I couldn’t find any of the exact products mentioned in Meetings, so there won’t be show notes. Instead here are some links that expand on some of the ideas in Meetings.

Cisco TelePresence

This is the next generation of videoconferencing. I first saw this featured in some episodes of 24. As you can see from the picture, a dedicated video room gives the illusion of a full round table when in fact it’s just being mirrored from similar rooms in different locations. This product seems to cross a lot of video conferencing boundaries and create a virtual meeting room. People are life-size, eye lines match, and voices come from the direction of the person who spoke.

Stand Up Meetings - One tip featured in Meetings is to stand up to lower meeting time. This post details one office that implemented the rule and cut meeting times in half. This probably won’t work for every type of meeting, such as planning, but it’s worth a shot.

Stop Long Meetings! - Nice list of tips from Productivity Cafe to shorten meetings and make them more effective.

If someone arrives late, carry on. Do NOT make everyone else wait while you bring the newcomer up-to-date. By avoiding backtracking attendees will learn that they want to be on time in order to participate fully.

Meeting Ice Breakers - 26 tips/exercises to change things up. Some are a bit tacky, but others are quite good.

7. Give It A Chance!
Have soft kids’ toys in the room (foam balls, squish toys, etc.)

Any time someone crushes another person’s idea (e.g., “that won’t work…we tried that before…it’ll cost too much…” etc.), group members are invited to pick up the near toy and bombard the offender, shouting “Give It A Chance!”