Meetings are like...
I find it interesting how an organization's culture shapes the framework for how a meeting is run. Whether it's meeting minutes, a scheduled agenda, people playing buzzword bingo, people checking their phones, etc, etc. I've had a lot of meetings with different audiences over the past couple of months and I've come to compare all meetings to video games. I don't classify them by genre or console, no I classify them by game.
Halo Meetings - Not be confused with "Left 4 Dead" meetings, Halo meetings occur when the sh*t is about to hit the fan (or it is), the chips are down, everyone's been putting in the extra time and the troops are just running ragged. This is when you bring in the Master Chief, he gives you a new clip, offers some words of encouragement and sends you on your way. You have an objective, you have checkpoints and if people can't keep up, move on.
Civilization Meetings - Now let's be clear, I'm not talking Civ I, I'm talking the latest Civ (4 or 5). These meetings are all about diplomacy, establishing relationships, keeping the peace and trying to push that bar forward. It doesn't matter how far forward, it just has to go forward. At the end of the meeting, if the projected moved forward an inch, it moved, if it moved forward 100 yard, it moved. That's all that matters, that and don't upset your neighbours, keep the peace and move on.
Driver Meetings - Okay, remember Driver when it first came out? I loved that game, it was the best game with one single objective. Get away from everything, don't stop at checkpoints, race through them. Driver meetings are most commonly witnessed in the presence of Project Status Meetings that are on a time limit. Here's the status, got a question, too long, hold it for next time, we got to move onto the next thing. You always know when you're about to enter a Drive meeting before you enter the room, you look at the Agenda, you look at your calendar and all you can think is - "No @#$#@ way", and then its time to hit the gas.
Myst Meetings - Remember Myst? Remember the frustration in that game? I can't count how many times I walked away from my computer ticked off at all the stupid puzzles in that game - "yes I would like to turn the crank, but you need to let down the drawbridge, to turn the key, to let the pail come down that holds the screw to turning the crank". Not my game and these are definitely not my meetings. I don't like wishy, washy meetings that start off with a clear objective (finish, achieve X), but get so screwed up along the way that by the end no one knows what you are supposed to be doing. Congratulations you just wasted an hour of everyone's time.
Grand Theft Auto Meetings - Aaah the GTA meeting - despite its redefining "Open Game Concept" - it does not make for a great meeting. You are not in a meeting to explore a world - "Okay so this bug has an issue with the SDK, what version of the SDK are we running, did we need to upgrade, what does everyone think of the SDK, why don't we go download this other SDK and try that, is this really a bug, it sounds more like a ... feature (or read quest). GTA - great game, bad meeting.
Starcraft Meetings - And I've saved the best for the last. The Starcraft meetings are interesting to be a part of, everyone is protecting their own and hoarding resources. What does that remind you of? Yes that's right... budget meetings - "Well if I dont' get x budget (crystals) I can't deliver y project (need Siege Tank). Yes Starcraft meetings emerge when resources are on the table, whether they be people, hardware, software, budgets, travel, etc, etc.
I'm sure there are more variants out there, these are the ones that have popped into my head over the last few months, culminating with today's Civilization meeting).
Perhaps this makes sense, perhaps it doesn't, all I know is I have a LAN party to go this weekend and I can't find my Starcraft CD.