Conversations at United Fresh — Mary Coppola
Conversations at United - Mary Coppola
Mary Coppola, vice president of marketing and communications for the United Fresh Produce Association, said the engagement of retailers on its United Fresh Live! virtual platform exceeded United's expectations.
"We really were impressed," Coppola said. "We spent a lot of time prior to this week ensuring that retail buyers across the industry understood what they could get out of participating on this platform, and they showed up in force. We had more than 500 retail buyers from 87 companies show up on the platform, and they weren't just there clicking through booths and maybe having some conversations.
"They were in the Coffee Talks, they were vocal in the Coffee Talks, they were showing up for the receptions, they were visible in the receptions and offering conversation, and I think that was much more valuable than we could have anticipated when they first started coming onto the platform," Coppola said.
Overall, there were more than 12,500 user profiles created for the first-ever virtual event for the produce industry, and the platform saw daily volumes peak around 7,500.
While the online experience provided the opportunity for connections in booths, Coppola noted that it seemed to be attendees who participated beyond the show floor that got the most out of the platform.
"It was really the folks that understood that 'sitting' in your booth was not the best way to interact," Coppola said. "So although you could be assigned as a booth staff, you still had the ability to be working in other windows, to be sending messages through the My Profile chat functions.
"It was the folks that really kind of worked the platform and showed up for those Coffee Talks and receptions outside of the Power Hours that I think got the most connectivity and the most value from being engaged and being on the platform," Coppola said.
