Conference Calls Kill

How many conference rooms do you pass by and see bunches of people looking bored out of their minds, drifting off in to other worlds, obsessively focused on that small box in the center of the conference table?

It kills me to think how many people are wasting away through the conference call dynamic.

Meeting disciplines seem to go out of the window and time allotted is used to its full extent rather than questioned. Slated an hour - let's use an hour.

While on the subject of conference calls, one thing I've never understood is how the box in the middle of the table becomes the focus of attention. Why does that happen? This picture below for me paints an ironic picture from a conference call equipment manufacturer. Not the bullshit about all the people in dynamic poses and excited to be in a meeting but the fact that they are focused in on the speakerphone.

I get it that if you want to do a meeting with the client, you can avoid lots of flights, hotel nights, etc, but what about doing Skype and keeping the numbers small? What about making sure that key decision makers are on Skype and they are obliged to bring one person with them - a note taker who can share the meeting notes with a wider audience. What about plenty of quick Skype calls rather than a few lengthy conference calls?

I guess I'm just not a fan. For me, conference calls are killing our ability to share ideas and create new ones. They just don't allow for it.

That's my rant for today.