OT: crazy things you do on conference calls

[Irishgirl]

Today’s thought is rooted in what has the potential for some good laughs....

I spend several hours a day on conference calls and today on one of my calls I had a feeling the person on the call was not sitting at their desk and something else may have been going on.

Here is the question....what activities do you engage in (or the other person you are having a call with) while on a call that makes you grateful your conference calls are not video conference calls?


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[YesNdeed]

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[Irishgirl]

Now that is a beautiful Martini!!


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[old fat man]

Ridden the trainer plenty of times
Usually surfing the internet including this forum
Taken calls from my personal phone
Pulled over on the side of the trail while mtb riding
Probably more I can't remember

[Clean39T]

When it comes to conference calls.....there's hearing, there's listening, and there's participating.. My behavior changes depending on what is called for.

I've seen/heard it all though - guy calling in and forgetting to turn off his camera, in bed, no shirt, just woke up - somebody not muting themselves while doing a number two and make some sounds as they, uh, got it done..

As technology has improved, there's less of this. The old days when one person going on hold would kill the whole call - don't miss that.

[Matt92037]

I trued my front wheel today!

[vav]

Lichess

[efixler]

Today I was in a zoom meeting (as I usually am a couple of times a day). Only 1 of the 10 participants had his camera turned off.

When he spoke, it became clear that he was really, really stoned...

[Louis]

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/EX4BXT/man-talking-on-phone-while-riding-bike-at-galveston-4th-of-july-parade-EX4BXT.jpg

[d_douglas]

I am sitting in our bedroom with my knees smashed up against the clothing dresser for my days. Our bed also happens to be the dumping ground for clean laundry straight out of the dryer/off the clothesline. I may have been known to fold laundry while participating on conference calls ;)

One of my colleagues has transformed his look quite drastically, from having slicked back hair and pretty bad glasses and dumpy clothes to having shaved his head and bought some pretty stylin super big dark rimmed ones.

He looks totally different and it’s for the better, for sure. He has captured the bespectacled hipster look pretty well !!

[Louis]

IOne of my colleagues has transformed his look quite drastically, from having slicked back hair and pretty bad glasses and dumpy clothes to having shaved his head and bought some pretty stylin super big dark rimmed ones.

If only I had more hair, I could go for this DIY quarantine haircut:

https://www.thetrendspotter.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Bowl-Cut-Haircut-11.jpg

[djg21]

Today’s thought is rooted in what has the potential for some good laughs....

I spend several hours a day on conference calls and today on one of my calls I had a feeling the person on the call was not sitting at their desk and something else may have been going on.

Here is the question....what activities do you engage in (or the other person you are having a call with) while on a call that makes you grateful your conference calls are not video conference calls?


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Along the same lines, this is great: https://nypost.com/2020/04/14/judge-urges-attorneys-to-get-out-of-bed-wear-clothes-for-hearings/

[C40_guy]

Worst thing I ever did on a conference call was to do some dremeling on something in the garage. Then realized I was not on mute. Oops!

"Really bad interference on the line today, wonder what's going on with that." :)

I've also run on the treadmill during calls, but not on interactive calls...

[Tickdoc]

my little dog likes to bust in on me every single time screeching becai=use of his always itchy ears. I have to stay on mute regardless. Reminds me I need to give him his allergy shot.

[madsciencenow]

I routinely ride the trainer on calls where I need to be in loop but know I won’t be called on to provide much input.


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[paredown]

A friend told me a funny story this morning--she's with a new company, and on one of the early Zoom calls, the participants were all asked to stand up. She's thinking it was some sort of corporate team-building exercise or whatever--then she realizes that it is a corporate public shaming to "out" the people who are still in pajamas, boxers or whatever.

Right after the stand-up came the word from on high, about professionalism--putting on pants means you are in the right mindset to get-er-done.:banana:

[estilley]

On the first day of classes-gone-remote I watched someone make a sandwich.

Now all the cameras are muted.

I guess we are all making sandwiches now.

[Elefantino]

I wrapped my bars the other day.

And I wore pants.

[csm]

I've golfed during them at a previous job. Currently I'm usually surfing the web or playing a mindless game on my phone.
I have one every morning @1030 and my new goal is to be showered by then.
The first couple weeks i wasn't......


