Over at the Nub, contributor Jon comments on a Financial Times article about the value of meetings. While there are many meetings worth participating in, many agree that most meetings don't work.

To continue today's informal theme of optimism, here are five reasons meetings can matter:

• talking to humans makes a pleasant change from staring at a computer screen
• meetings are at best an easy way of getting things done; at worst, a guilt-free way of doing nothing
• meetings tell you a lot about what type of people your colleagues are
• perform well in a meeting and boost your ego in the process
• the ritual of coffee and biscuits is an agreeable one