Every once in a while a marketing rep makes an irresistible pitch – one that sparks an editor’s interest and an idea that demands some followup questions before rushing something to the web. Thus was the case Friday when Billy Warden and Greg Behr of GBW Strategies pitched “human-equipped” Wi-Fi hot spots from Bandwidth for the Hopscotch festival this weekend in Raleigh. How the heck are they going to do that, I asked Greg and Billy. I wanted to make sure this is legitimate.

Here came the response:

“We’ve equipped several Republic phones to act as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. Folks just carry them in their pocket and voila, free Republic Wi-Fi for anyone in the area.”

So tell me more – not enough. What’s the technology? What’s the range?

“Range is 20 yards,” they replied.

How? These human antennas are carrying “proprietary RW tech.”

What’s that?

RW refers to Republic Wireless, the Bandwidth company that provides a combination Wi-Fi/cellular wireless service for a flat monthly rate that’s far cheaper than standard cell contracts. Phones link first to available Wi-Fi then transition signals as necessary to cellular when out of Wi-Fi range.

Thus the roving ambassadors. If you are at Hopscotch, stay close to one of the “ambassadors” and you have a hot spot.

Cool idea, eh?

Bandwidth also is offering a QR code on the t-shirts to give people a chance to register for prizes.

“The shirts have a QR code on them too, so if you find a person in a green shirt, you can let other people know,” Behr says.

“Just scan the code and it’ll tweet out that you found a human hotspot. We’ll be randomly giving out $50 Amex gift cards to folks who tweet too.”