Scheduling Meetings[edit]

Meeting polling is a common activity in CDSC -- you'll see at least one, if not several, of these each quarter.

How To Use the Tool[edit]

Take note of the timezone. Set the timezone to your timezone.
Use the color codes. This feature varies by platform, but on When Is Good, the top left has a way to select the strength of your preferences.
If you choose a slot on a poll broken down by half-hours, that means you can attend during that half-hour slot. If you choose 10:30, that means you're ok to meet from 10:30-11:00.

Fill out the poll in a timely way (within a week). If you know you can't respond soon, let the organizer know when you can reply by. Scheduling is a multi-body problem, and some folks are holding their calendars open and refusing to make commitments until this meeting is settled, while other folks are locking down all their other commitments before they offer times. The only way out of this spiral is to communicate.
Be Generous. As these meetings have grown, so has our need to put aside our desire to have meeting-free days or engage in defensive calendaring. Sometimes people get excluded from a full quarter's worth of meetings because we can't find a time that works for everyone. Please try not to block off an entire "research day". Your generosity makes sure that someone else doesn't get left out.

Send out the poll via e-mail (not IRC)
Post the final result so everyone can see the conflicts and help think about resolutions
Split the poll by half hours and make sure timezone is an option folks can select.