Microsoft Entourage 2004

Planning an Event

In Entourage you can schedule events with multiple people using the Calendar feature. The person who sends out the event invitations is the organizer. The organizer invites people to an event using Entourage, which emails the event invitation to the invited attendees. When the invitation is mailed, a tentative appointment will appear on the invitees' calendars. Potential attendees can then accept or reject the invitation. If an individual accepts, Entourage will automatically mark the time as busy on his or her Calendar. This document covers the process involved in planning an event.

Event Planning Considerations
Checking Availability
Sending Event Invitations
Responding to an Event Request

Event Planning Considerations

Planning an event with Entourage can be very useful, as long as individuals actively maintain their calendar. However, not all event participants will have access to Entourage or a program that allows them to plan an event, and some will choose not to use the Calendar feature. If one or more of your participants does not maintain their Calendar, the value of planning an event decreases.

The schedule that is displayed while planning an event is updated regularly.

Checking Availability

Before sending out requests, you need to pick an event time that all or most attendees have free. In finding out who is available when, you can pick the best meeting time (i.e., the time when the greatest number of people, or those whose attendance is most critical, can attend). Entourage allows you to check people's availability as indicated in their Entourage calendar.

From the Navigation pane, click CALENDAR
From the File menu, select New » Calendar Event
OR
Click NEW
An untitled Event dialog box appears.
In the Subject and Location text boxes, type the appropriate information
Click INVITE
The Invite dialog box appears.
In the To text box, type the email address of the individuals you want to invite
NOTE: Separate each email address with a comma (,).
OPTIONAL: Click CHECK NAMES
OR
Press [return]
NOTE: By pressing [return] Entourage will automatically check the email addresses you entered against your list of contacts and the campus directory.
Close the Invite dialog box
To see the availability of each person as scheduled in their own Entourage calendar, in the Event dialog box, select the Scheduling tab
NOTE: For more information about scheduling, refer to Understanding Scheduling.

Understanding Scheduling

The following will help you understand the scheduling option.

The top line (All Attendees) is the summary of everyone's schedule
Adjust the Start and End time text boxes to indicate the time of the event you want by using the nudge buttons
OR
Using the purple box that appears in the schedule, place the cursor in the middle of the box and click and drag to a different time
Adjust the Duration text box to change the duration of the event
OR
Using the purple box that appears in the schedule, click and drag the edges to the desired duration
Within the Scheduling tab, each attendee's schedule will be indicated by colors

Color	Indicator
Blue with White Stripes	Tentative
Light Blue	Busy
Dark Blue	Out of Office
Gray	No information (user is not an Exchange user or is not a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire user)

Sending Event Invitations

Once you have established everyone's availability, you can proceed with sending out invitations.

Check Availability
In the Event dialog box, select the Appointment tab
From the Occurs pull-down list, select the desired frequency
OPTIONAL: To set a reminder
1. Select Reminder
2. In the Reminder text box, type or use the nudge buttons to set the amount of time before the event you would like the reminder
3. From the Reminder pull-down list, select the time increment you would like used
OPTIONAL: To notify the people you are inviting of traveling time
1. Select Travel time
2. In the Travel time text box, type or use the nudge buttons to set the amount of travel time
3. From the Travel time pull-down list, select the time increment you would like used
4. From the second pull-down list, select when the travel time is to be allotted
In the text box, type the desired message
Click SEND NOW

Responding to an Event Request

When you have been invited to attend a meeting, a tentative meeting will appear on your calendar and the request will appear in your Inbox. Your reply to the meeting request will be sent only to the person who originated the request.

After reading the invitation, from the Information Bar, click ACCEPT, DECLINE, or ACCEPT TENTATIVELY
A dialog box will appears asking if you want to send a response.
Select the desired option
If you elect to comment, complete the resulting dialog box
Click OK

Proposing a New Time To Meet

You can propose a new time to meet as either the organizer of an even or the recipient of an event request. You are also able to view the busy and free times of all attendees, making your selection of a new time more informed.

From the Navigation pane, click CALENDAR
From the Calendar, double click the meeting you would like to propose a new time for
The Event dialog box appears.
Select the Scheduling tab
The schedule of attendees appears, showing busy and free times.
Select a new time
OPTIONAL: In the message text box, add a message
Click SEND UPDATE
The original meeting is currently shown on your calendar as tentative.