Have you heard about FON?

According to the site, FON's vision is to make free WiFi available everywhere made possible by members of the FON community ("Foneros").  An article in Ars Technica sheds some light on the company's growth in Europe and more recently, the U.S.  Allowing users to split their connection into two secured WiFI signals, Foneros can use their private signal to access their computer and files while providing another for public FON use.  By giving access to other Foneros, users can gain access to a worldwide network of free WiFi spots.

I think this is a really interesting concept.  I did a quick to check to see if FON service would be available near the Seattle convention site.  It looks like there is, but it's limited to one spot.  If FON gains traction in the US as quickly as it has in Europe, we'll hopefully see a few more sites added by the time the annual convention rolls around.