I go to a lot of meetings here at MENC. Not as many as do some other people, but still, a lot. Meetings are ok, even good, when they are productive and the participants have good attitudes. Coming out of a meeting with a lot more work to do can be a little discouraging if the goal of all the new work hasn't been made clear. A meeting where someone drones on and on, saying the same thing over and over, is the worst. (I'm probably guilty of that, so I try to be careful.)
Sometimes, however, a meeting can be quite fun. Just now, I had a very fun meeting with the Web team. Our project list is really long right now, and while we're doing everything on the list, we're also dealing with the gigantic project of overhauling the whole Web site for a spring launch. We spent a good portion of the meeting chuckling about the staff members who think they are going to bypass procedure to get their project done before any others (i.e., "cut in line"). We also discussed how great it would be to be a judge on "Iron Chef" and how a little office gossip isn't always a bad thing. We prioritized and set deadlines and had good attitudes. Fun, productive, and not too long. (Because I had another meeting to get ready for!)
I was watching a DVD of the first season of "30 Rock" recently and I liked the way Liz Lemon called for "two minute dance break" during a long brainstorming meeting. The characters instantly cranked up the boom box and started boogie-ing around the conference room. I thought this was a great thing to add to any long meetings at MENC. Of course on the show, Liz Lemon's boss showed up in the middle of the dance break and didn't seem to think it was that great of an idea! I'll have to check MENC's policy on dancing during meetings.
Last weekend's Dilbert comic strip was about how to know when you've "won a meeting" -- I thought it was hilarious!
After lunch, two more meetings. So I'll leave you with a link to the Web site of one of my all-time favorite musicians, Richard Thompson. I saw him for the manyith time last week in DC. He tours frequently, either with a four-piece electric band or solo acoustic, performing his wonderful catalog of songs dating back to the late 60s and his days with the group Fairport Convention. Last week's show, however, was his "1000 Years of Popular Music," a tongue-in-cheek performance of the best pop songs of the last millennium. Highlights included music from the Mikado, "Shenandoah," tunes from Abba, the Korgis, the Beatles, the Kinks, and Nelly Furtado (!), some Cole Porter and Ella Fitzgerald, an English madrigal, an Italian renaissance song, and much more -- all performed "shamelessly" by RT on acoustic guitar/voice, Judith Owen on keyboards/voice, and Debra Dobkin on percussion/voice. (Harry Shearer, a voice from "The Simpsons" and "This is Spinal Tap," was sitting just in front of us. He is married to Judith Owen.) Highly recommend you check "1000 Years" out on CD or DVD.
Onward -- EWL
