While on an audio conference one of the members was at home when their dog began to bark in the back ground. The next minute we could all hear a very deep growling and what sounded like a disturbance. When asked by the chairman if all was OK, the member said 'Not to worry it was only the postman'. The rest of the audio members all had the vision of the poor postman with his leg firmly clamped around the dog’s mouth. This was not the case obviously but I can't remember much about the audio other than that, perhaps we should have met face to face.

In a previous organisation I was involved in a massive 3 hour video conference meeting with personnel calling in from other video conferences and by phone. A huge complaint was received from one external attendee that sound quality was awful & they kept losing connection. What they forgot to mention was that they were on a train & using a mobile phone!

Although I had tried to instigate face-to-face training for customers to learn to use our software, this hadn't gone down well with my employers, and so I was delivering training for a customer using an online meeting and a phone link when my BT broadband went down. It would let me use the phone, or the internet, but not both together. So I had to talk the customer through using the software without being able to see what she was doing. Not easy for me and a less good experience for her.

I had arranged a conference call to discuss the phasing of a construction project between client, contractors, architect, and engineer. In advance of the meeting, electronic copies of CAD drawings had been circulated and were to be discussed in some detail. After about 10mins, having got all the introductions completed, it soon became apparent that we weren't all looking at the same information. For some bizarre reason, the client & contractor's drawings had been rotated east to west & would involve all deliveries to the warehouse having to cross an adjacent river, despite there being no bridge or tunnel). As it wasn't possible to re-schedule the meeting at short notice we all had to rely on the architect and engineer to pinpoint what their copies showed and use our imaginations as to what alternatives could arise. Utter farce ensued for the next 2 hours, and a face to face meeting had to be arranged about 3 weeks later. The project start was thus delayed.

My colleague decided to phone the main contractor, rather than have a face to face meeting, to discuss a design problem the consultant had raised. He complained about the consultant, saying he was "a pain in the backside" and said that if the main contractor and my colleague colluded they could put one over on the consultant. Only then, did the person on the other end of the phone explain that he was the consultant, and my colleague had dialled the wrong number! Needless to say the contract relationship was very fraught after this and we never got any more work from this consultant again. Obviously if he had met face to face, this would not have happened.

I was involved in a series of conference calls about information I was to receive to assist in writing some training materials. We had conversations such as 'Have you received everything I have sent?' answered by 'Possibly. I have everything I have received but I do not know what you have sent.' And 'Is there anything else that I have that I can send you?' answered by 'I don't know. What have you got?' Eventually, in frustration I said 'Well if I had something that enabled me to get into this specific archive or a copy of the document or even a summary it would help.' The response was 'Oh, haven't I sent that already? Why didn't you tell me you hadn't got it?'

I was involved in a conference call with a few colleagues and we had all logged in from our respective homes. One of the attendees had his phone on loudspeaker because we could hear him tapping away on his computer as we spoke. As we were talking about the intricate details of contract law in the USA and UK his young son came into the room and explained in quite graphic detail that he needed to change his trousers because he had soiled them both in number one and two's!!! It certainly livened up a boring conference call.

A few years ago when the technology was quite new I was involved in a video conference call with a potential new supplier of medical equipment. The supplier asked us to 'hold' while she checked some figures. Whilst she was checking the figures she hadn’t actually 'held' the call and sat picking her nose for a whole 42 seconds! Yes, we did time her whilst 'silently' laughing!! Then when a workmate gave her tea & biscuits she sat and ate some one the biscuits-and never washed her hands in between. They never got the business needless to say!

It was a wet and dreary Friday evening last December, and we had been working on this project for three long weeks. We were meant to travel to Southampton where our customers were based, but at the last minute our boss decided that we could present our project from his office instead. As four O'clock wound its way forward we hastily attempted to make his office into an impromptu video conferencing room. We wheeled in the projector, white boards and flowers (Marketing had insisted it would brighten everyone's mood). As the presentation got underway we began to wax lyrical about the project. About two thirds of the way in, disaster struck. I was coming to a close of my part of the presentation and was gesticulating wildly to emphasize my point. My hand crashed into the edge of one of the laptops, and then as if in slow motion I watched the scene unfold. It fell hard against my boss's desk and onto the floor, as it hit the floor the usb key (containing all of our data and presentations) became mangled in a web of mashed plastic and metal. Although the laptop had been mashed, the projector and video conferencing equipment had never stopped rolling and so our customers in Southampton got to see the whole drama unfold from their sunny waterside offices. I’ll bet our boss wished he'd authorized those flights now!

