I attended a big convention last week but never left my office.

There were no sore feet, no "where-the-heck-is-that-booth" moments and no rigorous schedule to adhere to. I didn't bump elbows with any of the more than 7,000 attendees, nor did I have to wait for a cab, shuttle bus or crawl the parking lot for an empty spot.

It was a virtual tradeshow, and I loved it!

And the best part -- it was free!

EComXpo (www.ecomxpo.com) was a technology meeting that put it's conventioneers where their customers are -- at a keyboard and computer screen. All the heavyweights were there, too -- Google, Yahoo!, MSN and hundreds more sponsors at various levels and more than 40 presentations by industry leaders.

There were more than 450 exhibitors in virtual booths. I was even able to drop my virtual business card into a virtual fishbowl to win one of the 140 real prizes, but the only thing I came away with was the screen-cleaning cloth the event organizers sent me with a Show Guide. The book served as an alternative for the event information on the Web site.

The screen of the exhibit floors resembled a second-floor balcony view over just about any trade show floor I've ever seen. The big sponsors had big booths and the smaller sponsors occupied less-assuming spaces down the virtual aisles. Clicking into a booth launched a mini-show featuring presentations and offerings from the exhibitor and a visual display of the emoticon icons chosen by others visiting the booth at the same time.

My icon was one of the boring, generic ones offered at the site, but many attendees got creative with photos and graphics that revealed a piece of their personality. It was possible to "talk" with attendees via a chat window, although the communication this time was all text-based. I'm guessing the virtual shows will someday allow camera-equipped attendees to chat live with audio and video.

Vendors and exhibitors who matched the profile I completed when registering sent me e-mail messages through a window on the trade show site, and it was easy to respond to their invitations to learn more about their products and services. All the chats and e-mails are archived in the personalized data center.

The welcome message from event director John Grosshander laid the groundwork for the show, which relies users having the latest Flash plug-in.

EcomXpo University includes a library of more than 175 presentations from this and previous shows. A one-time payment of $149.95 gets you access to all the presentations through Feb. 23.

Real conventions will never be the same, as I know I'll be wishing I was visiting virtually instead of trudging down the actual aisles.

Share your Internet story with me at agibes@reviewjournal.com.