AMD Has Hosted 1M Visitors, Now Expanding Its Virtual Experience

AMD announced that its AMD Virtual Experience, introduced in September 2006, would be getting significant expansions over the next six months. The virtual trade show has already hosted one million unique visitors who have downloaded over 600,000 pieces of collateral. Today's announcement introduced features like one-on-one chat and virtual shops as well as Appro, Cray, Dell, Egenera, Lenovo, Rackable Systems, Verari Systems and VMware as partners, and AMD says it will roll out more content and features over the next six months. For the first time, booths will also be funded by the presenters themselves instead of AMD. "We believe the AMD Virtual Experience format is an innovative way to educate a new generation of buyers looking for a convenient online alternative to the traditional tradeshow experience," said Brian Byun, vice president of global partners and solutions at VMware.

Cisco created a similar virtual world last month as a collaborative environment for its Industry Solutions Partner Network, but it created the world through a partnership with Unisfair. AMD developed its world with Design Reactor, though Unisfair's seems a bit more immersive.

 

Likewise, AMD's platform seems much more targeted at asynchronous communication instead of real-time exchanges, though it allows for both.

"We have the chat features and there are activities that happen in real time, though it may be different from other virtual worlds like Second Life that are always real time," said AMD spokesperson Marian Kelley. "The idea is to have it be both. To have interactive chat when multiple people are in the same areas. In the past year we launched a few initiatives with chats for events."

But AMD is developing its chat features now, and adding more capability for immediate conversation.

"It's an evolution, adding more functionality and features with how people are using the site," said Kelley. "People are using it as one place to go to seek information around AMD products even though competitors are hosting booths across the hall just as in real life."

It seems to do the trick. When AMD first developed the world, it commissioned a study that found that "of the total number surveyed who attended a trade show, cost and time were cited as the two largest drawbacks by 33 percent and 32 percent respectively."

When we spoke with Unisfair about best practices for virtual trade shows, they highlighted the cost benefits that virtual trade shows could bring. Each Unisfair event saw an average of 1,587 attendees and delivering 348 qualified leads per each event sponsor—and distilling best practices.

"The number of leads is extremely powerful if you compare that to physical events or any other marketing vehicle," said Unisfair VP of Marketing Brent Arslaner. "And that's the difference with the virtual environment: everything is tracked. It provides a very deep profile compared to physical events where you've maybe got 3 words chicken scratched on a business card."

AMD Virtual Experience (AVE) Expanded Through Interactivity Enhancements and Technology Partner Participation

Participation Doubles as Improved AVE Functionality Lets Technology Leaders Better Demonstrate Quad-Core Solutions

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced wider adoption and significant enhancements for the AMD Virtual Experience (http://ave.amd.com). This content-rich virtual tradeshow provides visitors a unique visual experience with even broader access to supplier and vendor buying decision information, as well as the latest on controlling energy consumption in the datacenter.

Major technology industry leaders are embracing the interactive, online environment to raise visibility of their solutions based on AMD Opteron™ processors, including the newly introduced Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors. Booths are now funded primarily by the participating technology partners, representing a change in business model since the site was introduced in September 2006.

“AMD has an unwavering focus on fostering connections to solve IT datacenter challenges, and, as such, our role as the catalyst for bringing together industry leaders has resulted in a cost-effective, yet undeniably personal alternative to the traditional tradeshow,” said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, Marketing and Strategy, Computing Solutions Group, AMD. “As an interactive 3D environment, the AMD Virtual Experience is a natural extension of AMD technology, which enables the ultimate visual experience.”

Today’s latest enhancements include an expansion of user navigational control and features, such as a one-on-one chat application, increased video and collateral search capabilities, and virtual vendor shops. Registrants continue to be empowered to steer their own course, choose information of interest, participate in demos, download white papers and observe the keynotes at any time they wish – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – all from the comfort of their PC. Additional content, as well as new booths from technology partners, will continue to be rolled out over the next six months.

“Providing rich information to our customers, wherever and whenever they want it is a cornerstone in Dell’s commitment to help customers simplify the way they buy, deploy and manage their IT,” said Brad Anderson, senior vice president, Dell Product Group. “Quite simply, our close collaboration with AMD is helping us increase our virtual presence and impact on the market.”

The already heavily populated interface has received more than one million unique visitors and has delivered more than 600,000 downloaded pieces of collateral since its introduction last year. By increasing the number of leading technology partners and incorporating text and video content search capabilities, the visitors’ virtual experience is even better, helping them to quickly access information tailored to their specific needs and interests. Technology partners participating in the site for the first time are Appro, Cray, Dell, Egenera, Lenovo, Rackable Systems, Verari Systems and VMware.

“We are pleased to be participating in the AMD Virtual Experience to showcase VMware virtualization solutions based on the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors,” said Brian Byun, vice president of global partners and solutions at VMware. “We believe the AMD Virtual Experience format is an innovative way to educate a new generation of buyers looking for a convenient online alternative to the traditional tradeshow experience.”

“The Lenovo ThinkCentre A61e ultra small form factor desktop with choices of the energy-efficient, 45-watt AMD Athlon™ X2 dual-core processor and single-core AMD Sempron™ processor demonstrates our joint collaboration in providing an extensive menu of environmentally responsible, energy-efficient technology choices,” said Tom Tobul, executive director, Emerging Products Marketing, Lenovo. “And working with AMD to provide timely and useful information in one place to aid a visitor’s buying decision is exactly where we want to be to showcase our innovative ThinkCentre A61e desktop solutions.”

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit www.amd.com.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron AMD Athlon, AMD Sempron, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contacts

AMD Global Communications
Marian Kelley, 512-602-7712 (PR)
marian.kelley@amd.com
or
Mike Haase, 408-749-3124 (IR)
mike.haase@amd.com