As a frequent trade show exhibitor, we at Solegy are always looking for new ways to attract people to our booth. Raffles, schwag, dancing girls…. we’ve tried it all. Or so I thought. Today at the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo in L.A. I came across a novel marketing gimmick that’s so simple and effective that it made me slap my forehead for not thinking of it myself.

Like any tech-oriented conference, the IT Expo has no shortage of laptop toting geeks looking for the next opportunity to go online. You can’t shake a stick without crossing the path of someone, notebook akimbo, trying to feed their email jones. As a card carrying member of the aforementioned group, I know that a fair amount of time and attention is spent in pursuit of open (unsecured) WiFi access points to do just that.

Apparently, the geeks at Kentrox know this too, and were smart enough to take advantage of it. Because, mixed in among the T-Mobile, Linksys, ‘free internet’ phishers, and other sundry WiFi access point names was the SSID ‘Visit the Kentrox Booth’. Brilliant! What a great way to get their name front and center.

Now that the secret is out, I see a trend taking shape. Can it be long before Google starts aggregating the rights to use SSID names and reselling them to online advertisers? The possibilities are myriad. Now, if only Kentrox had actually allowed me to use their access point…

P.S. After I wrote this post, I Googled SSID Advertising and discovered that the SSID Advertising revolution is well underway (when did that happen??), though a bit short on details (see Exhibit A: http://www.ssidadvertising.com).