{"id":201,"date":"2014-06-26T20:28:27","date_gmt":"2014-06-27T03:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/truffolo\/?p=201"},"modified":"2023-05-08T16:42:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T16:42:42","slug":"calendarattachment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/truffolo\/2014\/06\/26\/calendarattachment\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a calendar file attachment that people can “Accept”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey, here’s me talking about something other than TED Talk Lunches!\u00a0 Yes, it’s true – I occasionally break free from watching videos at work.<\/p>\n

This post is about creating those .ics calendar file attachments in such a way that people can “Accept” them, but don’t have to “Decline” them.\u00a0 This method works so that it gets added to their calendar, and<\/em> you can track attendees for those who accept.\u00a0 This is how I send out invitations to our TED Talk Lunches: a regular ol’ email with all the info, and a calendar attachment with essentially the same info as the email.<\/p>\n

“Why don’t I just plain old invite everyone to my event?” you ask.<\/p>\n

Well… when I get an actual calendar invite to something, I need to respond to it or it’ll sit forever clogging up my calendar.\u00a0 If it’s an actual work request for me to attend a meeting or some such thing, then sure – I need to respond, and other people should be able to see that I was invited and<\/em> whether or not I’ll be there.\u00a0 But if it’s a fun<\/em> thing, like a TED Talk Lunch, OR you’re sending it to me in an email blast to a zillion people, then:
\na) I’m kind of annoyed that I have to “Decline” your offer to have fun;
\nb) all those extra clicks you just made me do; and
\nc) do you really want 113 “Decline” notices in your inbox?<\/p>\n

What to do:<\/h3>\n

Note: these instructions and screenshots are Outlook 2013.\u00a0 I expect you should be okay with any decently recent version of Outlook.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Create your Calendar item in your own calendar.<\/li>\n
  2. Go to the Scheduling Assistant.<\/li>\n
  3. You need to have at least one person or resource invited.\u00a0 That’s what makes this work! So:\n