Because, of course, we don't have "real life" obligations? If someone was eager to turn up, but couldn't, there have been numerous places for them to either say that directly, or post their thoughts ahead of time on Tim's agenda.

You're "lucky" in that you're seeing a raw meeting log - in addition to Tim's minutes above. Any normal meeting in the real world would probably also feature comments which could be construed as jibes towards people who'd requested the meeting but then not turned up; or sent an apology ahead of time. These don't get minuted directly, but the comments are still made.

It's a vicious circle, then. "We" attempted to break it by reviewing our performance to date and inviting anyone to come along and influence our direction.