WEF - Getting connected...

A good morning van de World Economic Forum in Beijng. When you are reading this message I not only have recovered from larger amounts of German beer together with Jeremy of Danwei, but I’m actually online. Few bloggers yesterday evening, but otherwise an entertaining company, with the latest rumors on Mark Kitto of "That's.." being ousted earlier in the week.
After earlier disappointing experiences with 5-star hotels, I decided to inspect the venue ahead of the start of the proceedings, to see whether I could get online. The very helpful staff basically could in the end not hide the harsh truth: I would not be able to get online in a legal way.
The media center was set up at the only place in the hotel without wireless access. The theoretically available dail-up failed to connect with an internet provider, and the wifi-system in the hotel allowed only two hours access again a gruesome fee. Guess that the Hyatt will very soon also start charging for using their rest rooms: rather tough to make money out of your customers otherwise.
Two hours after arrival, I’m online now, basically after we went through a whole set of different phone numbers that give internet access in Beijing. Might not be able to do real-time blogger, but also not disconnected from the world. Public sessions will only start later this afternoon.