VANCOUVER, Canada — UtherConvention, the world’s first entirely 3D trade show takes place on July 8-9 and will be held entirely in the Utherverse Virtual World. The event will feature the best of today’s digital 3D technology.

UtherConvention comes from Utherverse Digital Inc., the company that created the Virtual World Web (VWW), which has more than eight million registered users. It will feature all of the qualities trade show attendees have come to expect from traditional conventions, but will also allow more people from around the world to participate at a considerably lower price.

“UtherConvention is a show that focuses on the Virtual World industry. Prior shows that have taken place in San Francisco and New York have had about a dozen small booths and a few hundred attendees. UtherConvention sold out all of the sponsor packages in the first 24 hours and has had more than 100 companies purchase booths,” said Brian Shuster, the founder and CEO of Utherverse. “We are anticipating about 5,000 total attendees.”

Since the cost of travel and lodging is eliminated and it will take less time to participate, attendees are beginning to see the advantages of virtual trade shows.

“At this point, I would say that the show is going to be at least eight times larger than comparable real-world shows, and this is just the beginning. Once people begin to understand the opportunity better, I believe that future shows will end up dwarfing their real-world counterparts by 20 to 50 times,” said Shuster.

Between 100 and 200 exhibitors will take part in the seminars, panel discussions, cocktail parties, meet and greets, and other networking opportunities. There will also be live entertainment from Utherverse comedian Patrick Maliha and an invite-only event, the Player’s Ball, which will close out the event.

“Attendees will delight in seeing lectures ranging from the ‘Future of the 3D Web’ to ‘Virtual Goods Panel’ to ‘How to Earn a Living in the Virtual World’ and many more, which are freely available to attendees. Exhibitors and sponsors include some of the largest companies offering services in the Virtual World Web space, including the creation of your own Virtual World as part of the VWW, as well as designers, decorators, wedding planners (for virtual weddings), service providers (musicians, event coordinators, business services), trade-groups and many more,” said Shuster.

Much of the entertainment industry has already taken their business to the Internet in the form of music, books and film. The medium has helped expand each of their respective audiences and to become more interactive with consumers, and that is being used as a way to build UtherConvention.

“Companies will find that shows that were marginally or even unprofitable as real-world trade-shows could suddenly become very profitable as virtual shows. There are so many new opportunities for the industry to leverage that this technology promises to expand the industry in almost every direction, and companies that understand and use the technology have a chance to become the next-generation of Internet success stories,” said Shuster.

In many ways, UtherConvention will be similar to in-person trade shows, but the Utherverse is able to add in additional features that will provide extra benefits for attendees.

The special features include “3D audio, which will allow users to speak to each other and another user passing by will be able to overhear conversations and join in, or pass by. For those ‘Random Encounters’ we have set up group text chat in all of the regions, so that users can chat and be seen by all of the other users in their current Hall. This ‘General Chat’ allows people to introduce themselves or their products, or otherwise have discussions in text chat with the entire room. This is a huge enhancement over traditional trade shows because it makes ‘Random’ encounters much more likely and productive,” said Shuster.

Shuster believes shows that need to revitalize their conventions to create a larger profit and level of success will be the first to make the full transition to the virtual world, as well as trade shows that are not easily or realistically put on as in-person events.

“An example of a trade show that cannot be done as a traditional show is the upcoming virtual show ‘WOW Fancon 2011,’ which is a virtual trade show that is taking place in October of this year, and is designed for fans of the game World of Warcraft. WOW has about 14 million players, but they are scattered all over the world, and they generally are unable or unwilling to spend the kind of money needed to travel to a convention city.

“In addition, there is a massive cottage industry built up around the game, with thousands of vendors who are very anxious to demonstrate their products and services to this market. Thus, WOW Fancon creates a new trade show that could not be put on as a traditional show, but will be wildly successful as a virtual trade show,” said Shuster.

He believes that traditional conventions will start making the transition by adding supplements to their in-person shows, adding a pre- or post-show that will give exhibitors a greater chance to make an impact.

“This could be offered to the exhibitors for a reasonable additional fee, and thus the industry can increase their profits right away. Eventually, I believe there will be a good mix of real-world and virtual trade shows that will complement each other and dramatically expand the trade show industry,” said Shuster.

Attendees of UtherConvention will have a few added bonuses, as well, providing more incentive to join in on the events of the first fully online show.

“All participants of UtherConvention will get a free copy of the Utherverse 3D Web browser and an account that will allow them to explore the full extent of the Virtual World Web – which currently is comprised of more than 60,000 enterprise worlds and millions of ‘home’ worlds called ‘Zabys.’ Giveaways and prizes will be rewarded throughout the show, and those will include upgrades, enhancements to users’ Avatars and other digital goods and services. Live entertainment will be performed on stage, and there will be a huge party with high-profile DJs spinning for the Player’s Ball,” Shuster said.