Tips for Surviving Long Boring Company Meetings

Today I was away at an all day company meeting. The good thing about it is that there were a lot of food and drinks along the way, but the bad thing with these long meetings is that they are almost always quite sleep inducing and includes a lot of speakers and very little interactivity. So here are some tips I have to make these meetings a little less painful.

1. Sit Near the Exit - The reason for this is so that it's easier to get up and go to the bathroom. When a meeting is more than three hours a lot of people go to the john, and getting up and having to say "excuse me" a million times is pretty annoying. Also, when the meeting is over it's easier to get out of the door!

2. Sit Near the Back - I do this because it's easier to be not noticed and it is easier to take a nap or play with something I brought. Though, in smaller meetings this tactic doesn't work very well.

3. Bring Portable Entertainment - Portable entertainment could consist of a novel, a portable gaming device, a computer, or a notebook. In my previous company I was able to get through a good part of a Nintendo DS RPG through a three hour meeting where the executives repeated what they said in the previous meeting. With a computer you can do a lot more things like emailing and instant messaging if there is internet. If there is no internet you can still blog offline.

4. Play Games Like "Bullsh*t Bingo" - The rules to this games is explained in the link. Basically, you make a list of business buzzwords that people say in meetings like "synergy" or "web 2.0". Try to get coworkers to make their own lists, and then check off each word as they are said and the winner is the person who has his/her list completed first. Of course, this game requires paying attention to the speakers, but if the meeting is sort of small and you can't play other games, this is the way to go.

5. Take Naps When You Can - This is a no brainer, when you're bored you tend to sleep, and sleeping is much more fun than a boring meeting because at least you can dream. Just make sure you don't snore very loudly and you don't mind sleeping sitting up.

6. When There is Free Food and Drink, Bring Containers -- Today we had a lot of free beer and other drinks, and some people had backpacks. They could have hauled a whole six pack of Guinness home. In my first company a guy always had Tupperware for these events so he could bring food home. My supervisor in my last company would bring a shopping bag and put a whole food tray in it.

Anyway, don't do any of these things if you are actually a presenter at the meeting and have to sit somewhere near the front. If you are interested in the topic presented then the best option at these meeting is to listen, but if you are an engineer and they are commending the salesmen repeatedly and reading off the sales numbers by every region in the world, then it gets pretty darn boring! Try these things at your own risk!