Agree bigtime here. BoD meetings are no time to be paying half-attention. They don’t happen that often, a lot of work goes into the setup and the value of the BoD is compromised if the attention isn’t there. Board members not reading the packages ahead of time is another problem, but lets save that one. 

I’d further the point and say that laptops, phones should not be allowed in pitch meetings either. I’ve delivered more than a few VC pitches where I had to watch said VC check their phone, reply to something, etc while I’m trying to answer the very question they asked me. Super frustrating, but also pretty telling that they don’t give a shit.