Unfortunately, it's often difficult to pull people away from their work during working hours. For that reason, the book club I'm in has our meetings every 6 weeks immediately after work at a nearby restaurant. At the conclusion of each meeting we vote on the next book selection, as well as the restaurant location. This has become an enjoyable way for coworkers to get together and discuss something other than work, and we also favor the opportunity to try out new restaurants at the same time. We've been going strong for over 3 years now, and with great success.

I'm assuming your group is more formal than informal in that you mention teleconferencing it rather than a casual meeting over someone's home or restaurant. Some things to consider: Is your discussion group an open forum or do you have a set of questions to follow and answer as one reads the book? Consider who your moderator is. Can he/she lead or fascilitate well. What are the selections? Do they meet with a certain criteria? Do you present a scehudle to follow, such as, when to have a certain number of chapters read. These are just thoughts. I work for a Radio station that's owned and operated by Moody Bible Institute. One of our network programs hosts a book discussion, moderated by one of the Institutes professors. If you go to www.middayconnection.org and scroll down to book club, you'll get a glimpse of what we do. Annette