Conference WiFi is a marketing play

I'm at the Emerging Technology conference in San Diego with some cool new applications and services being announced on stage and in the hallways. The problem is, no one is able to blog about what's happening in real-time due to an almost non-existant network connection (even for presenters wanting to live demo).

A thought for conference organizers: wireless connectivity is part of your marketing budget. It allows the audience to research products and sponsors, connect to other attendees to arrange meetings and get-togethers, and enables more people to attend knowing they will be able to simply connect back to the office if anything requires immediate attention.

Great connectivity leads to a bigger worldwide mind share for everyone involved in the conference. Assign a specific sponsor to the WiFi connectivity costs (WiFi by Cisco, Intel Centrino, etc.) and let freedom ring.