There are some curious arguments in the handouts discussion. My basic assumptions are: (a) It is good to have attendees go to SHARE so we should give them what they want. (b) One of the main goals at SHARE is to get as much information as possible to as many people as possible, however that might be accomplished. . (1) The notion that a SHARE member who does not attend a session does not 'deserve' to get a handout is somewhat like Salvation Army meetings where you have to listen to the sermon to get fed (Disclaimer: This may be OK for the Salvation Army but is, perhaps, not appropriate in the SHARE context). . (2) The disgust over SHARE members who (like me) frequent the 'extra handout' table to see what we missed. To me, this shows that there is a demand for handouts. We need to meet the demand. . (3) Taking notes in college vs taking notes on a handout: One difference was that, in college, the professor generally wrote on the blackboard at the same time he talked. This gave visual clues for note taking and also 'paced' the talk. . (4) The notion that IT folks should lead the charge toward a 'paperless' society: The fact of the matter is that there are very good reasons why we have not gotten to a paperless society - Paper inexpensively provides a lot of features that technology has not reached yet. Let me know when I can roll up a laptop and put it in my pocket and look over the data at lunch and not be concerned about battery life or whether someone will steal it if I leave it on the table. . (5) Numbers of sessions without handouts: At least four sessions that I attended did have not handouts. In one session the speaker was having difficulty uploading the notes, but he expected them to get there eventually ... All of the speakers referred to being 'green' rather than telling the truth about the expense. I resent being lied to. . (6) whether people will attend because there are not handouts: This is the standard 'bean counter' argument. If we leave four nuts out of each cookie, who will notice the difference? So we go down the road leaving out more and more and the cookie gets less and less interesting and eventually nobody wants the cookies ... I have heard no discussion as to SHARE's financial situation. If it is in a marginal state then I would prefer that they raise the cost of attending rather than reduce the experience and pretend it doesn't matter ... I don't think that the burden should be put on the speakers, who are already performing a service. . (7) The notion that SHARE does not have a contractual obligation to provide handouts ... I don't know that there is a 'contract' for anything that SHARE does. It all falls in the realm of 'expectations.' We expect that we will get a bag to put stuff into. We expect that we will get a schedule (even though we can download the software). We hope to get a coffee between sessions, etc.
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