On 8 and 9 July 2021 the Chamber of Commerce of Bari organized the B2B meeting foreseen in WP2 – Information and Publicity under the Deliverable 2.3 – Organization of 1 workshop and of 1 BtoB event.

Chamber of Commerce of Bari registered the domain www.virtualx.it and created a web platform dedicated to the project entirely customized.

The general services provided were:

  • Domain registration and configuration: virtualx.it protected by SSL certificate
  • Hosting
  • 1st and 2nd level Help Desk

The portal has provided the following sections

  • Homepage
  • Expo Hall
  • Landing page
  • B2B Meeting Room

The homepage has been designed with a 3D animated and interactive layout in Italian and English with access to the following sections:

  • 3 exhibition areas: Fashion, Food and Tourism
  • Help desk
  • Links of the involved stakeholders: Bari Chamber of Commerce, Unioncamere, BRE, FRESHWAYS and Themis

Referring to the Expo Hall, 3 areas were established, one for each sector and within them 3D static interactive scenarios have been created with the virtual stands of the Buyers.

The scenarios have been updated according to the agreed agendas to consistently display the B2B stand protagonists and providing two rotations according to the presence of confirmed buyers.

The individual stands have been customized with: company name, logo, flag of origin.

Clicking on each stand the user could access to a Landing Page customized for each buyer characterized by:

  • Reference sector color
  • Buyer logo
  • Link Help Desk secretariat
  • Website link
  • Contact details
  • Access to dedicated meeting room

A Waiting Room for sellers was also created for each sector to provide technical and linguistic assistance in case of need.

The Meeting Rooms were designed as an interactive online space, the companies were able to meet remotely and carry out the exchange typical of any B2B: sellers and buyers received via email an agenda with the scheduling of meetings, linguistic assistance with qualified interpreters from and for the English language and dedicated assistance through a direct link to the helpdesk for the duration of the event.

The B2B promotion was developed through a communication plan shared with the contracting authority in Italian and English and publications were made on the social and web pages of the project.

Virtual X hosted 89 food, fashion and tourism companies from Apulia, with 23 business partners from Greece, Albania and Montenegro.

An actual “virtual window” to showcase the best of ‘Made in Apulia’, from gastronomy to fashion, as well asthe most experiential and unforgettable tourist packages.

FRESHWAYS Project funded the B2B on the Tourism and Food Sector.