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[Irishgirl]

Right after the stand-up came the word from on high, about professionalism--putting on pants means you are in the right mindset to get-er-done.:banana:

Mmmm....skirts or dresses count too [emoji6]


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[paredown]

Mmmm....skirts or dresses count too [emoji6]


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Metaphorical pants--the person telling the story had put on a dress...:)

[Irishgirl]

Metaphorical pants--the person telling the story had put on a dress...:)


Oh I know it was a traditional metaphorical comment [emoji4]

When not in the middle of a pandemic my standard attire is dresses/skirts/heels ....between my feet being the happiest then they ever have been... sporting new comfy trainers from ON, my reduced dry cleaning bills...and it seems to snow more now in Chicago in the spring I find myself in either jeans or Lululemon...and I have no shame in that.


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[Bruce K]

We have been asked to get dressed and have an appropriate environment for faculty, team, special education, and ELL status meetings.

Online with the students is a little more casual but I find that due to the questions from kids and the need to be available to teach/retract/explain that I really can’t do much “off topic” stuff.

If the meeting time (kids pop in and out) is quiet, I either grade papers or plan the lessons for the following week.

It fills 4-5 hours (3.5 hours of “class” time per day) every weekday.

BK

[prototoast]

My favorite thing to do is vacuuming. It's mildly productive, and a pretty mindless task that allows me to focus on the conversation while tuning out outside distractions. Obviously I have to stop the vacuum and unmute my phone whenever I need to talk, but that's not much of a problem. Plus, I have three dogs, so I can pretty much vacuum nonstop and it will never be wasted effort.

[kevinvc]

Lots of interesting behavior on Zoom or MS Teams calls since all this started. It seems like a lot of people are missing social contact and there are now more people turning their cameras on than there were a few weeks ago.

Some folks are going feral: no shaving or hair grooming, wearing the same clothes in meetings throughout the week, etc.

Lots of people looking like Dr. Evil sitting in comfortable chairs and petting their cats throughout the call. Although, a lot of people enjoy seeing each other's pets and I've been on a couple of calls where participants are encouraged to put their animals on screen after the business part wrapped up.

I learned the term "Zoom mullet": professionally dressed and groomed from the waist up, gym shorts, sweats or boxers down below. Fortunately I was told about this rather than seeing it directly.

[SimonC]

I've seen/heard it all though - guy calling in and forgetting to turn off his camera, in bed, no shirt, just woke up - somebody not muting themselves while doing a number two

Early in my career, I got one of those fancy wireless headsets for my desk phone. Learnt my lesson - the first time I went to the bathroom (number one) the guy sat next to me unmuted the line...

[C40_guy]

I wrapped my bars the other day.

And I wore pants.

Always a good idea. You don't want to catch anything in an errant wrap!

[C40_guy]

Early in my career, I got one of those fancy wireless headsets for my desk phone. Learnt my lesson - the first time I went to the bathroom (number one) the guy sat next to me unmuted the line...

I do a fair amount of public speaking and have always been a bit paranoid about an unmuted wireless microphone during my PPP (pre-preso pee).

[BRad704]

We use Zoom and Teams for video on most calls now, but if I'm just attending, I usually have FB, Amazon or Paceline open too.

My only decent conf call story is that I logged into a new product training call (application I designed and built) and basically taught about a dozen people how to use it from memory... While on skis and standing at the bottom of a run in Jackson Hole.


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[RFC]

I do a fair amount of public speaking and have always been a bit paranoid about an unmuted wireless microphone during my PPP (pre-preso pee).

I also conduct a number of academic and professional seminars, both live and streamed, and have experience the mike problem.

[RFC]

Instructions from the Courts

https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyers-are-dressing-way-too-casual-during-zoom-hearings-judge-says?utm_source=salesforce_196013&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly_email&utm_medium=email&utm_source=salesforce_196013&sc_sid=02261457&utm_campaign=&promo=&utm_content=&additional4=&additional5=&sfmc_j=196013&sfmc_s=51586515&sfmc_l=1527&sfmc_jb=296&sfmc_mid=100027443&sfmc_u=6515904