In a Cisco Systems meeting with over 3,000 of its partners in Honolulu last month, up to a thousand participants attended the conference online using virtual event software provided by Unisfair, according to a Business Week report.

Unlike virtual world Second Life, Unisfair provides closed and secure environments for clients to host private corporate events. Earlier this year, the company secured $10 million in Series C funding from Sequoia Capital and Norwest Venture Partners.

In just the past year, Unisfair has reportedly doubled in size, likely a result of conference planners looking to reduce hotel, catering, and travel expenses in the face of a slowing economy and rising fuel costs.

Along with attracting participants from over 90 different companies at its Virtual Partner Summit, Cisco’s marketing vice-president also noted that virtual conferences can still be useful resources even after the event ends: “We get almost twice as many people after a virtual event to view content that's been saved in a virtual environment."