When I joined our company, we were small. But we grew to be one of the major players before I retired. In some categories, we're #1 now.

Meetings were the bane of my existence. But I was a lab rat. I got good enough that usually I would get called to a meeting, I would go first presenting my results, and then I'd leave. But meetings that didn't go that way, where I had to sit for an hour or two, were a huge waste of time. Especially if "business" people were in the room. If it was just technical folks, we'd discuss what was going on, ways to solve the problem, and we'd leave. Put someone from marketing in there, or a "manager", and suddenly the meeting was twice as long, but not as productive.

But, no, no one would ever take or place a call during a meeting unless it was an emergency (and then they would step out of the room to do it). When 1poorlady had cancer, I would have to step out (I was NOT missing a call from a doctor).