THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509210401
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Striped in the middle with long rectangles of white tape, a wide black carpet runs nearly the length of a cavernous exhibit area set up at the Virginia Beach Pavilion. The ersatz road makes a beeline for an artist's rendering of a computer, hung over a small stage framed by purple, pink and powder-blue balloons.
The effect has been carefully planned by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, organizer of BizExpo '95. This year, the annual two-day trade show has logged on to a central theme: that profits are to be made by instant access to electronic information over the worldwide interconnection of government, university and industry computers known as the Internet.
``Small businesses don't have time to think about the Internet or all the new technological advances. That's why we chose this topic,'' said Lin Cooper Smith, the chamber's marketing vice president. ``We're using Internet ourselves. We perceive that's what businesses need to know in the future.''
Information highway presenters, however, were in the minority of the 190 Pavilion exhibitors. The majority made more conventional pitches to attendees wandering down BizExpo aisles: pushing goods and services, from gourmet foods to medical equipment to home improvement products.
``The Internet focus is the reason I'm here,'' said Rose Arnaud , an environmental researcher with the Virginia Beach engineering firm Langley and McDonald. ``I wish there were more technology-related exhibits. I'm not that computer literate, but I want to learn more.''
To become more savvy to the ways of the infobahn, Arnaud attended a Wednesday morning Internet presentation. There she listened to Tidewater Community College instructor Dane Young explain why future commercial success is directly tied to fast connection to global databases.
``This presentation is about one word: profit,'' Dane said. ``We have a new ocean. It's called Internet. You work it the right way, you make money. You work it the wrong way, you lose money.''
But it's not enough, Dane said, just to sift through the Internet's estimated 4.5 million-plus computerized sites to gather information. Firms must figure out how to use the data they cull to reduce administrative costs by working more quickly and efficiently, for example, or to communicate more quickly and comprehensively with customers via computer.
Dane said that sending and receiving electronic mail is one of the most effective uses of the Internet.
``We went from mail to overnight delivery to faxing,'' he said. ``That was good until two years ago. Stop playing telephone tag!''
Dane's advice rang true for researcher Arnaud, who still gathers environmental regulatory information in person or by telephone from area law libraries. As her company upgrades their computer system, Arnaud plans to regularly cruise the electronic byways, which she figures will save her company time and money.
``This way I could sit at my desk and do it,'' Arnaud said. ``If we can get it on-line free, why pay for it?''
For the few already cruising the fast lanes of the information age, BizExpo provided a forum for electronic evangelism. iTribe, a 15-person Norfolk company that aims to help companies establish a personalized Internet ``presence,'' set up shop next to potential rival Bell Atlantic, which is considering ways to provide its own Internet offerings.
As he welcomed browsers to his exhibit, iTribe sales strategist Rick Richter didn't seem at all fazed by the proximity. Richter contended that many can benefit from what he calls ``the fourth communications medium.''
``Hampton Roads is really going to be like the Information Age equivalent of Silicon Valley. We have a tremendous amount of technological talent here, from the military to NASA (Langley Research Center),'' Richter said. ``The Internet and the World Wide Web will unite both sides of the water. Electronic commerce is going to push the region together.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. Todd Spencer
The road to BizExpo '95 ran through the Virginia Beach Pavillion.
by CNB