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NYU Meeting Maker: A Brief Look at Version 8.6

By Christian Grewell & Jie Zhang

screenshot of the new meetingmaker interface

The New Meeting Maker Interface

Meeting Maker is a collaborative calendar and group scheduling software package provided by ITS to NYU faculty and staff. Meeting Maker makes it easy to schedule meetings, invite attendees, plan activities, keep a prioritized to-do list, and coordinate your calendar with other NYU faculty and staff members who use Meeting Maker. Currently, there are approximately two thousand active NYU Meeting Maker accounts, and new accounts are created almost every day. The recently released version of Meeting Maker, 8.6, provides a host of new capabilities and improvements.

Notable Features & Improvements

Web-Based Calendar

With the earlier version of Meeting Maker, so long as you had an Internet connection and a computer on which Meeting Maker client software had been installed, you could access your calendar from just about anywhere in the world. With Meeting Maker 8.6, you have both an updated version of the client software and a new web-based interface, offering many of the same functions, and giving you quick access to your calendar from computers on which the Meeting Maker client has not been installed. With this new feature, you can log into your calendar from any computer with an Internet connection—at work, at home, or while traveling by simply clicking a link in the Meeting Maker channel in your NYUHome Work tab.

Wireless Calendar Synchronization

You can wirelessly synchronize your PDA Calendar, Contacts, and To-Dos with your Meeting Maker 8.6 account if you have an NYU-issued PDA. Supported PDAs include Blackberries and Palm Treos (and in the near future, Windows Mobile Smartphones). Synchronization is seamless and occurs automatically as long as there is a wireless signal on the PDA. You can even accept or decline meeting invitations from your PDA. (If you own a non-NYU PDA, send email to meetingmaker.request@nyu.edu for information.)

NetID & NYUHome Password

As another convenience, you'll log into Meeting Maker 8.6 using the same NetID and password that you use to log in to NYUHome—no need to remember a separate login and password for your individual Meeting Maker account. (Accounts set up for facilities like meeting rooms and other resources, rather than for individuals, will still have their own separate logins and passwords.)

How to Request a New Account

All NYU faculty and staff members with an activated NYUHome account are eligible for a free Meeting Maker account. NYU students are generally not eligible for these accounts, but departmental administrators may sponsor a student who is a part-time NYU employee if Meeting Maker will be required in the course of their NYU employment responsibilities.

You can apply for a Meeting Maker account by sending an email message containing your full name and NYU NetID to meetingmaker.request@nyu.edu (or by using the contact form within the Ask ITS section of NYUHome).

Additional Features & Improvements

Following is an overview of some of the other features and improvements included in Meeting Maker 8.6.

  • Group Views
    View the availability and schedules of teams or groups of people in a single window.
  • iCalendar Support
    Use iCalendar to send meeting invitations to people and calendars outside of your organization.
  • Meeting Auto Selector
    Automatically select the next timeslot when all attendees are available.
  • Proxy Access
    View coworker calendars in a side-by-side view with your own.
  • Real-time Meeting Invitations
    Allows you to schedule meetings and have the attendees notified immediately.
  • Recurring Meetings
    Schedule customized recurring meetings: daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.
  • Resource Scheduling
    Reserve conference rooms, A/V equipment, and other shared resources for your meeting.
  • Calendar Navigator
    Easily select a date to view.
  • Customized Views
    Customize your calendar with colors and labels, various layouts, and numerous viewing options.
  • Direct Event Editing
    Edit your activities and meetings directly in the daily view.
  • Intuitive GUI & Functionality
    Makes it easy to learn and continue to use Meeting Maker.
  • Event Creation
    Create activities, banners (i.e., vacations, birthdays, etc.) and to-do items for yourself.
  • Font Customization
    Adjust the font type and size in the main calendar view based on your preference.
  • Multiple Calendar Views
    View your calendar in day, week, month, or text views.
  • Pencil-in Events
    Proposed meetings automatically populate your calendar where they can be directly accepted or declined.
  • Printable Formats
    Print your calendar out using common printout forms.
  • Recurring Banners
    Set standard banners to display on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
  • Time Zone Support
    Adjusts automatically to any of the 319 time zones around the world.

(Source for these feature descriptions: www.peoplecube.com/products/meetingmaker/features_benefits.cfm)

Author Biographies

Christian Grewell and Jie Zhang are IT Support Analysts for ITS Client Services' Desktop Support Services.