1.Very interesting, Shel. For years I had felt the same way as you about handouts...but maybe it's time to rethink them. Especially when they are done WELL - as obviously yours are.

2.Actually, Donna, the handout was a typical three-screens-per-page PowerPoint printout that the conference organizers produced from the PPT file I was required to send them. Nothing special.

3.What I usually do is provide a one-page handout with a brief outline and bio, plus a link to my presentation page, where I have interactive mind-map handouts, slide shows, recordngs, etc?again, only after the presentation. I'm not sure any of my PPTs would mean much out of the context of the talk, though, as they are almost pure images. I suspect the value of a handout as a marketing tool depends a lot on what went into the slides!

4.Shel, Just to be sure I'm following your story correctly - was this a download after you gave your presentation at the Health conference? Or something completely different? Had you prepared the handouts anyway? I ask because if you'd followed your "upload/download" policy, it shows your presentations always make an impression (which many of us know) and that the person who downloaded it will be downloading it again as he or she will be missing it. This leads me to the point that downloading information on one's own or waiting until a presentation is over does work. So, it seems like you would not have to rethink your position, based on the actual scenario of today's events. The marketing still works.

5.Hi, Susan. The group for whom I was speaking requested copies of the PowerPoint in advance and provided them to the audience before the talk. That's how somebody from the conference next door was able to snag a copy within a few minutes of the end of the presentation.

6.Viral has probably been mistakenly categorized as electronic. Paper passing is like spreading a cold, touching can spread things pretty fast. Maybe even word-of-mouth should be included in viral marketing strategies. As the sponsor of the Healthcare Internet Conference, Shel did a great job and people seek out his ideas even if they have to revert to paper copies.

7.Shel, this post is very timely for me, because I have just made a business decision to go the other way. I will continue to provide handouts, but they will be "virtual handouts," i.e., downloadable PDFs posted to a public box on Box.net. All handouts posted there will be for public presentations, so any handout will be available to anyone who would like it.

For years, I have been sending handouts to conference organizers, and I have always resisted providing slides as handouts. (From time to time, in a pinch, I have used slides in this way, but I don't think they add very much.) Instead, I will provide either an article I've written or a one pager of key principles or takeaways in a bulleted format. These handouts aren't for the session itself. They are post-session resources.

Now, I want get away from having these handouts printed at all, mostly for "green" reasons, but also because, like you, I want to be able to create my materials closer to the talks so I can capture the freshest perspectives. Submitting a handout three months in advance of a session is simply not practical when you're talking about stuff like strategy, innovation or social media!

As for the marketing implications of handouts you've discovered, I figure that serendipity works in many unexplained ways, so the chance connections should still be able to find me!

8.Shel - your presentations have always been very informative. Giving away the house has always been a concern - however what you give and when depends on what is in the presentation. A huge amount of the value comes from having Shel Holtz there and not what is on the page or screen.

You and I have discussed that presentation slides and what you say should layer and seldom if ever be the same. I have always disliked giving my full presentation to attendees because as you point out, they read ahead and are not as involved or engaged as they could be.

My preference has always been to provide a bio, overview and very high level slimmed down summary presentation that gives more than the agenda, less than the whole, and a place for them to take notes. This provides flexibility to update the presentation closer to the time if sent earlier - and you still have the choice of putting the presentation on your site or on a slideshare link. Done well the abridged versions are still marketing materials that entertain and inform.

No question there has to be a balance between giving it away, engagement, cost and saving trees. Besides, telling people that it is online as part of your contribution to the environment will get you points with some.

Just another form of the long (in this case short) tail working - online or offline.