The first rule for one of these meetings is that there is no such thing as a bad idea. We’re supposed to have an open mind when someone is describing a system where we would take hit songs by Sammy Hagar and Dio, replace the vocal tracks with a saxophone lead, then re-release the songs for “Smooth Jazz” radio stations. Actually, that was the best idea anyone had during the entire month of September, if you don’t include the tofu sculptures of Offspring, Bobby Vee and Phunk Junkeez.

But not all the ideas can be labeled as strictly “left field material.” The Webmaster cloning project turned out quite nicely, as did our “Big Roadie” networking service which matches local girls with crew members for acts like Sarah Harmer and Kenny Neal, who, after the show, find themselves alone in their motel rooms in desperate need of intelligent, stimulating conversation.

However, in our last meeting we heard of an idea that was so preposterous, so unhip, that the person who proposed it was almost fired on the spot. Believe it or not, he actually suggested that, in our quest to bring you the latest tour info, whether it be for Alice Deejay or Ronan Keating, that we should never spend more money then what we make.

You can imagine what the reaction was like. Suddenly that room was quieter than Nashville upon hearing that Garth Brooks was getting a divorce. Finally someone pointed out to the guy that this is a dot-com, and the tried and true principle of dot-com economics is to spend much more money than you take in.

Well, we didn’t fire the poor guy, but we did make him watch the documentary called The CDNOW Success Story, while the rest of us entered dates for Montgomery Gentry and Squirrel Nut Zippers. And before you start dashing off emails calling us heartless, cruel and overbearing, we would like to point out that it was the toughest decision we’ve made all year.

After all, most people wouldn’t wish that 60 seconds of hell on anybody.