Those Funny Video Conference Calls

I recently teamed up with the folks over at Polycom to help spread the word about vidiequette, that is, video etiquette. As someone who travels quite frequently (I speak at 40+ events around the world each year) it’s important for me to be able to stay connected to my team and also to existing and potential clients. Sometimes this is done simply via a VOIP or phone call but I frequently use video conferencing as well, it’s a bit more personal since you can actually see the person who you’re speaking with. Over the years I’ve had some funny and interesting experiences using video conferencing and thought I’d share some of them with you and hope you will do the same in the comments.

That time I had a cold: The tough thing about committing to video is that you have to show up no matter what. I had a committed client meeting with some senior executives via video conference (in an actual HD equipped conference room) but I had a pretty bad cold. Since I was in a room pretty much surrounded with cameras there really wasn’t a place to hide while I managed my sniffles. It was a bit awkward to periodically duck out of camera sight but I had no choice. They say you can’t control a sneeze but after this client call I’m convinced that I’ve mastered the ability to do this. I’m sure the folks on the other end of the camera were quite grateful that this was being done over video and not in person!

Lesson learned, when you’re able to reschedule a video conference due to a cold, do it! If you can’t, try to do an audio call instead, if that doesn’t work either, well then, just let people know you have a cold and that you might need to duck out of site, sadly I did neither of those things and ended up looking like someone who was…sick.

Meet Athena and Blinnie: One of the challenges of having a home office with pets is that you never know when they will decide to bark like psychotic animals when the doorbell rings. Then there’s the occasional random jumping on your lap, and aggressive playtime right below your feet so that everyone on the other end can hear strange animal noises. Luckily my clients have a great sense of humor and some of them have even come to know Athena (yorkie Australia terrier mix) and Blinnine (a yorkie schnauzer mix). Still, the proper vidiequette here would have been to make sure that my dogs aren’t interrupting business conversations with clients and prospects, thankfully I’ve gotten much better at this!

Lesson learned, if you have pets that aren’t supposed to be a part of the video conference then it might be a good idea to make sure they don’t make a cameo appearance.

Forgetting the basics: Although I’ve had some funny experiences with dogs jumping on my lap, having a cold, dealing with construction background noise, and the like; it’s important to remember that what largely makes a successful video call are the basics. This means having a good quality microphone and camera so that the person on the other end can hear and see you. Perhaps more importantly is making sure that you know how to use the equipment you have. I kid you not, I’ve had several video calls with C-level executives at global organizations that couldn’t figure out how to get their microphone to work only to realize that the volume was turned down all the way. I’ve also had situations where executives didn’t realize that there was a piece of tape over their laptop camera (you never know when someone will hack in right?) and they couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t able to see them. Lesson learned, make sure you have the right tools for the job but also make sure that you know how to use those tools!

Have a funny video conference story to share? Lets hear it. Also, if you want to see some hilarious videos then check out these clips from Polycom.