response 142 of 299:

Aug 29 01:33 UTC 2002

I think we should draw a distinction between remote Board members 
calling in via conference call, and an on-line Board meeting conducted 
via party.  I wouldn't want the failure of one of these ideas to 
automatically lead to dismissal of the other.

response 144 of 299:

Aug 29 03:06 UTC 2002

Re #114:  That's not a "conspiracy"; it's "majority rule."

response 148 of 299:

Aug 29 07:44 UTC 2002

I've had a lot of experience over the last few years with meetings via
speakerphone, and I've never had the sorts of problems gull thinks are
inevitable.  Certainly, such problems can exist, but they're solved pretty
easily if they're not declared to be unsolvable.

The ideal way to have conference call meetings is with those Polycom
speakerphones, which have microphones facing three different directions, and
also some external mics to put at the far ends of the table.  I have no idea
how much they cost.  The $150 ATT full duplex speakerphone I have at home
isn't quite on that level, but does pretty well.  A lot of other phones (even
phones that are expensive for other reasons) throw in half duplex
speakerphones just to be able to list them as a feature, and those don't work
very well.

Cost can be handled a bunch of different ways.  Phone companies will sell you
a conference bridge, but those are expensive.  Many companies have
MeetingPlace, or something like that, running on their PBXs, since that's
cheaper than paying a phone company for every conference they want to set up,
so it's possible you could get somebody's employer to donate use of their
conferencing system during off-peak hours, when the Grex board meetings
generally are.  Alternatively, for some greater than one but not large number
of remote board members, you can set up a conference through your local phone
company's switch for somewehre around 75 cents per call.  Beyond that, you've
got the long distance phone charges, which at five cents per minute comes out
to three dollars per hour per remote board member.

That leaves the issue of finding a room with a phone line (speaker phones,
large crowds, and the low bandwidth codecs used in digital cell phones are
a bad combination).  A corporate conference room (anybody have an employer
who would let a crowd borrow a conference room for one evening per month?)
would likely include both the phone line and the Polycom.  If that's not
available, I think HVCN, or WIN, or some such group once had a meeting in a
hotel that allowed the use of a conference room on the condition that
everybody order food.  Alternatively, does Zingerman's still offer wireless
Internet access to their customers?  A notebook computer with a good sound
card and an external microphone could make a very nice VOIP speakerphone. 
How's the sound quality on Net2Phone and its rivals?

response 150 of 299:

Aug 29 13:30 UTC 2002

resp:145 - That's rather dismissive of you, Sapna.  Disruptive meetings 
result in issues that do not get resolved, time wasted and frustration 
for all involved.  You call that minor?  If nothing gets accomlished 
because the meeting format does not work, there is a problem.  Don't 
overlook that simply because you want to get your way.

resp:149 - This is not a "get over it and get on with it" issue.  
Neither is it a "you'd do it if you really wanted to" issue.  You're 
talking about investing in equipment as well as what will work best 
given the facilities the board has to choose from, the quality of the 
technology, and other variables that ought be considered.  If all of 
that isn't considered and the board purchases equipment that doesn't do 
the job, then people will start complaining that grex isn't responsible 
with its money.

response 156 of 299:

Aug 29 15:07 UTC 2002

Me a dolt? How cheeky!

response 158 of 299:

Aug 29 15:11 UTC 2002

I've been a remote user for most of my time on Grex.  I still might as well
be one, since I've never attended a board meeting -- about the only
difference now that I'm "local" is I occasionally use the dial-in lines. 
I've never gotten the impression that my input was unwelcome.  If you feel
your input is not being considered, you may want to look at the way you
present your ideas before you start claiming discrimination.

response 160 of 299:

Aug 29 15:42 UTC 2002

The conflict could also be resolved by killing all the non-Jews.

response 162 of 299:

Aug 29 17:12 UTC 2002

161: Heh.  I suggest you get used to it.

So, has anyone looked into buying one of those conference call thingies 
yet?  I think I saw them on sale at Sams or Office Max for $49.95.  I 
have occasional meetings with a group of people in Birmingham and a 
group in Albany, NY, and it's cheap and low tech but adequate.  Have to 
ask someone to "say that again" once in a while, and I remember one 
time we went through a good fifteen minutes of meeting before we 
realized the connection to Albany had been lost.  Nobody has ever 
discussed upgrading to a fancier device because it works well enough 
for our purposes, which is a monthly meeting to discuss changes, 
procedures, special requests, problems, and so on.  In fact, take away 
the millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs at stake and you probably 
have the Grex board meetings.

response 164 of 299:

Aug 29 17:15 UTC 2002

(As an added advantage, once you start including out-of-area board 
members, Jamie won't have that excuse anymore.  Nothing will stand 
between him and total personal rejection by Grex.  Think about it.)