Meeting Maker is a calendar application that allows you to easily set activity reminders and schedule meetings without hassle. This document covers the basic setup and functions of the Meeting Maker calendar application.

Downloading the Meeting Maker Client

1. The Meeting Maker client is available on the web at www.gi.alaska.edu/crc/software/meetingmaker for multiple platforms. Click on the platform appropriate to your computer system. (Windows or Macintosh)

2. A window will appear asking you where you would like to save the file. Use the pull down menu to switch to your Desktop, and then choose save.

Note : To use the Meeting Maker client, you will need an account on the Meetingmaker server. Contact the Computer Resource Center Meetingmaker Administrator at gary@gi.alaska.edu for this and the configuration instructions.

Setting up the Server Connection

1. Launch Meeting Maker.

2. In the Server section click on the Select button.

3. In the Protocol pull down menu select TCP.

4. Click on the Configure...  button.

5. In the Host List field enter the configuration info provided by the administrator, then click the OK button.

6. Under Select Server select GI.

7. Click on the Select button.

8. Be sure to select the correct Time Zone: USA Alaska, Anchorage and Juneau, before proceeding to the Login instructions.

Logging in to the Meeting Maker Server

Enter your user ID and your password in the correct fields then click the Sign In button.

If you forget your Meeting Maker password or need to have a Meeting Maker account created contact theMeetingmaker Administrator at gary@gi.alaska.edu.

Setting up Preferences

1. From the Edit menu select Preferences...

Login: Allows you to change your login password.
General: Set up your out-going mail server.
Notification: Set up your base reminder settings.
Filters: Change the priority labels on your to-do lists.
Label: Change the color and names of your labels.
Colors: Set the colors on your master schedule.

2. Click on the General tab.

3. In the Local SMTP Host field enter your sendmail server name.

4. In the E-Mail Address field enter your e-mail address. You can customize the rest of the settings as you wish.

5. Click on the OK button when you are finished.

Setting up Personal Information and Work Hours

1. In the Edit menu select User Info...

2. Fill in your name, title and as much other contact information as you wish to make available to all other Meeting Maker users. (This information is viewable by all from the Get Info... button that appears in lists of users.)

3. Under Work Days and Hours, click on a day for which you wish to change your listed work hours. A Select Days and Times window opens to let you customize.

4. In the Start and End fields, change the work period to extend or shorten the calendar work day.

5. Check or uncheck the days of the week to specify work and off days.

6. When you are finished click on the OK button.

The Daily Calendar and Task Pane:

Meeting Maker 8.5 opens by default to Daily View. A new Task Bar area appears to the left of the daily view. This Task Bar panel may be resized by dragging the splitter bar to the left until only the icons are viewable. However, many features on the Task Bar make common tasks more conveniently accessible than they were in the older version of the program.

The daily calendar will display one week's worth of events, including their scheduled times. It is the default view when the program first opens. It can be selected or changed both from the Task Bar commands or the View menu.

Double clicking an event will bring up the event.
You can hide and show non-work days by clicking on the
bar in-between the dates at the top of the window.
You can switch between viewing one day, one week, or
one month right from the Task Bar.

Using the Monthly Navigator

The white calendar icon which used to appear in the upper left corner of the Daily Calendar has been replaced by the Monthly Navigator in the Task Bar, which will let you quickly select a day and month to jump to, both past and future. The single arrows move a month at a time. The double-arrows move ahead or back a year at a time.

Creating Activities and Meetings

1. Select Create Activity/Meeting from the Task Bar; or, select it from the File menu. The difference between an activity and a meeting is that a meeting has Guests invited.

2. Enter the Title, Location, Date, Time and Duration of the meeting. The meeting's frequency may be set from the drop-down list if it's a recurring event. There is also an area for displaying an agenda that may be typed in, or pasted into from another application.

3. Click on the Guests tab. A time grid is displayed, to which you add the guests by clicking on the Edit List button. (See illustration below.)

4. When Edit List is clicked, an Add Guests to Meeting window is opened. Guests are selected from a variety of groupings such as All Users, Favorites, Locations, and Resources. Choices from several groupings can be added to
the Guest List.

5. When inviting guests you have several options for inviting them:

Required means the meeting guest must respond to the proposal.
Optional means the meeting will continue if they are unavailable.
CC means you are just notifying them of the meeting.
BCC is the same as CC except they don't show up in the guest list. (Blind Carbon Copy)

6. After you've added all the Guests, the time grid will display everyone's current schedule. Time conflicts will appear as red blocks. The Autopick button will search and display the first available time that all guests can meet. If clicked again, it will display the next available time, and so on, until you choose a date/time.

