DDB Canada has instituted a penalty system for Blackberry use during meetings. No, for realsies. We checked. In response to what they are calling the “personal digital assistants (PDAs) pandemic,” Frank Palmer (pictured above), chairman and CEO of DDB Canada, has “issued a new company-wide policy that creatively discourages staff from using their PDAs and other mobile devices, like BlackBerries and cellular phones, during both client and internal meetings.”
“Whether it’s done openly or covertly under the table, using a PDA during a meeting is completely unacceptable, disrespectful and hinders the progress of the meeting. While these devices are considered time-savers, they’re also extremely intrusive,” said Palmer.
Get caught once, receive a yellow card. On the second offense, a red card is issued by the staff member who catches you. The guilty party must then pay for the staff member’s PDA bill for one month. Lunatics. Seriously. We get that folks using Crackberries at a meeting are rude, but the level of formality with the cards and then, the pay-out is a little fascist if you ask us. Can you imagine staffers jumping over the table to out their cubicle mate? Hmm… maybe fascism can be fun.