O.k., here’s the deal for wi-fi at McCormick Convention Center, for those of you attending ALA Annual in Chicago:
You can buy wi-fi through ALA for $25 for the entire conference, June 24-June 29 inclusive. (Where? How? I continue to plead for details. Stand by.) Or you can buy wi-fi directly through the Convention Center for $9.95 per person per day.
That’s a negotiated price that’s a good deal. It would seem like an even better deal if we were in Boston, which if you remember was $25 a day, a la carte–absurdly expensive.
Thanks to ALA for making this happen. I’m still working to convince Council that yes, people really do want wi-fi and no, it’s not just a flash in the pan. I’ve also raised the issue of having free wi-fi, wi-fi in all conference hotels, and free wi-fi in a ubiquitous bubble from the airport to your own choice of hotel–ok, maybe not quite that far.
Also, I have been told that so-and-so conferences offer it free or cheaper than ALA. In some cases it sounds as if the conferences were negotiated fairly recently; ALA, to keep costs down, negotiates years in advance. In some cases the “free” service seems to have hidden costs. Educause registration is $300 higher than ALA’s. But yes, I will keep up the pressure to offer wi-fi free-er, better-er, at future conferences.
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