Stand-ins get glimpses how the A list lives

If you read any of the celebrity gossip sites, you know that there is such a thing as an A-list celebrity, a B-list celebrity, and so on down to D-list.

Every time my boss is invited to go to a meeting and I'm sent in his place, the organizers sigh in disappointment when they realize their A-list meeting has just gone down the tubes, delegated to a lowly marketer.

It usually goes something like this: Important boss accepts invitation to meeting many weeks out. As meeting approaches he realizes he's double-booked. Instead of cancelling , boss decides to send underling to fill seat. As he passes underling in hallway, he yells vague instructions about a meeting sometime the following week. Underling turns sleuth, figures out the particulars, and shows up at the meeting.

Anyone who once thought the struggle for popularity would be over after high school knows corporations have the same cliques and hierarchies. Not only are you judged on your position, but also by the company you keep. Just like high school there are the teacher's pets, the cool group, and the untouchables. My boss, as the top of the food chain, is the ultimate coup for a meeting planner.

Some people might chafe at being second-string, but I don't mind. After all, for every keynote speaker there are scores of panelists supporting the meeting's message. These meetings not only get me out of the office and into the vicinity of free food, they allow me a glimpse of the executive world. I usually have only limited access to the top brass, but many times at conferences there are many execs to be observed networking, planting the seeds for future deals and making sure they see the right people. When people see me coming wearing my boss's nametag and jokingly greet me as him, I just smile and return the salutation.

It's interesting to see the camaraderie at the executive level, even among competing companies. Most of the heavy hitters have worked together at one time or another , have pet names for each other, and may even vacation together. When I get back to the office and brief my boss on who I saw and what they said, he tells me anecdotes about his cohorts and suggests private jokes I can bring up the next time I see them, like one chief's less-than-stellar golf game.

Yes indeed, my boss is popular. Very popular. He's good looking, lively, and always knows what to say. He's not the boss for nothing. He's routinely tapped to chair committees, and is known as someone who can cut through the bull and get things done. Even within our company, he rose through the ranks at lightning speed and is now top dog. Which means that he has an ever-increasing group of people who vie for his attention and want him to attend their meetings.

Like the kid sister of the all-state jock or prom queen, I have a certain cachet by association with my boss. I remember when a new employee and I were filling in at a conference. She was extremely nervous since she didn't know that much about our company. She prepared by reading the website, talking to senior employees, and memorizing key facts.

I, on the other hand, read my celebrity gossip blogs and determined where the best place to eat lunch was. This isn't all to do with being burned out and/or lazy; in reality I knew that we would not be asked anything company related. I have learned that when people realize they can't interact with my boss they'll do the next best thing. Ask about the boss. Tease us about the boss. Anything to talk about the boss.

Sure enough our booth was swarmed. We had days of ``How can you work with him?" or ``Tell him XYZ says Hi" but no questions about the company.

His reach even extends to the outside world. When I was on maternity leave I ran into a tight clique of stay-at-home mothers while making my way to Whole Foods, which is near work. I was struggling to answer their questions and keep the conversation going when suddenly my boss walked by on his way to get his usual lunch from the salad bar. He said hello to me and something offhand to the group about us enjoying the day outside. Suddenly I felt my value rise. They turned back to me with new interest.

``Who was that man? That's your boss? He's so cute. You're so lucky!" they exclaimed. I looked on in disbelief. After all my attempts to showcase my stellar parenting skills, my boss was what impressed?

For those organizers expecting my boss, I apologize in advance for bringing down the celebrity quotient. Get ready for me. I'm looking at my blank desk planner, but I know looks are deceiving. I have plenty of engagements, I just don't know about them yet.