EPLAN Virtual Fair 2020: A Review
September 18, 2020
By Sarah Pickard
The 2020 EPLAN Virtual Fair boasts something for everyone, from senior management to end-users, and they are determined that everyone can find it. Webinars and online conferences are moving forward as the new standard, but they can run the gauntlet in accessibility and ease of use.
The home page, or conference ‘lobby’, opened with a welcome video and guide to navigating the site. To the left, the EPLAN Worldwide section allowed users to find the specific booth for their country’s resources. These booths contained more tailored information in the form of brochures, which attendees can put into their virtual briefcase for later perusal. Each booth also hosted live representatives to answer more specific questions you might have, as well as PDF documents with more information about the company and products.
The lobby was always quickly accessible by a button on the bottom of the screen, making navigation a breeze. Once back in the lobby, attendees could attend live talks and software demos advertised in the day’s agenda, also available on the bottom of the screen. EPLAN’s Virtual Fair includes pop-up reminders for their live talks, so you can rest easy knowing you won’t miss a panel you were particularly interested in. There was no need to register for specific talks—attending was as easy as poking your head into a room, with the option to ask questions live at the end of each panel, or communicate with other attendees in the chat.
There was also a networking area containing a global public chat for all attendees, with the option to video chat. However, for at least the four hours we attended, it wasn’t very busy. Perhaps other attendees were using the private chat function instead, and the search feature to find the specific individuals they wished to connect with.
Besides the live-talks and software demos, the Virtual Fair had a surprising whimsical side: a candy-crush style game that offered users a chance to win one of three Online Training EPLAN Electric P8 Update 2.9’s. Competition was fierce on the public scoreboard, with ‘Jose Francisco’ racking up over 3,000 points, followed by ‘Frank’ and the ‘PolandSupportTeam’. (Our congratulations.)
With the conference concluded, videos of all the presentations and live demonstrations will be available on the fair platform until September 23rd. We highly recommend checking out these highlighted topics:
– How Switching to Function Based Systems Engineering Can Make You More Efficient
– How Does the Increased Focus of EPLAN in Industrial Segments Help Digitalization?
– Automated Engineering Made Simple in the Cloud
– Location-Independent Access to Schematics with EPLAN eVIEW
