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John wrote here yesterday about Wifi availability at the conference venue this year. The good news is, if all goes according to plan, we should be swimming in the network, which is great.

There’s been a bit of talk about backchannels, and specifically, whether or not Wifi should be available in the theatres as well as the open spaces where we have lunch etc.

Let’s assume there are no technical issues to overcome for a moment (which there in fact are). I wonder if people might be able to give me specific examples of events they have been to where the backchannel was a real value add. What I need to know is:

How did the backchannel actually work? As in what technologies were used and how?

What great conversations took place on the backchannel and how did this add to the event?

How did the availability of Wifi within the theatres make the backchannel really work well?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.