7. After all guests are selected, you may click on the Options tab to set a default reminder time for the meeting. You may also apply a Label field to assign the meeting a color. Checking the Flexible box will allow other meetings to be scheduled at the same time as the one you are proposing.

Also on the Options tab: The option of designating an activity as Private (if no guests are involved, as they would be for a meeting) will ensure that only the creator will be able to view the activity contents. Proxies to your calendar will only see the Private label and a small, gold key icon.

8. When you are finished, click on the Create Activity/Meeting button.

Creating Banners

Banners are created in the same way as Meetings or Activities, except you don't have the Guests button available. Choose Create Banner from the Task Bar, or from the File Menu. Banners are non-time specific reminders that can span multiple days or recur regularly.

Banners can be designated as Private so that those who have Proxy to your calendar will not be able to read the banner contents. They will only see the Private label with a small, gold key icon.

Working with Favorites (the Quick List)

The Quick List is now called Favorites in Meeting Maker 8.5. As before, it's an address book for inviting or notifying guests who have a Meeting Maker account; and, therefore, it has a public directory of all the users on the server.

From the Edit menu select Favorites.... From the Show All drop-down list, you may view Users, Locations, Resources, Groups, and Contacts (those with email accounts rather than Meeting Maker accounts), as well as your personalized Favorites list and Most Recent list. The Search button allows you to search on an individual's first or last name, and lets you specify criteria to narrow the search.

You may also create your own Groups for your Favorites list. Click on the New Group... button and type in a name for the group. Double-click the new group name from your Favorites list to open it (as you would a folder), and then add or remove members to and from the group.

Group Lists (the Master Schedule)

Group Lists function like the master schedule feature in older versions of Meeting Maker. Group Lists allow you to view both a customized grouping of individuals' schedules, as well as schedules for the existing groups found in the Show All drop-down list in Group View (Users, Locations, Resources, Groups and Favorites).

Groups may be accessed from the Task Bar's View Group command, or from the View menu's Group View command. Use the Edit List button to bring up the Manage Users window to access the Show All drop-down list.

To create a new custom group list, go to the Edit menu and select Favorites... The New Group... button will be available in the Edit Favorites window.

Using Proxy Features

A proxy allows another person on the Meeting Maker server to view your calendar. They will be able to read all your events unless you have set an event to Private. If you have proxy to another individual's calendar, you will be able to view it in the default weekly or monthly views. You will also be able to view their meeting proposals and other aspects of their account.

Two types of access may be granted: read only, and read/write. If a user has read/write access, they may interact with the account as if it were their own. Read only access allows viewing, but no ability to modify anything.

To grant access to your calendar to another user (give them proxy to your calendar), select Share Calendar... from the View menu. Select the user(s) from the Show All list and set their permission to read only or read/write.

For the accounts to which you are proxy, you may work with and view each of them as separate windows, or in Group View, or view them inside your own calendar in Daily View. If you open an account that you are proxy to in Group View, and hover your cursor over an event, that event's title will appear (as it does for your own account).

Sending Meeting Announcements to Email Addresses: Using the Contacts List

Contacts are individuals outside the Meeting Maker environment. They may be included in meeting proposals, and their notification is sent via email.

Normally, Contacts are created using the Meeting Maker Address Book. Go to the Window menu and select Address Book from the commands. In the Address Book, click New, and the Create Contact window opens. Enter any desired information about the contact: a name and email address will be necessary at least. Then, click Create. You may now include them in a meeting proposal from the Guests tab, or you may contact them directly from the Address Book which will launch your email client.

The Proposals Window

The Proposals window functions to organize your meetings and To Do proposals. By default, this window will automatically pop up when a new event occurs and when you first open the Meeting Maker client. You may set its behavior from Preferences under the Edit menu, on the Notification tab.

The Proposals window sorts your proposals into Received, Sent, Declined and Auto-Accepted (if you've enabled that option). Proposals can be opened, replied to, or deleted right from the Proposals Window. A More/Less button allows you to show or hide proposal details in the Proposals Window.

Meeting Maker On The Internet
If you're traveling and would like access to your calendar you can use a web version of Meeting Maker. Your browser must have java turned on.  Go to: http://www.gi.alaska.edu/meetingmaker