Aug. 5, 2009 – Coordinating schedules when working with a group of individuals can be a time-consuming process. It often entails several email exchanges or numerous telephone calls. Many experience the problem arranging times to meet with co-counsel, committee members or social groups. There are several online programs designed to help facilitate the process. This article discusses two of them.
Doodle
Doodle is a free scheduling service that does not require registration. The Web site explains that “Doodle helps find suitable dates and times for group events.” In other words, it eliminates the dozen emails or phone calls to find a date that works best for required members.
How does it work? In a few simple steps, Doodle lists everyone’s schedule and availability. The coordinator sets up a poll using a very simple template. The event receives a title and brief description. A selection of possible dates and times is made, and the poll is assigned a URL.
The assigned URL is emailed to all participants and each log on to select which options work for their schedule. Once the participants respond, the coordinator determines the best day and time for the most individuals.
For frequent users, create an account to help manage various polls. There are Doodle applications for iGoogle, Outlook, mobile phones, and Facebook. In addition to scheduling, it can also be used to create simple surveys. Doodle offers “Branded Doodle,” for a fee, to businesses and organizations, which includes a logo and eliminates advertisements.
Meeting Wizard
Meeting Wizard is another online scheduling program. The service is free, but does require registration for the organizer. Meeting Wizard offers a few more features than Doodle. These include the ability to identify the “type” of meeting (e.g. face to face, teleconference), the duration of meeting, the proposed location, the time zone, and if a reminder should be sent.
Meeting Wizard requires each participant’s email address. It allows up to 50, and sends a link to each so they can access the poll. This email is also used for identification, which may be a concern for some. In contrast, Doodle permits each respondent to select their own “name.”
Each member replies and chooses their preferred meeting times. The organizer then reviews the responses and “confirms” the best option. An announcement is automatically sent.
Any comments made by a participant are listed under their email as a “new message.” Meeting Wizard also allows the organizer to send an email to everyone, delete attendees, or send out reminders. To discover all the features, a tour of the site is available.
Bev Butula is the manager of library of services at Davis & Kuelthau, Milwaukee. She is a past president of the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin. Bev has written articles and spoken to numerous groups on issues such as effective Internet research, evaluation of Web sites and legal research. Prior to obtaining her Master's Degree in Library Science from UWM, Bev was a litigation paralegal.
