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“Magical” Meetings: How Walt Disney World can cure the doldrums of the workday

Work?
Love your job?
Hate the meetings?
Me too!

Well, here is a fail-safe procedure to help you survive the trauma that is the “staff meeting,” “strategy session,” or whatever it is your employer calls the incremental pow wow of torture to which you are subjected…the Walt Disney Wold way!

 

Surviving the Work Day the Walt Disney World Way

 

1. Multiple windows open: A no-brainer.  Is your supervisor asking you to watch a TED Talk on educational breakthroughs in Taiwan? A quarterly data report of widget sales among left-handed jocks aged 22-78.75?   Well!   Keeping multiple windows or browsers open on your computer will allow you to seamlessly navigate the awful work you’ve been asked to do AND cruise disneyworld.disney.go.com or wdwradio.com at your leisure.  Escape is just click away, but beware of lurking administrators behind your back.  (Note: This technique is also called “Keep your smartphone hidden by the keypad of your laptop with the screen brightness dimmed.”)

2. Disney mug: I’m a big believer in this one.  The simple act of having a mug purchased on your last trip to Walt Disney World can be the catalyst for endless daydreaming through the drone of a supervisor’s unrelenting talking.  Stare at mug.  Talk to the character on it.  Remember the moment you bought it.  Where you were.  Whom you were with. Your little buddy will provide more than a munch-needed IV drip of caffeine…it will be the catalyst to send your mind where you wish your whole being was: the House of Mouse!

3. Draw something!  Am I an artist?  No.  But that doesn’t stop me from doodling!   Just image search some favorite haunts at Walt Disney World on your computer, strategically place a notepad out of sight, and sketch some of your favorite attractions, restaurants, food items, etc. while your boss throws hypotheticals and theories your way!   A great escape!

4. Top Tens:  One of my favorite formats of Lou’s podcasts is the “Top Ten.”  In a meeting where you are being asked to brainstorm creative lesson plans for teaching algebra to first graders or the best way to sell ice cubes to Canadians, simply do your own thing and make a list of your Top Ten Attractions at Night! or Walt Disney World Foods You Must Eat Before You Die!  These lists are WAY more fun to make, and they may even be picked up by Lou if you e-mail him a great topic.

And finally…

5. The Ol’ Dodger Lean:  My grandfather used to tell tales of sneaking a transistor radio into class to listen to Brooklyn Dodger games at his Catholic school in Newark, NJ.  He’d put a portable radio in his pocket, snake the earpiece wire up his shirt and down his sleeve, and then lean his head on his hand so that the earpiece he’d use to listen to the broadcast was concealed from the teacher’s view.  The same technique may be used with your smartphone to listen to one of Lou’s great shows during a meeting about the best way the sell boat insurance to a cactus farmer from the Arizona desert.   And with the advent of Bluetooth, you don’t even have to hide a wire!

Well, I hope this honest, practical advice can help YOU the next time you find yourself trapped on a fifth floor conference room three hours after the end of your work day.    As always, in your greatest hour of need, Mickey Mouse can provide a much-needed means of mental escape!

If YOU have any other Walt Disney World-related tips on how to fight the scourge of workplace boredom known as the “meeting,” we’d love to hear about them.  Simply reply to this post with YOUR technique, and together, we can fight this menace with all the pixie dust we can muster.

 

(Photos from the author’s personal collection.)

 

To learn more about Richie and read his recent posts for the WDW Radio Blog, visit his author page by clicking the link on his name at the top of this post. 

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About Lou Mongello

Lou Mongello is a former attorney who left the practice to pursue his passion, and is now a recognized Disney expert, author, speaker, and host of WDW Radio. Learn more…

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