Friday Buzz: The City With the Best Wireless (Hint: It’s Windy)

Mobile signal quality may be an odd thing to base a meeting location on, but then again, it’s pretty clear that attendees really want to be connected.

Which is why it might be worth keeping an eye on RootMetrics’ list of the cities with the best mobile coverage. According to the list, one major meetings hub—Chicago  (opens in a new tab)—comes out on top, ranking far above Atlanta  (opens in a new tab) (10th place); Orlando  (opens in a new tab) (33rd place); Washington, DC  (opens in a new tab) (48th place); New York City  (opens in a new tab) and the surrounding region (98th place); and Las Vegas  (opens in a new tab) (115th place).

Overall, cities in the Midwest did particularly well, with five Rust Belt cities—Chicago; Lansing, Michigan  (opens in a new tab); Rockford, Illinois  (opens in a new tab); Fort Wayne, Indiana  (opens in a new tab); and Detroit  (opens in a new tab)—sitting in the top 10. Rockford, the smallest city on the list, topped the charts on the speed front; Oklahoma City  (opens in a new tab) had the most reliable connections. And each city is broken down by specific networks, so you’ll know whether Verizon or AT&T is the bigger speed demon.

“Good mobile service has become as important to us as running water and electricity that works every time you flip the switch,” RootMetrics notes in its study  (opens in a new tab). “But, just as some cities have better infrastructure than others, our comprehensive U.S.-wide testing shows that not all cities are created equal when it comes to mobile service.”

Hire a Community Manager

Why Community Manager Should Be Your Association’s Next Hire http://t.co/zp7nB8mYtb  (opens in a new tab) #cmgr  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab)

— maggielmcg (@maggielmcg) November 14, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

The world is not like “Field of Dreams”: If you build it, they won’t necessarily come.

That’s why your association should take a good hard look at hiring a community manager. Writing on her Mizz Information blog, Maggie McGary suggests that associations should take a cue  (opens in a new tab) from startups and prioritize community managers in the hiring process.

“Here’s the thing—if associations are struggling with engaging the next generation of members and grappling with the fact that millennials don’t trust traditional organizations, they should really be paying attention to this rising trend of startups relying on community managers as key hires to grow business,” writes McGary, senior associate at the Strategic Communications Group.

Agree? Disagree? (ht @maggielmcg  (opens in a new tab))

Other good reads

Knowing when it’s time to go home is not easy for the workaholics out there. Jullien Gordon is one of them, but he’s got it figured out. Read his tips on his LinkedIn blog  (opens in a new tab).

Thinking about using a PDF to display relevant content for your readers? Read this NTEN article first  (opens in a new tab).

Swag as a business strategy? It can be done. Check out how Starbucks  (opens in a new tab) is going all-out on its coffee mugs and gift cards this year.

(iStock/Thinkstock)