• 永远不要把律师放在会议议程的首位：“遵守《萨班斯－奥克斯利法案》（Sarbanes-Oxley）既不是什么新鲜事，也不会提起人们的兴趣。”

    • 晚会邀请舞林高手助阵。“娱乐活动要成功得有人带头，造成与会者与星共舞的印象，”莫兰表示。“如果有必要，还可以付费请些人。”

    • 接受事实：无论安排什么样的娱乐活动也“永远无法取悦所有人。就算能请到甲壳虫乐队献唱，可能还是会有人抱怨。不用放在心上。”

    • 会议室“座椅不要连在一起，摆得整整齐齐。随意一点。我喜欢独立的空间。如果我非得和别人挨在一起坐，我宁愿选择坐在黑暗的边角里——或者更准确地说是游泳池边上。”

    • 进门时检查手机。“在现在的大多数美国职业高尔夫球赛事（PGA events）中，必须在门口检查所有能发出声音或接收信息的手机，”莫兰进一步解释道：难道我们手头上的工作还不如一场高尔夫球赛重要吗？

    他承认，强制要求与会者在把手机或掌上电脑（PDA）放在门口可能不切实际。“这样做无异于签到时把与会者的双手绑起来。”

    • 控制幻灯片的使用。“毁掉会议最好的方法是什么？答案是：从早八点到下午四点安排各种幻灯片展示，”莫兰指出。“可以用讨论和有意义的交流取代幻灯片展示。”只要有可能，就尽量采取这种做法。

    • 不要再提供莫兰所谓的“小玩意儿”（tchotchkes——形容小装饰品或纪念品的依第语）。如果你想过提供钥匙扣和飞盘这些便宜的赠品，赶紧打住。人们会把这些看成开支，心想这些都是用他们下一年的奖金购买的。”

    • 注意，“肯定有人会喝醉酒。你没法对别人的醉酒行为负责，”莫兰称。“只要去酒吧，一定要贴上告示：‘敞开喝吧——反正你还年轻，前途无量，也愿意换工作。’”

    • 假设度假式会议中任何人的任何行为都有可能会出现在YouTube上。向需要提醒的人说清楚这一点。

    但最重要的或许是提交一个现实的日程安排。“很多会议都包含了过多的项目，时间安排也不现实，”莫兰指出，这无异于空头支票，就相当于企业“早晨表示，我们要解决世界饥饿问题；而在午餐后，又说我们要解决中东地区的和平问题。”

    你要做的是，在安排休假时与老板以及其他对这次会议的成功具有重要影响的上级进行沟通，就有限的会议时间内他们认为必要且现实的结果进行讨论。之后，再据此做出相应的日程安排。

    祝你好运——另外，别忘了带上防晒霜哦。

    反馈：在你参加的度假式会议中，最美好（或者最糟糕）的经历是什么？欢迎发表评论。

    译者：乔树静/汪皓

    • Never put a lawyer first on the agenda: "Sarbanes-Oxley compliance is neither new nor uplifting."

    • Invite someone who will dance in the evenings. "The success of the entertainment depends on someone getting up there early in the evening to pretend they are on Dancing with the Stars," says Moran. "Pay someone to dance if you have to."

    • Accept the fact that whatever entertainment you line up "will never please everyone. If you had the Beatles play, someone would complain. Get over it."

    • In meeting rooms, "spread out the chairs. I like my space and, if I have to sit too close to people in chairs that are connected to each other, I go to the dark side -- probably better described as poolside."

    • Check cell phones at the door. "At most PGA events today, all devices that can ring, ping, or otherwise receive or send messages must be checked at the gate," Moran notes -- and isn't the business at hand at least as important as a golf game?

    He admits that obliging people to surrender their cell phones and PDAs at the door may be impractical. "An alternative is to have everyone tape their thumbs to their index fingers upon registration," he says.

    • Limit PowerPoint. "A surefire way to kill a meeting? Line up PowerPoint presentations from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.," says Moran. "Alternatives include discussions and meaningful exchanges." Wherever possible, go with those.

    • What Moran calls tchotchkes, a Yiddish word for trinkets or souvenirs, "are so over. If you are thinking of cheap giveaways like key chains and Frisbees, don't do it. People will see that expense and think it will cost them next year's bonus."

    • Be aware that "people will drink too much. You are not responsible for anyone else's drunken behavior," Moran says. "Put a sign over each bar that says, 'Drink Heavily -- Remember You Are Young, Marketable, and Willing to Relocate.'"

    • Assume that anything anyone does at an off-site could show up on YouTube. Mention it to anyone who seems to need reminding.

    Perhaps most important of all: Present a realistic agenda. "Too many meetings include way too many items with wildly unrealistic timeframes," Moran observes, with pie-in-the-sky goals that are the business equivalent of saying, "In the morning we will solve world hunger and after lunch, we will fix the peace process in the Middle East."

    Instead, as you fill up that blank sheet of paper, sit down with your boss and any other higher-ups with a stake in the meeting's success and talk about what outcomes they see as both essential and achievable in the allotted time. Then construct your agenda accordingly.

    Good luck -- and don't forget to pack sunscreen.

    Talkback: What happened at the best (or the worst) off-site meeting you ever attended? Leave a comment below.