Experiment turns homeless into mobile 4G hotspots for SXSW

The South by Southwest festival sure see’s its fair share of craziness, but this story is sure to take the cake. If you happened to be in attendance at this years event, you may have been greeted on the street by a fellow Austin resident wearing a white t-shirt with a message. The message was clear and it was simple. It offered a name for the individual and how to use them as a 4G hotspots location. Sounds crazy right? Not to Bartle Bogle Hegarty, an independent, full-service creative company specializing in brand strategy and multi-media communications for our clients. They took an idea that not many people have ever thought of and put it into action., creating mobile hotspots location out of the resident homeless individuals.

While some may jump on the bandwagon and call this exploitation or in humane, the participants took up the opportunity full heartily and are actually defending the onslaught of criticism. For many of them it was a chance to make a little honest money, which is what most want to do.

The project nearly got shut down before it had a chance to take off. It was rained out for the first few days and the media took hold of the story in a bad light. You all know what happens when the media puts a negative spin on things. According to the participants who saw the project through to the end are saying it was a huge success, at least for them personally. “In today’s world, the Web is where it’s at. Now everyone around the world is hearing about the homeless hotspot.” Said Clarence, pictured below.

“We are homeless. It gets some of the people back out in the working environment, and that is what I am looking forward to — getting back working,” said Dusty White, 52. He also said “The thing is, it made me feel real positive and energetic, interacting with people from all over the world. I am really proud of what took place.”

While the pay may not have been stellar, it was still an opportunity for the participants to get into the public and be accepted. Often times people look down on the homeless as a bad thing. While it is not always a situation that they can change on their own. For instance, Clarence lost everything during hurricane Katrina. Not because of an alcohol problem or drug addiction. Heck I was homeless at one point in time in my life. Granted I still had a job and lived in my car, but I sure didn’t have a home to go back to after work.

Much of the negative press that the project received was from outsiders looking in. Many of them never took the time to stop and talk with the participants. I personally thing the project was a fantastic idea. Not only did it help provide street side 4G Hotspots services tot he tech hungry attendees, it gave the participants some self-worth back.

If you are interested in knowing more about the project, or about the participants, head over to the project page at homelesshotspots.org.

Via WSJ