Comments on: Paperless Conference | Fact or Fiction?

By: Thank You UNTECH10 – The Power of a Community

Thank You UNTECH10 – The Power of a Community — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:06:14 +0000

[...] know Lindy and Maddie for a few years… Christopher Uschan had asked Lindy to contribute to a “paperless conferences” whitepaper, then continued his relationship with them through Twitter and their YAPstar [...]

By: Asking Your Members for Guidance: The Story of the Paperless Conference

Asking Your Members for Guidance: The Story of the Paperless Conference — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:14:13 +0000

[...] every year, and we frequently hear our customers announce, “This year we’re going paperless for our conference! Let’s put all the handouts online.” Their goals are to cut down on costs or to [...]

By: In a Tough Economy, Attendance Drops Even at Free Events!

In a Tough Economy, Attendance Drops Even at Free Events! — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:47:14 +0000

[...] the Affordable Meetings National event in 2008 which was “paperless,” handouts were not provided to attendees. They are posted online, but most attendees [...]

By: Beth Z

Beth Z — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:49:40 +0000

Quick update — the ASAE conference DID, in fact, include a wonderful on-site program, which I dutifully and joyfully marked up in pen. There were no paper handouts, and today I went to the download site to pick up some I missed. They were awful! Doesn’t anyone tell these speakers that providing copies of their PowerPoint slides with stock photos and no words is absolutely not helpful? Man — where’s the beef? (Showing my age there. Sorry.)

By: Chris Uschan

Chris Uschan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:11:23 +0000

Joan, you hit it on the head (learning styles, etc)… Most conferences I attend (out of town) cost at least $1000 to $2000 (travel, reg fees, etc.). To me, spending another $7 to $15 is nothing if it increases my learning experience.

I like the on-site materials. I take them with me and read through all of them on the plane (when I am totally disconnected from life and have time). I love being able to jot down notes, flag great ideas, etc. That’s pretty tough to do when the materials are online and I’m on a plane.

I love the internet, but sometimes out of sight becomes out of mind. That physical book (or even the CD) that sits on my desk is a constant reminder (Hint from the marketing guy: Keeping your name/brand top of mind is huge!)

What’s next?

Are hotels going to make me bring my own towels and bedding?

By: Joan Eisenstodt

Joan Eisenstodt — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:16:10 +0000

Beth-Sitting at IAD hoping my flight goes to SAN for ASAE .. and I GET IT! And more, we forget different learning styles and the need for taking notes .. on paper .. since some of us like to connect the speaker’s/trainer’s comments to our own. And “paperless” is also only a money and environmental saver for the meeting sponsor – the rest of us do print stuff out .. and often one-sided v. the two that the sponsors might do. THEN there are the educational offerings that we are s’posed to make interactive and w/o paper, we can’t do the exercises. And ’sides .. what’s wrong w/ printing?

By: Beth Ziesenis

Beth Ziesenis — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:19:47 +0000

So, it’s 7 p.m. the day before the ASAE conference starts, and I’m kind of unhappy. ASAE is trying to go paper *less*, if I understand things correctly. I don’t know if there will be a final program on site for me to go through, but I’m guessing I need to plan my schedule before I go.

So I tried to print the program from my computer, but it’s perhaps 60 pages of PDF broken down into maybe 6 sections. So I tried to print only the parts I needed to see, and my printer went out of ink and my computer kind of lost its mind and had to be rebooted.

Trying a different approach, I just spent the last hour trying to use the virtual planner, which is kind of cool, but the application is kind of funky. I picked sessions I wanted to see and went to tried my schedule. I pushed the button to expand my events so I could have more than the title when I tried to remember why I wanted to go… and the page wouldn’t display!

This is a long, long comment to say one thing: I want my final program! I want things to look at! I want to sit at a table in the convention center, sipping a double Americano and browsing the days options. I want to flip through descriptions and handouts to determine how to best spend my time at this important (and expensive) event. I want to use a pen I stole from the exhibit hall to circle the sessions that I want to see or jot more notes from my last presentation.

In summary… I want my money’s worth.

PS — I don’t actually know that they *won’t* have a final program — I just don’t know what to expect because of their promotions about a paper *less* event.

By: Mickie Rops

Mickie Rops — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:45:29 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. Regardless of what the party line is, I think the drive behind most paperless conferences is cutting costs. And that’s fine, but call it what it is. And, I think most groups would benefit from offering (at a fee) a conference handout book. I think there are usually enough attendees who value that and would buy it. For some of the “paperless” conference I attend, I’d love that option.