Look Out, Here It Comes

Ok, here it comes. The next round of winter weather is going to make traffic come to a standstill, close schools and generally wreak havoc on your normal routine.

My conference calls today started with people out west and moved east, just like the weather. I talked with a co-worker in Denver who said it took her an hour and half to get to work because of a little bit of snow on top of ice and another co-worker in Kansas City who had to cancel her appointments today when her husband went out to check the conditions and slipped on the icy driveway. One of my teammates is in Chicago and preparing to juggle work and kids on Wednesday in anticipation of schools being closed. Finally I reached Boston where another person in my department is just clearing her driveway to remove last week's snow so she can get ready for the storm heading her way.

Year after year, we deal with the white stuff. Sometimes it is a welcome distraction, but most of the time it is just irritating. There are no snowdays in the corporate world, and business must move on. In spite of your best efforts, though, schedules end up being rearranged, meetings are changed and even travel plans get postponed. Now comes the reminder about conferencing services. When you are stranded at home or can't make it to the all-important meeting, don't forget that technology can overcome Mother Nature; just pick up the phone, hop on the web and get your stuff done.

When last week's storm hit the East Coast, my friend in Washington, D.C. spent 11 hours in her car trying to get home from work (it normally would take her 45 minutes). Most people want to know what happened when she had to go to the bathroom; my question was why didn't you avoid the weather altogether and just work from home by having your meetings remotely. (If you're curious, she said survival instincts kicked in and she didn't have to go.)

Let's hope this is the last big storm of the season (I won't be holding my breath). I mostly wish this because I've seen people on the news re-using the terms ‘snowmageddon', ‘snowzilla', and ‘snowpocalypse', and I just can't take hearing them again. I also wish this because I get really annoyed when my meetings are disrupted. I'm sure I'm not the only one, so save yourself some stress and be ready to conference.