The conference call was going smoothly with 6 of us when, because 3 of the delegates had not muted their phones, a doorbell was heard in the background which led to a dog barking which could be heard over speaker phone, which caused another dog to bark resulting in a child starting to cry making the organiser say while chewing his apple... please can we re convene when we have mastered how to mute telephones.

I was to fly to London for an interview, which was meant to be the job of a lifetime. I was given the option to do the interview via conference call or fly to London to do it face-to-face. I thought the conference call would have been a lot easier and cheaper for me - after all I am just a student. I went to my university who agreed to set up the call for me, all was in place. I done the interview and I believed that I had done a brilliant interview. My lecturer showed me how to log off the computer as she had to go to a class, but with the excitement of the brilliant interview I had just done, I forgot to log off!! My friends had come in and I had told them we were to go to the union for a few drinks because I felt I done great. It wasn't until the next day when my lecturer said I hadn't logged of. If only I had of flew over to the interview, the flights were very cheap anyway and if I had of went over I probably would have got the job. Wish I had of flew over.

We have offices in several locations, and have several meetings a week via conference call and more recently video conference. The most recent funny incident was to do with camera angles and how different something can look from a different angle. Whilst in the meeting, we were surprised to say the least when one of our remote colleagues appeared to get up and start going to the toilet in the pot plant in the corner. What we couldn't see, as we hadn't mastered the camera angles between the locations, was the steam and coffee that he was actually pouring, he obviously had his back to us but for a split second it did look very funny!

I received a call from a bloke who sounded like a pirate off a movie. He initiated the conversation by saying ‘Would that be Mr S D?’. Thinking it was one of my friends giving me a wind up call I responded (in my best Long John Silver voice) ‘That depend on ooh be askin’ then’. The bloke continued ‘My name is Mr XXXX from Volker Stevin and your company has been recommended to us to carry out some work’. I nearly died when I realised that that was how the bloke actually talked and he obviously knew I was taking the mick out of him when I reverted to my normal Scouser accent. After our conversation ended I thought that'll be the last I heard of him, and that I'd just lost a potential Blue Chip client. I was kicking myself. However a few days later we received a purchase order and have been receiving work from the company on a regular basis ever since.

A friend ended a three-way conference call and, after assuming the third party (her boss) had hung up, she began complaining about her job with the remaining caller. Only the call was never really terminated and her boss heard everything she said.

Once as a senior manager based in the Irish subsidiary of a large Australian international bank, we had an early-morning video conference call with HQ in Melbourne on the subject of the following year's strategic plan/actions. The Australians posted up a map which showed Ireland as part of the same land mass as the UK completely removing the Irish Sea! A lot of UK people visiting Ireland used to refer to the UK as 'the mainland' but our Antipodean bosses gave it a wholly new meaning and didn't even realise that there is an Irish Sea. No one concentrated after that. At the same video conference, the subject of incentivising branch staff to sell more personal loans arose. We in Ireland suggested a well-constructed monetary incentive. The response from a senior manager at the other end was that this was unacceptable, and responded (note - the bank was male dominated at senior levels) ''Nah! We give the 'girls' in the branches a voucher& tell them to go off & have a nice hair-do''.------!!!! We were speechless, and with a mixture of extreme annoyance and uncontrollable mirth the videoconference ended, with nothing achieved.

I was cross examining an expert witness in a court case by video link and had spent many hours preparing questions for the witness. I was in Belfast and the Doctor in question was in London. Early on in the video conference call it was obvious that the link was poor, and despite all the attentions of the court staff the link was forever freezing mid question or mid answer. It was an unmitigated disaster and everyone on our side was infuriated that the witness had avoided what viewed as proper scrutiny by being at the end of an ISDN line rather than in person in court. We were constrained by the experts schedule and only had a certain amount of time to question them.

Incidentally our witness was in court in Belfast and his evidence was crystal clear, having flown in the night before from Southampton on a FLYBE flight.

