to its virtual trade show business. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company has created an online recruiting tool that allows recruiters and job seekers to interact live.

The company says that, like its virtual trade shows, the job fairs can eliminate expensive travel and improve the productivity of searching and recruiting for jobs. Unisfair’s own survey of more than 100 human resources managers says 64… Continue Reading

Unisfair launches version 2.0 of virtual trade events builder

Unisfair launches version 2.0 of virtual trade events builder

Unisfair is trying to get businesses to take virtual trade shows as more than a curiosity. On Monday, the company will announce version 2.0 of its Virtual Events for Business tool, VentureBeat has learned.

The Menlo Park, Calif., company helps businesses stage trade shows online so they can cut the costs of phsyical trade shows, yet reap the same benefits of gathering for talks and exhibitions. The new version delivers capabilities such as e-commerce, multiple-language support,… Continue Reading

Unisfair, a virtual event provider, raises $10M from Norwest and Sequoia

Unisfair, a virtual event provider, raises $10M from Norwest and Sequoia

Unisfair, a company providing virtual hosting for events with attendance running into the thousands of people, has raised a round of $10 million from Norwest Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital, VentureBeat has learned.

Unlike most other virtual-world technologies, Unisfair runs entirely in the browser, and focuses only on events like global sales meetings and job fairs. Like real-world conferences, events on Unisfair typically run at set times for a day or two, and are sponsored by… Continue Reading