Wi-fi at conferences - good or bad?

Having recently helped organise a UCISA conference at the University of Reading we made some use of the wi-fi network available - encouraging delegates to make use of the conference Wetpaint wiki and also to blog and tweet during the event.

I should register here a big thank you to Andy Gatward at Reading for installing an additional WAP at very short notice because the local organiser (i.e. me) hadn't checked the signal strength in the main lecture theatre!

Not as many delegates brought laptops or PDAs as we were expecting, although we'd advertised the existence of the wireless network and the conference wiki in advance.

Is this (even with limited use) a distraction to other delegates or the speakers (who may feel that delegates are checking their email rather than listening to the presentation)?

Brian Kelly's has posted an article on this, How Rude! Use Of WiFi Networks At Conferences.

Brian raises some of the issues and suggests that conference organisers need to consider how to make best use of the technologies for most of the audience.

Brian also asks why institutions are installing wi-fi access points in teaching spaces if it's a distraction if people make use of it. I am aware of some academics that do not want wi-fi to be available in lecture theatres as students may well check mail, use Facebook etc instead of listening to the lecture.  However, they may also be using the network to enhance their learning.  Also, we don't block mobile phone networks to prevent students from texting during lectures.

One of those commenting on Brian Kelly's article makes a very good point: using laptops is easier for some students/delegates than hand writing notes.

Going back to Brian's point about making effective use of the technologies, conference organisers do need to think about what would enhance the presentations without completely alienating those without them.

Brian, of course, has shown us some (see his posts on the Institutional Web Management Workshop [IWMW] 2008 detailing the use of streaming, ScribbleItLive and Twitter).

David Harrison, in his blog on the Eduserv Symposium 2008, praised the use of CoverItLive at that event.

I was also impressed by Brian Kelly's description of the use of Twitter at IWMW events.

So for the next conference I am involved in, we will have a few decisions to make on which system to use for the event.  Though, there may be a few new ones by then!

But will those tapping away on their keyboards be distracting for other delegates and will some speakers be upset that many delegates appear not to be listening?