I am a senior sales consultant in a very well know travel company and had been providing a gentleman over in England with few quotes about a golfing holiday and after going forward and backward by email I asked the gentleman to give me his mobile phone number. Over the very first conversation I was utterly confident and knew that the person was going to make up his mind soon. He then asked me to phone him the next morning as he had to consult the rest of the party about their decision. I rang him at 9am on the dot but he was busy and when he rang me back I was on the phone - anyway we kept on missing each other and when I became available I rang him back. I suddenly realised that it was past 17.30 and as I had planned on something else for the evening which put a little bit of a pressure on my potential client who finally agreed to go ahead with the package. His name was Mr. Hart. It was nearly 6pm but knowing that he wanted to take the holiday I was very pleased with this sale and decided to ask him for his credit card details to secure the booking. I say 'Could I take down your credit card details Mr. Fart'. Then I paused as I realised that I had made a huge mistake and I could hear that Mr. Hart was ever so unhappy with what I had just said and on this note he calmly informed me that he realised that I did not deliberately called him 'Mr Fart instead of Mr. Hart' but that he would think about it again and that at this stage he would not be giving me his details. I totally agreed with him and we left it that Mr. Hart would call me when he was ready. I really wanted Mr. Hart to see that I was really sorry so I decided to arrange a meeting with him. We met up indeed and even better I got to see Mrs. Hart. We had a fantastic time and I finally got the booking. Mr. Hart could not thank me enough for making their holiday so special and for making sure that they were looked after so well.

Two experiences of video conferencing to cut costs (which didn't work). We arranged a video conference with colleagues in Edinburgh, London and Wiltshire. After half an hour, we knew that of the two people in Wiltshire, one person was fat and one was thin. We had no idea which one was the man and which one was the woman and we never got to hear their voices as the sound refused to work. In the end we gave up and agreed to try again the following week. We made our way to the conference room where we turned up, the London guys turned up, but Wiltshire and Edinburgh just didn't show. The following month we flew across and had a very successful meeting!

A customer requested a face to face meeting in Netherlands but I had to give them the long story about the "credit crunch" making it difficult to travel. I decided to push for travel authorisation and eventually met with the customer and presented my solution case. They were as usual very impressed! Gave positive feedback and looked to pursue sale. I reminded them at the end that for ROI on the product there had to be a compelling event to buy and asked what that may be. Answer: you turning up and taking the time stand here in-front of us.

A chance meeting with an old acquaintance in an airport departure lounge promoted the age old 'what you up to now' subject matter. It transpired that we had both travelled different paths in the last couple of years and now found ourselves in supplier/client mode. Whilst we had stayed in touch via personal email we never really took the time to explore where we were both at in the commerce sense. Low and behold we are now engaged in a very lucrative piece of work for both companies. Had I not been able to meet with this individual in person I do not believe we would be where we are today.

I was working as a Sales Executive for a large import/export company. After repeated telephone calls to sell in the Channel Islands I visited a number of companies in Jersey and Guernsey. After meeting their representatives I steadily grew my business in the Islands which is still very successful today. These people are now more than customers, they are good friends. This would not have been possible without meeting initially and for most of my visits I have flown with Flybe.

Several years ago a colleague and I went to the trouble to fly to Edinburgh for a face to face meeting with a potential client. The meeting was a clear success and we established that we had the knowledge, experience & personal chemistry to work effectively together. The chemistry part can only be established in a personal meeting.

Whilst attending a meeting for one of our clients in Prague, I spent some time talking to other English delegates. With one person I got speaking about their publications and they soon became a regular client. So even though our new client is based only 8 miles away from us, we made that initial and successful contact because I had travelled!

Last week I travelled to London to meet with someone who actually lives close by me in Jersey but our diaries simply wouldn’t co-ordinate. A Flybe ticket put us together in the City and a face to face meeting over dinner has opened up significant business opportunities for both of us. He was bowled over at my commitment to meet him.

I flew up to Aberdeen with Flybe which started the morning travelling at 05.00 from home. I arrived in Aberdeen and took two busses to the exhibition centre to network with potential customers. I managed to pick up 5 new clients from big PLC companies and arrived back in Birmingham at 19.30 that evening. 1 day well spent.

When my company embargoed travel to cut costs I was unable to travel from the North to London to attend project meetings. We knew that a negative spin was being put on our contribution so I insisted that I be allowed to go needing director approval to do so. I met the people that were grumbling, but within 15 minutes all issues were resolved. It was the face to face contact that enabled me to understand their interpretation of the problem and to clarify the solutions.

I had been trying to secure a business opportunity with a new client. Although the telephone conversations were friendly they had not been productive. Eventually I decided to tell the client that I would be in their area the following week, I had no plans to been the area but wanted to move matters forward. I found a return Flybe flight for the following week and set off to meet the client.The start of the meeting was predictable recapping all the previous telephone conversations, until we were interrupted by a call, it appears that this firm had been desperately trying to resolve an issue which had meant they had to engage solicitors and had a correspondence file 4 inches thick. I was familiar with this type of issue and offered to help. Two phone calls and an email later the matter was resolved! The client was impressed. The net result was that the Director recommended that the company use our service and 18 months later we are still working with this client profitably. Had I not been to meet this client face to face I am sure we would not have had the opportunity to demonstrate our ability to resolve a problem.

