Yes, I do. Just like I have a problem with people not excusing themselves from a restaurant table when they receive a cell phone call. It's just common courtesy.

While I will conceed that there are some businesses where being 'that available' is important (Hospitals for example), there isn't any excuse for not being fully attentive in a meeting. If you didn't feel the meeting is valuable, then you shouldn't accept and sugest to the leader that they find a different way to conduct the business without spending the time in a meeting. But to be passive aggressive and attend the meeting and not be present because you clearly think your BB is a more important use of your time than the people's time you are wasting in the meeting is just rude. Meetings end up going on much longer when you have to ask for something to be repeated or cover a topic that has already been covered because you weren't paying attention.

Do the math... Arrive at an hourly rate for everyone attending the meeting and multiply it by the time the meeting took. There is a real cost there... do you want that cost being applied to the business at hand, or do you want that to be the cost for you to check your blackberry?

What happened to business etiquette?

yes, it is absolutely annoying to sit in a meeting when everyone is checking their email rather than focusing on the meeting agenda.

Interesting… Did BB checking become acceptable? Yikes.

Distraction and interruption are a big problem beyond contempt for professional decorum. NFI Research said two-thirds of 228 senior executives and managers, who responded to a recent survey, say e-mail is the most prominent workplace disruption. It is estimated that American businesses lose around $650 billion a year through workplace distractions, according to Jonathan Spira, chief analyst of Manhattan consulting firm Basex.

Personally, as a professional athlete and executive coach I have yet to witness high levels of performance and flow with partial attention and multitasking. And, being a recovered “crackberry” and TREO addict myself I enjoy getting more done with less stress and as a kicker, my daughter no longer thinks my “toy” is more important than her : )

Absolutely. First, if they still own a Blackberry they are a dull customer. Second, they obviously have an attention disorder and cannot be trusted to fulfill on any thing. Third, the only way they could possibly redeem themselves after revealing own this retrograde technology is to crack the box and hack it into a more useful device.

Yes;

You are in a meeting to learn & or provide feedback. Checking your BB is disconnecting from what is going on and disrespectfull to others in the meeting.. message being sent ... your email is more important than the people in the room... never the right answer

I could never understand people constantly checking their BBs in meetings; and once one guy starts the whole room is off checking their BBs, phones, etc. I was a lawyer in the City of London, charging City fees per hour, and half the time people weren't listening and asking me to repeat what I'd just said!

I do. People are in a business meeting to do business, not check their Blackberrys, which can be as much for any non-business purpose as for something related to what they a re in the meeting for. It's called "focus" and "showing respect"; as in "focus" on the purpose of the meeting and "show respect" for that, the company, and whoever called the meeting, no matter how bored you are or wish you were doing something else. In such cases, it would be better if you did your utmost to help the meeting end quickly so you can get on to more important or productive things.

I believe that most knowledge workers can multitask, which means they can listen intently while doing something else. But, as Karen MacGrane said, when there's a presentation, it just seems totally rude. I'm sort of mixed on it. I'm constantly checking my smartphone, but I've learned to put it away at meetings or when speaking one-on-one with people, because people often have the impression that you're not listening -- though I am.

I think people still routinely check and most meetings I've been in it seems pretty acceptable as long as you're not speaking or being spoken to directly.

I'd be fine with someone asking to have attendees shut off BB's, or at least not check them during a meeting unless it was a family emergency, etc.