A timer based display has two sets of thumbwheel switches, and other switches for reset, start and on/off.
One thumbwheel switch sets the number of attendants.
The other thumbwheel switch sets the average hourly wage.
The display continuously shows the cost so far, when started.
Send a message to the boss by ordering the special 8 digit model, with no decimal places.
-- Ling, Mar 17 2004

U.S. Patent 4,445,181 http://www.freepate...ne.com/4445181.html
Someone patented this in the US, but I believe this patent has now expired so build away! [krelnik, Aug 02 2005]

[ling] you would need to add in a facility to specify the cost involved in getting the meeting participants to the meeting.
-- jonthegeologist, Mar 17 2004


10,000,000 Venezuelan Bolivars (8 digits with no decimals) equals $5,208.33 USD as of this date. While I was hoping to prove humorously otherwise, even this seems expensive for a boring meeting within a relatively small company.
-- jurist, Mar 17 2004


And maybe a timer for the boss to reflect halfbakery usage during company time.
-- FarmerJohn, Mar 17 2004


For *that*, we have the 10 digit model.., and you can't turn it off
-- Ling, Mar 17 2004


Can I order one of these delivered by 9am today?
-- swimswim, Dec 08 2009


Last year, we had a nice informative memo sent around our site (maybe 700 employees and 400 contractors) - in our formalised "must read" format.

It went on to explain how wasteful it was to throw away whiteboard erasers, implying that the cost to the business was significant. It turns out that the eraser cloth section can be rotated (3 times!!) effectively reducing our incredibly expensive whiteboard eraser usage by a factor of 4 (not 4-fold, you innumerates - 4-fold is 16).

Anyhoo, I wasted a good half hour of the company's time writing a counter memo, calculating likely whiteboard eraser usage rates, estimating useful life, and calculating total cost savings resulting from the new plan. Then I calculated the cost in terms of 1100 people taking 5 minutes reading the memo, and also that you'd need to re-send the memo on a regular (maybe yearly) basis to ensure good whiteboard eraser practices were maintained.

Needless to say the losses were huge.

Suggestion: memo cost calculator (perhaps calculated on a per-word, per-capita basis).
-- Custardguts, Dec 09 2009


A meeting is that which seconds minutes and wastes hours.
-- LoriZ, Aug 26 2012


Also needed in is the cost of the consumables (tea, biscuits, ink, paper), energy (heat, light, etc), equipment wear and tear (AV, furniture), building use (hypothesised rental in proportion to the floorspace of the meeting room), travel as mentioned by [FJ]. What else?
-- pocmloc, Aug 26 2012


croissants
-- LoriZ, Sep 15 2012


//effectively reducing our incredibly expensive whiteboard eraser usage// And into the bargain throwing thousands of the Chinese work force into unemployment, sending the Chinese economy into panic mode.
-- Lesser Spotted Kiwi, Sep 15 2012



random, halfbakery