[Image:81903_22607_2.png]Book resources for a presentation Minimum version: FirstClass 8.3 Audience: Business professionals Experience: [Image:9203_22631_1.png] FirstClass applications used: [Image:9203_24337_3.png][ fcp://@fc.onlinehelp.com,%237600229/En/OnlineHelp/Client Help/Calendars ]Calendars [Image:9203_31709_1.png] Summary Looking for a simple way to organize the location and resources you need for your presentation? Consider using a FirstClass calendar. Instead of sending out printed memos and filling out request forms, you can use a group calendar in FirstClass to invite participants, reserve multimedia resources, and book locations. