Kudos to BCEC and MCCA...
...for equipping the Boston convention center, site of the ASAE & The Center annual meeting, with widely available wireless Internet access - at no charge! I've heard many attendees mention the convenience this has afforded them throughout the meeting, and it certainly allowed those of us blogging the meeting the freedom to blog live during sessions and sit down in any available spot to write a post. As I write this post, I'm sitting in the ballroom, just as the final general session has ended. I've also blogged and checked e-mail from the exhibit floor on the bottom level, from the corridors, and from any of a number of session rooms.
Other convention centers (and hotels!) should consider the example set at BCEC by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority as a wake-up call...complimentary Internet access - wireless or wired - will certainly win you a lot of friends! My hotel, the Courtyard Boston Tremont, has complimentary access; others, however, do not and as I've talked with people throughout this convention I've heard many complaints about hotels that charge a (somewhat hefty) fee.
Face it...more and more convention and meeting goers are expecting connectivity and convenience. Those organizations that make it easy and part of their customer service will be those, I'm guessing, that will inspire loyalty.