Have you ever been in one of those meetings where it seems that everyone in the company is there, even though they don’t need to be? I think everyone has and it is especially frustrating when you are one of the ones that doesn’t really need to be there.
Well, based on a web site I saw a few weeks ago (the link escapes me at the moment), I wrote a little Windows Mobile app that will calculate just how much any given meeting is costing you and your clients.
It’s a pretty simple application. You press Start, the dollars add up. You press Stop, and they stop adding up. You can specify the number of attendees at any given meeting. You can also specify the default estimated billing rate and estimated cost to your company (for example, estimated average wage + benefits).
You can toggle back and forth between the client cost and the cost to your own company by either clicking on the appropriate region (current is highlighted) or by using the context menu on the Total Cost. You can also reset the calculator from the context menu of the Total Cost.
Here are a few more screenshots.
You can download this directly to your Windows Mobile phone by going to one of the following links:
- http://www.tapmymind.com/uploads/MeetingCostCalculator/MeetingCostCalculator.CAB
- http://tinyurl.com/mtgcalc – This is the same link as above, but shortened for easier entry on your phone.
I am running WM6 with a touch screen, but it should work on WM5 and later. I have only tested this on my phone, so your mileage may vary. Download and run at your own risk. Feel free to report any issues, comments or suggestions via the contact form below.
Update 1: This program requires the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework version 3.5.
Update 2: I’ve uploaded a new version with the following changes:
- FIXED: Bug in highlighting currently selected cost
- FIXED: Bug that always shows total for default number of attendees instead of currently selected number of attendees
- CHANGED: Continues to run even if device is put into suspended mode
- CHANGED: Configuration screen allows for higher ($500/hour) and more precise ($5 increments) for cost fields