30 Rock Meetings-Industry Shout-Out

Last night on 30 Rock, the meetings industry — and meetings magazines! — got a funny shout-out from Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy, the blustery, Reagan-loving NBC executive and constant foil (and friend) to Tina Fey's Liz Lemon.

Donaghy, given how poorly negotiations with his Trinidadian nanny had been going, was nervous about an upcoming licensing-fees meeting with a company called Kabletown, which had recently acquired "GE Sheinhardt NBC Universal" (and which, even though it's a fake company, seems to have its own website).

Talking with Lemon about his worries and his need to do a good job at the Kabletown negotiation, Donaghy said, "In addition, I have a huge presentation coming up — Meeting Magazine is already calling it the first great meeting of the decade."

Hilarious — especially for those of us who write for meetings publications like Convene.

Later in the episode, after another round of Trinidadian nanny-negotiation having not gone according to plan, Donaghy again brought up the impending Kabletown sit-down:

"Lemon, I am supposed to represent NBC in a negotiation that Rex Belcher, of the American Journal of Meetings, rated 'Four Chairs.'  Four!"

To which Liz Lemon replied, getting an even bigger laugh from this particular meetings-industry writer, who has, yes, written for more than one meetings magazine during his career:

"I'm sorry, is that another magazine about meetings?"

Yes, Virginia, there is more than one meetings magazine.

Here's the full episode in case anyone wants to watch for themselves (joke No. 1 takes place at the 1:25 mark, and No. 2 at the 7:10 mark).

And happy long holiday weekend, everyone!