Mobile Aps when WIFI sucks

Speaker : Jelmer Van Ast

Duration: 20 minutes

Jelmer Van Ast, founder and managing director of Conference Compass, make mobile apps with a focus on scientific program, customization, reach contain, etc…Thanks to his job, he realized that many conferences application rely on WIFI connection. However, from his point of view, WIFI is not reliable so people start complaining : “WIFI sucks!”.  At present time, while everyone is talking about mobile apps for events, this is becoming to be a big problem for conference organizer.

During the conference, he distinguish two types of applications, web and native applications.

Web application is the best known! It’s when internet display the content, and updates information simultaneously. It is working on each phone, which is its strength as well. But at the same time, with this connection, if internet is slow, the application is not working. It’s also really expensive for everyone – conference organizers and attendees (especially the foreign one). Moreover, because the band with is shared, the more people use the WIFI, the less it works.

Regarding native applications,  the content is downloaded long before the conference, which make it faster with a better response. One of the biggest advantages, is that it works regardless internet. However, it’s not always up to date information and it only works for phone designed for it.

To conclude, the question of the day was, do you want to pay for something you can’t control?  Our answer is no, as we couldn’t connect our mobile phone at EIBTM WIFI. Or maybe, when the speaker speak highly about native connection, we think that hybrid connection should be used when it comes to introducing those tools in conferences and events. 


Elodie Gaillacq, Fanny Veau and Ludivine Deschamps