Saving money and time for presidents

[fluidistic]

What are the cons of using our "technology" like webcam+microphone for our presidents (and probably many more people) when they want to meet?
So far I see only pros:
Save plane ticket price for the president and all the other necessary crew+all the expenses of the trip (probably over 1 million dollars!).
Save time for many people.
If they need to sign a contract, use a scanner.

 

[Drakkith]

I would guess that a significant amount of talks and negotiations are done over the phone or similar, while faxing and e-mailing documents is a staple.

 

[Lok]

Wikileaks recommends long-distance communication between Administrations, and completely disaproves of face-to-face talks as being too old-fashion.

 

[Riem]

Suits are pretty old-fashioned too. Let's take those away. Better yet, racism is also pretty old-fashioned. We can certainly do without that one.

 

[KingNothing]

The main con is that it doesn't build as much of a relationship. No amount of technology will ever completely replace face-to-face conversations.

 

[Astronuc]

What are the cons of using our "technology" like webcam+microphone for our presidents (and probably many more people) when they want to meet?
So far I see only pros:
Save plane ticket price for the president and all the other necessary crew+all the expenses of the trip (probably over 1 million dollars!).
Save time for many people.
If they need to sign a contract, use a scanner.

One can already do video conferencing, which is handy when a company has different sites, or when interfacing with various parties/clients in different locations. I've participated in numerous teleconferences in which we've employed desktop/document sharing across the internet.

Actually, Bush and Cheney had secure video conference centers at their primary residences outside of Washington DC.

The president uses a government plane/helicopter. Face-to-face meetings are still quite common. The cost of an entourage is certainly significant. But many people like to be able to travel to interesting places, especially if someone else is paying.

Documents are drafted in a wordprocessor, then saved as pdf. Legal documents are still done on paper copy and signed with ink. My company does most reports as pdfs. The signoff page is the only one scanned after the signatures are placed, and we'll retain the original.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

You mean like a hot-line telephone? What a novel idea.