Communications and meetings are expensive.  Travel, while it can be key to successful business, is expensive.  Perhaps you’re cutting back on your travel budget because of the economy.  Sometimes you need to meet with customers on regular basis. Maybe you’ve even considered online meetings. 

Online meetings and conference calls are often touted as a replacement for getting together face to face.  But let’s face it – the average online meeting isn’t a great experience.  In fact, it’s often downright awful!  Who hasn’t experienced:

• Not knowing who is on the call with you.  Most calls start with a role call – “Is John here? Susan?” -- but even so, you might not know if that person is still there, or has even arrived.
• Interruptions from chime tones, people speaking over each other, obnoxious hold music, or children and pets making a noise in the background. 
• Waiting while one person downloads the document sharing application – time that other people had to sit and wait.

The second day of Drupalcon was terrific.  Kevin, Rad, and I started out by going for breakfast at a counter that had pretty much no English skills.  That, by the way, I have found interesting.  English is not spoken very much at all in Spain.  It has given me the desire to go home and learn the language.  Perhaps it is an exercise for me and my daughter to do together.  It was a curious experience at this little restaurant.  Rad asked if they had breakfast to which he was asked, "Do you want a sandwich?"  "No, do you have breakfast on plates?"  This was greeted with a reluctantness.  Finally the lady running the counter told us that we would have "Huevos et Bacon."  I've never been told at a restaurant exactly what it was I going to eat before.