Personally, I find it distracting as a speaker to watch people tapping away, but as an audience member it’s incredibly useful – especially when the day is a long one with lots of speakers, or you’re half-listening to a presentation that doesn’t do it for you (and in any multiday event there are going to be some of those). And there are going to be hundreds of paying audience members to one non-paying speaker.

One example of somebody who does it sort of successfully would be Apple, where at major announcements the general rule is that there is a press area with WiFi but the auditorium itself is a black hole without connectivity. If you need it desperately, you can go out and get it.

None of this, of course, will stop people from creating their own connections inside the auditorium. I tend to do my liveblogging over a 3G phone data connection, but then it’s part of my job and not everyone will want to pay for hours of access; and I noted at the iPhone announcement in January that Ryan Block had opened internet access via his machine for the Engadget crew.

However, if you’re running an event that lasts all day (not just an hour or so) I think not providing ANY kind of connectivity is a bit harsh and given that you’re talking to people in an industry focused on the internet, seems counter-intuitive.

http://www.ericmackonline.com/ica/blogs/emonline.nsf/dx/e-mail-is-bad-for-your-brain

Not only that, but if the person next to me is busily browsing, IM-ing and making a lot of noise typing, their actions will distract me and prevent me from hearing the complete presentation. Even if they don’t type loudly the flashing of their monitor will distract their neighbors.

I like Eric Meyer’s idea of moving people who demand to “blog/IM/type” to a different area of the room. The one change I’d make is that those who “are planning to blog/IM/type” not sit to the left, but sit in the back of the room. That way their computers are behind me and out of sight, though there still is the noise.

If you are going to have wifi, why not just webcast the whole thing from a studio? You can then have speakers from anywhere in the world, and those who want to surf can surf. Heck, why not just record sessions and sell video casts?

He suggested that we don’t turn the wifi off during the presentations but, politely, ask people to sit on the left if they are planning to blog/IM/type and on the right if they are planning to sit quietly and just listen.
I think that’s a good solution – everyone wins!

Not just the surfer.

I find it extremely distracting when someone is typing non-stop during a talk: its more so when there are entire rows doing it. The last time this happened was at d.construct in Brighton, which had a seperate area for those needing to work.

If you’re not interested in the talk, you shouldn’t be in the room!

Also, I created an IRC backchannel at the first FoWA and it was pretty fun in the end. I’m not sure it’s entirely productive though. Some of the things that ‘happened’ during presentations were actually co-ordinated there. However, it’d be pretty easy for people to use Bonjour on their Macs and all talk to each other even without you providing the network, so…

In my heart I’m edging towards no wi-fi at these events.. but in my head, I say ‘yes’, because it was so useful, and it also helped me find other people in the crowd I was looking for(!) (there was plenty of “I’m in the 4th row from the back” going on)

It’s a real tough decision though, and I have every sympathy for it, given someone will moan one way or the other.

However, the constant IM keyboard chatter from a very few people in the room was distracting. I’d suggest blocking the common IM client ports, but keep the WiFi on.

I’d say switch it off and I’ll tell you why – the most important part of a conference are the speakers. By having it off and removing distractions you are not only engaging the audience better, you are also respecting the speakers position and showing how much you value their speech.

This will make them feel happier about their presentation, make people think up better questions for Q&As and generally mean they are more willing to come back to speak again.

Just my opinion of course.

I think I agree with turning off the WiFi during the sessions myself, though you’ll want to make sure to explain your reasoning for this at the beginning so (hopefully) nobody will get upset.

Having taught college courses in computer labs, I can attest that email checking listeners drain the speaker’s enthusiasm, and it’s really not appropriate.

I attend Refresh events in Phoenix, and am seriously bugged by how many attendees use wifi (it’s held at a coffee house).

Both at FoWA in London earlier this year and at @media it was only a (vocal) minority of the audience that had laptops with them let alone used wi-fi. I expect it might be different in the USA.

From a conference *goers* perspective I think wi-fi at events is pretty crap – during presentations it’s distracting, and in between sessions it’s anti-social.

There’s as much to be said about switching it off in the breaks as there is about switching it off during the presentations (when it can be argued it’s more useful and although I’m with you on the live blogging thing, some would disagree – it’s not just about posting it whenever, it’s about providing real-time coverage – a live football match rather than a recorded one).

There’s something about having a computer in front of you that makes you want to fiddle with it! That’s why I stopped bringing my laptop and now carry a paper notebook instead.