Regarding Emergency Meetings

1. Something Disturbing at the Usual Spot

I saw something disturbing at the usual spot. First, in the north booth, two people were talking with a laptop computer on the table. It was closed, but out of its case, so they must have used it for something. Perhaps viewing architectural drawings or some other creative project, I thought.

But later, at two tables on the north wall there was a group of four young men who would have looked in place at the tavern the Hobbits stopped at the night after they left the Shire. These young men had two open laptops and were clearly using them to access the internet.

"Are they instant messaging each other?" asked my companion.

"I hope not," I replied. Just then, Lisa came by with my Pepsi. "Lisa, are those guys on the internet."

"Yeah," she said, "somehow you can get it here."

"But you guys aren't providing it, right?"

"Oh, no!" She looked horrified at the idea.

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2. Convenor Responsibility

From the Berkun Blog:

If you called the meeting, do your %*?@?! job. Everyone claims they know about facilitation, but few do it. If you called the meeting, it’s your job to

1. Get there on time;
2. Write a bullet list agenda on the wall;
3. Manage the conversation so no one hogs the floor and the right people get a voice at the right time; and
4. Make sure side issues get delegated out of the room.

If you don’t do all 4, any meeting problems are your fault.

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3. Emergency Meeting

I would suggest an emergency meeting to discuss these issues, but I'm not sure Lisa would appreciate me writing on the wall and we all know how close I am to getting barred all the time.