I have been a mesh (goTenna) user and believer for several years now and own 6 devices for myself to lend to others or to use as relays. Unfortunately, I do not see a wide adoption in the Chicago Loop area which is the area that I believe would benefit the most from a strong network. When I try to socialize the idea I get a bunch of blank stares and folks have no idea what I am talking about. The biggest response I get is “why would I want to purchase another device when I can just text since I have to have my phone anyway.” I try hard but people just do not want to be on board or they want the network to expand before they get on board not realizing that if they made the jump that is the way to start the expansion.
Long story short, I would like to hear from all of those interested in the Chicago area. I would also like to hear from anyone/anywhere for your success stories in building strong mesh networks in your area. I want to get as many folks in Chicago involved as possible but marketing, socializing, advertising the benefits is very difficult in the city. Even though there are many high rises that have terrible cell coverage or is a great city for disaster planning and having more relays, devices, and even better subscribers in the city would be awesome. I would like to start up a Meetup if that makes sense and when we can, organize some discussions over a beer maybe. Please help!