I am based near Southampton and recently had the opportunity to secure business with a major blue chip company where my key contact was based in Newcastle. In order to save the 11 hours driving to the meeting, I chose to fly with Flybe. To get the best prices I booked some time ahead and committed to the appointment. Two days before the meeting, my contact called me to advise me that he was recovering from sickness. He offered me the chance to cancel and perhaps do the meeting by phone. I decided that it would be better to meet face to face and as he was recovering thought the risk to be worth taking. The meeting went well. I secured the business with them and established a good working bond with my contact by meeting face to face. He respected the fact that I was prepared to invest the time and cost to travel and even to take a small risk of illness as a sign of commitment to servicing their business.

Some years ago I was running two large projects in Singapore and Malaysia in a "clear-up phase" to fix problems that had strained relations for a long period. The formal exchange of e-mails and letters were frosty. I visited nearby Manila with my then boss for a sales trip. He suggested we make courtesy trips on the way back to our customers in Malaysia and Singapore with no agenda at all.

To our surprise these courtesy face-to-face meetings led to substantial new orders and better relations with the customer.

We are UK based business with customers in India and Far East. Our company cut costs and restricted travel for almost a year and we tried to get business via conference calls and emails. However, our revenues started to decline. In the last 6 months we have started travelling to the customers for face to face meetings. Our current business leads that are expected to convert to order have increase by 40%. The cost of travel has been fraction of the expected increase.

I recently flew with Flybe to Frankfurt to attend the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA). The expense of attending the show, high hotel cost and my time were more than paid back by the two meetings I held with potential customers; a representative from Sweden’s largest Motor Manufacturer and an Executive from a major US Motor Manufacturer. Both wish to discuss multi million Euro deals with me and I have two follow up meetings already scheduled. Without face to face meetings I would have been unable to have created the strong rapport I now have established with these customers.

Flybe plays its part in bringing me face to face with colleagues every 6 weeks for an important northern region meeting in Aberdeen. The face to face element of the contact is proving invaluable in building mutual trust and understanding, it is far easier to say yes when sitting opposite each and outcomes are more positive and business relationships more sincere.

I coach some of England's best badminton players aiming for success in the 2012 Olympics.

Some players need face-to-face communication and the presence of a coach/mentor. Since I began attending the tournaments I believe that our medal prospects for the London Games have improved steadily.

Communication can be successful at many levels if you can see and be close to your target.

In 1993 I was trying to attract the 'Holiday on Ice' show to The Westpoint Arena in Exeter. After getting nowhere with telephone calls, e-mails and faxes I decided to take to the skies and flew to Amsterdam to the Head Quarters of the Holiday on Ice production company. The rest is history! Holiday on Ice has been wowing South West audiences for more than 15 years and brings great business into the region. It may never have happened had it not been for that flight.

Having chased a potential client over the phone for 9 weeks, speaking on numerous occasions and getting a positive response without any commitment, I managed to get agreement to meet. I prepared for the meeting well, met with the prospect whom I instantly bonded with face to face, presented my case to her, and walked away with a firm commitment to sign off the contract. Success!!

I had to set up relationships between the UK, Wales and Ireland on agriculture policy. I had met the UK rep in London, spoken to the Irish rep and had one video conference. We were making some progress but not fast enough. So I went over to Ireland met face to face established the sort of relationship you can only build face to face and the relationship was cemented. Face to face is best and builds lasting relationships.

Despite the effort required, I insisted on a face to face meeting in an outlying site in Kuwait. When we arrived, our hired vehicle broke down and we finished the journey by catching a lift with a passing water truck.

On arriving near our destination we alighted from the water truck only to be completely dowsed by water that sloshed out of the top of the tanker's open hatch. We arrived at the meeting, in 50 degree desert heat, completely soaked! We successfully concluded a deal with our Japanese, Italian and Arab clients. How could we fail, we made extraordinary efforts to get there and presented our case with aplomb, to a bewildered audience who sat open mouthed for the entire session and then congratulated us on insisting we met face to face.

I was negotiating with a client to obtain a licence to sell a branded product in the UK and it was not going anywhere. After lots of phone calls and faxes I arranged to meet in the restaurant at Geneva airport. On arrival, we had a 1 hour meeting face to face, agreed terms and shook hands. One hour later was on the way home. A very cost effective journey!

A businessman from Dublin called my company to enquire about our software and asked if I would meet him at his office to show him how it worked. This I did and I won the contract. As I was leaving, he told me that none of my competitors had bothered to make the journey. He is now one of my best customers. Face to face is ALWAYS best.