------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 4, Issue 3 Lisa and Kaylie just got back from visiting her parents down in Texas. They were there for less than a week, but I swear that Kaylie changed so much in just that short time that it scared me a little bit. Suddenly she's putting words together into sentences, her clothes are getting too small for her, and her gift of mimicry has really kicked in (I've *got* to get a video of her singing "Do Re Mi" with the "Sound of Music" on TV). One of the challenges we are having in our lives right now is just keeping our schedules straight. Between each of us trying to run our business, trips for vacation and work, and figuring in child care, sometimes it's a challenge to get our free time to synchronize. Don't even get me started on trying to plan something with another couple! Of course, we've all encountered challenges with scheduling. With each additional person that you try to add to a gathering, the difficulty of finding an acceptable time and date for the meeting seems to double. Fortunately, there's a solution out there on the Web -- the focus of the article for this issue. ---------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue... ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: A Time for Gathering 2. Blog Posts 3. Shameless Self-Promotion 4. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: A Time for Gathering ---------------------------------------------------------------- What's the excuse we all use for not getting together? Something about "It's too hard to synchronize all our schedules"? It's true. We are all busier than ever, so trying to get more than two people together for a meeting can be an exercise in frustration that would make Sisyphus blanch in horror. OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit. Still it's annoying to try to track everyone's schedule to find that perfect time that everyone (or even most of everyone) can make it out for that planning meeting. As always seems to happen, when a problem arises, sooner or later, someone on the Internet comes up with a solution. In this case the solution is called Doodle (http://doodle.com/). Doodle is a remarkably simple service which essentially does one thing: It helps groups decide on a date and time for an event. Here's how it works. Go to the Doodle site. You don't even need to create an account (though doing so will make it easier to go back to edit a scheduling poll). Click on the "Schedule event" button and the site will lead you through a simple four-step process to create the time/date poll you need. You will specify the dates you want to have considered and the particular time spans during those days. At the end of the process you will have a URL which you can send to your group which will allow them to connect to the poll and indicate which dates and times will work best for them. Couldn't be much easier. After everyone has voted (or some time limit has passed -- that's entirely up to you), you can find the time and date that will be most acceptable to the most people and get it on everyone's calendar. The site is simple and does just this one thing, but it does it so superlatively that I can't find any downsides to the service. So, get busy and start planning those dinners, meetings, and group basket-weaving competitions. You no longer have the excuse that it's too difficult to schedule into everyone's calendar. Copyright 2010, Greg Peters ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Blog Posts ---------------------------------------------------------------- Links to posts on the "The Reluctant Networker" Blog: Monday, March 8, 2010 -- Simple Tools: The Tickler File http://thereluctantnetworker.blogspot.com/2010/03/simple-tools-tickler-file.html "One of the simplest and most effective tools you can create for networking is a tickler file. If you don't have one, you are making a lot of extra work for yourself..." Thursday, March 4, 2010 -- Networking RSVPs http://thereluctantnetworker.blogspot.com/2010/03/networking-rsvps.html "I know that you already know about the etiquette of RSVPs, so just pass this along to someone who needs to hear it..." ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Shameless Self-Promotion ---------------------------------------------------------------- The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your webmaster. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: You can subscribe to the "Clearing Up The Confusion" E-zine at: http://www.cyberdatasolns.com/ezine Questions: If you have any questions, concerns or comments regarding the Clearing Up the Confusion E-zine, please email Greg Peters at: gpeters@cyberdatasolns.com This content may be forwarded in full, with copyright and contact information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Greg Peters is required, with notification to the original author. 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