How Evelyn Dilsaver prepares for board meetings.

• Author: Tahmincioglu, Eve
• Position: BOARD BOOK: Survival Guide - Column

Evelyn Dilsaver's board meeting pre-planning is all about research, relationships and the occasional nut. Before every meeting she reads the board book and all related business documents from end to end, and sometimes reads them twice, even if there are hundreds of pages. She also sets Google Alerts for each company she serves to make sure she's on top of the news; and she reads job search site Glassdoor, which posts employee reviews of employers, to get a feel for employee relations.

She also likes to test drive products and services, and keep an eye on the competition. For example, she spends lots of time going to stores to check out mattresses, and traffic at apparel retailers. Since most of the board-related paperwork for public companies has moved to board portals, she has all the information she needs on an iPad she takes to every meeting. She used to have to lug huge documents to meetings, which was causing her back trouble, so the portals have been "a godsend."

But the move to digital means management can add things to documents on the portal at the last minute, giving her less time to review and analyze any changes before meetings. "We've been trying to put the breaks on that," she stresses.

In addition to the iPad, she brings a gray notebook to jot down to-dos she needs to remember after board meetings, but no comments on company matters.

Since there are hours of sitting in meetings, she makes sure to bring sneakers with her so she can walk from the hotel to the board meeting for some exercise. But when she goes into every meeting, she wants to look her best and puts on what she calls her "sitting shoes"--high heels that admittedly aren't the most comfortable.

Since she likes to snack, she's got healthy treats on hand, including almonds and walnuts, and...