About a month ago I attended a high-powered all-day meeting involving well-respected and nationally-recognized participants. The presenters, too, were significant players. Yet this gathering of notables wasn't enough to hold the complete attention of the woman sitting next to me. Her BlackBerry was out and her thumbs were constantly in motion. At first I thought she was just taking notes...but she was also checking messages and writing emails. I tried to ignore her but I found myself distracted.

Never Say Never

This past weekend, I was at another all-day meeting. Different gathering, different participants, different city. And this time I had my own laptop open, taking notes on the proceedings and ostensibly opening web pages in order to follow along with the presenter. But as the hour grew late and my focus waned, I too opened my email and checked messages on and off.

As we were all sitting at round tables, I didn't dare turn around to see if I was distracting the person behind me. I felt guilty for my boorish behavior and for my holier-than-thou thoughts at the meeting one month earlier. Because with available technology at my fingertips, I too broke the 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt pay attention."

The Temptation of Technology

If you give Eve an apple (or better yet, a Mac), can she be expected to resist temptation? I am proof that if you give Linda a Dell, I'm no more strong-willed than Eve. Both of us were too curious to back away from our respective undoings - Eve from the Tree of Knowledge, and me from full Internet access.

The New 'Topless'

Years ago as an undergrad, I marched with other female students protesting the opening of a topless bar in the Collegetown area of Ithaca, NY. The irony of this didn't escape me when I heard about the concept of the topless meeting - a meeting without laptops or handheld technology - and realized I'm in full support of the idea. In fact, I am ready to march in favor of topless meetings with as much fervor as I once had opposing topless bars.

Nobody's Listening

Why are topless meetings a women's issue? Because conference rooms where presenters are ignored by participants distracted by laptops, PDAs, iPhones, etc. bear an uncanny resemblance to family rooms where Moms are typically ignored by kids distracted by tv shows or video games. How many of us have asked our blank-faced offspring to to clean up their rooms, put away their laundry, take out the garbage, walk the dog or do their homework...and felt like we were talking to a wall? Every mom in the civilized world understands what it's like to try and get through to an unresponsive child held in thrall to technology. It's virtually impossible.

Now men are getting a taste of the same medicine. They don't like it, and they're doing something about it.

Right Thing to Do

I won't be bringing my laptop to future meetings out of respect for the presenters who've diligently prepared for the occasion and deserve my full attention. Though I never thought I'd be saying this, I'm going topless...because it's the right thing to do.

BlackBerry Photo © Rob Loud/Getty Images