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Technology

Meeting Maker: Guests

People you invite to meetings through Meeting Maker are called "guests." Guests can be:

  • Other people who use Meeting Maker
  • Locations and Resources with Meeting Maker calendars (not applicable at Simmons)
  • Contacts (Simmons students or colleagues outside of Simmons who you add to your Meeting Maker Address Book: they do not use Meeting Maker but they do have email accounts)

This page describes a variety of options for selecting guests and their status vis-a-vis your meeting (i.e. required, optional, CC and BCC). For brief instructions about inviting guests to a meeting, see Creating Meetings, Activities, and Banners.

The Select Guest window

To navigate to the Select Guest window:

  • clickEdit List from the Guests tab of an activity or meeting
  • or, select an appointment on your calendar, and click Invite Guests
(see Creating Meetings, Activities, and Banners for step by step instructions).

To scroll directly to a guest in any of the lists described below, click once in the left or right panel, and begin typing the person's last name or the group's name.

Meeting Maker select guest window showing drop down list

The Select Guest window's drop down list: 8 options for sorting through potential invitees (at the top of the left panel)

Note: the drop down list defaults to the option you last chose.
  1. Show All: shows all possible guests from all the sources listed separately in #2-8.
  2. Users: all Simmons faculty and staff (whether they are actually using their Meeting Maker calendar or not).
  3. Locations: if Simmons were using Meeting Maker to manage rooms and other locations, they would appear here.
  4. Resources: if Simmons were using Meeting Maker to manage resources, such as projectors, they would appear here.
  5. Groups: this list is automatically populated from the Simmons HR system. The list of units and their subsidiary departments is the same as that found in the Simmons online directory.
    Meeting Maker select guest window showing top level Simmons groups
    To drill down through the hierarchy, double click on a group (e.g. Advancement), and then choose a person, or another group (e.g. Simmons Fund). To invite everyone in a group to a meeting, click once on the group, and then either Required or Optional. All of the members of that group will appear in the right hand panel.
    You may create your own personal groups using the Favorites feature.
  6. Contacts: shows people from your Meeting Maker address book, if you have added anyone to it. If you make appointments with people off-campus or with students, add them to your address book (Window -> Address Book), invite them to meetings through the Contacts list, and they will receive an email invitation to your meeting.
  7. Favorites: shows people you have marked as favorites. You may want to add people you frequently invite to meetings to your favorites list by clicking Add to Favorites on the Select Guest Panel. See About Favorites below.
  8. Most Recent: lists people whom you have most recently invited to meetings.

The Select Guest window's 9 buttons for selecting or searching for guests (the middle panel)

  1. Select a guest and click Required if her/his attendance is critical to the meeting. Meeting Maker will notify you if any required guests are currently unavailable at the time you have selected. You may invite required guests who are unavailable: they will decide whether to accept or reject your meeting proposal.
  2. Select a guest and click Optional if the meeting will be scheduled even if s/he cannot attend. Optional guests are not included in the availability grid that displays after you click OK.
  3. Select a guest and click CC to send a copy of your meeting proposal to that guest. A guest who receives a CC proposal can accept the proposal without affecting her/his availability, similar to making a personal activity Flexible under Options. CC guests are not included in the availability grid that displays after you click OK.
  4. Select a guest and click BCC to send a copy of your meeting proposal to that guest without allowing other guests to see that s/he has received a copy of the proposal. A guest who receives a BCC proposal can accept the proposal without affecting her/his availability, similar to making a personal activity Flexible under Options. BCC guests are not included in the availability grid that displays after you click OK.
  5. Select a guest you have added to your meeting (in the right panel), and click Remove to take her/him off the invitation list.
  6. Click Open to see the contents of a public or personal group (or double click the group name).
  7. Select any guest in either panel and click Get Info... to check on the person's regular work schedule, phone number, and any other information s/he has chosen to add within Meeting Maker.
  8. Click Search to find a person by first or last name.
  9. Click Add to Favorites to add a guest to your personal list of favorites.

About Favorites

"Favorites" enables you to create your own list of frequently invited guests and groups of guests. To add or remove potential guests from your favorites list, choose Favorites... from the Edit menu. The Edit Favorites window operates the same way the Select Guest panel does (see above).

To create a personal group:

  1. Edit menu -> Favorites
  2. Click New Group and give your new group a name.
  3. Add members to the group by selecting them from the list of potential guests in the left hand panel. Navigate among lists of users by using the drop down list (All Users, Users, Locations, etc.).

Note: editing groups within your favorites can become confusing. Keep an eye on the title of the left and right hand panels to see from which list you are choosing (left) and to which list you are adding (right).

People to whom you have given read/write access to your calendar (see Calendar Sharing) can see your favorites and use them to invite people to meetings on your behalf.