posted at: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2005/11/17/wi-fi-salon-
delays-free-public-wireless-networks/
According to the NewYorkology Blog, the Wi-Fi Salon has delayed
installation of the rest of their network (they only got 1 hotspot
out of 18 up and running) due to a delay in a potential park ad
sponsor’s marketing plan. According to Marshall Brown,
“Put simply, we are in continued negotiations with a lead sponsor and
several other sponsors. Their product launch delays affected their
marketing spends, and in turn changed our timetable.”
Marshall has certainly been working diligently (we’ve spoken a number
of times about his networks), but it seems this job is a lot harder
to sell to sponsors then originally thought. Marshall has been
working for the past 2 years to get advertising sponsors for his park
installations, and has only been able to succeed once, at Battery Park.
The unfortunate reality, for us as New Yorkers, is that the NYC Parks
Department brought this situation on itself. They announced months
ago that Wi-Fi Salon is paying them a fee for the right to install
these public park networks. To date, only 1 of 18 parks in the Parks
Department Network has been brought online (in a similar amount of
time–2 years–NYCwireless and other free public hotspot partners had
brought online almost half a dozen locations). NYCwireless has always
been of the mind that such public networks really don’t generate
revenue, and for the NYC Parks Department to require a license fee to
install in these parks is a disservice to the residents in these
communities, who are the ones that aren’t getting their Wi-Fi.
We support Marshall and his vision to bring Wi-Fi to all of New York.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t had much success, and it seems he’s still
struggling. Perhaps part of the problem is that he’s going it alone,
and he’s being forced make enough money to pay off the Parks Department.
One of the other issues with Marshall’s “If you build it, they will
come” strategy for his hotspots is that he is selling them as
“Community Hotspots” yet there’s no community. If you look at the
Battery Park portal, there are only a few posts, and all (most?) of
them are by Marshall. Building a hotspot that serves the community,
and getting that community onboard requires much more than just a
fancy portal page. It requires outreach, training, and even some
marketing. It requires developing relationships with active community
members, and encouraging them to reach out to others in their
neighborhood.
Unfortunately, this type of community building is beyond both
Marshall, who’s primary concern is selling advertising, and the NYC
Parks Department, who thinks that they can just sit back and watch
the money roll in.
As New Yorkers, we owe it to ourselves to make sure that such
projects are handled properly, and that they are created as
coalitions of appropriate and talented parties. Reach out to the NYC
Parks Department, and let them know that you expect more from them.
Dana Spiegel
Executive Director
NYCwireless
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.NYCwireless.net
+1 917 402 0422
Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info
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