Make a Meeting is a web tool that helps you to schedule the best date for a meeting or event. It allows you to propose several dates for a meeting and invite participants via email to go to a web page and select the dates that they are available. The results submitted by the participants are presented in an intuitive table where you can quickly review and select the best date for the meeting. The tool is open to both subscribers and list owners to create a meeting and invite anyone even if they are not registered to use Mailtalk (unless you restrict the meeting to group members only). Anyone can participate in make a meeting. All you need to do it give someone your unique meeting link to the meeting response page. The unique link is sent via email to you when you create your meeting using Make a Meeting.

Creating a Meeting

Go to your list homepage e.g. http://www.Mailtalk.ac.uk/Mailtalk-newsletter and click on Make a meeting in the 'Mailtalk Tools' box or on the 'Mailtalk Tools' menu.

Create the meeting using the web form. On the create meeting page, you are presented with a calendar where you can select the proposed meeting dates. Click on the calendar to select the dates. You can navigate between month and years using the arrows on the top left and top right of the calendar. When a date is selected, it will appear in the space beside the calendar. Next, you must fill in all the required fields which include the meeting information and your name. The email field is already filled in for you and cannot be changed for security reasons.

If you wish to restrict the meeting to groups subscribers only, make sure the 'Subscribers Only' option is checked when you submit the meeting. A meeting set to 'Subscribers Only' requires the user to have a LISTSERV password in order to access the response page.

If you are using a non JavaScript browser (e.g. Lynx) or have JavaScript disabled, the JavaScript based calendar date picker will not appear. You can still use Make a Meeting by clicking the non JavaScript version link. You will be presented with an input field instead where you can type in the dates using the DD/MM/YYYY format separating each date with a comma. For accessibility, using this non JavaScript version is recommended.

When you have completed the form, click submit.

Publicise your meeting

Details of proposed meeting are sent via email to any participants you select or enter. A unique link to your meeting response web is sent to you and you can forward this link to anyone using your own email client or make the link available on a web page. We do not restrict how you make the link available to your meeting participants.

When you create the meeting, you have two options to notify potential participants.

1. You can check the 'Send to list' option which will distribute the meeting to everyone in the list.
2. You can enter in the 'Additional Email' field the emails of the participant's in a comma separated list. An email will be sent when you submit and create the meeting.

Monitoring results

When the meeting is successfully submitted, you will shortly receive an email with your meeting information. Contained in the email are 2 unique links for your meeting. The first link will direct you to the response page where participants can select their available dates. The second link will direct you to the results page where you can monitor the results and comments submitted by your participants.

Responding

To respond to a meeting, click on the link provided by the meeting organiser. You will be presented with a form to fill out. You will need to enter your name, choose which dates you are available by checking the tick boxes and adding an optional comment.

If you have previously submitted a response to the meeting and want to change your available dates, then click update when you receive a message saying someone is already using my name. If this is the first time you are submitting to the meeting then someone else with the same name had already responded. You should press the "Back" button and submit your available dates using a different name.

If you experience any problems with Make a Meeting, please contact the Helpline or call 01235 44 6780.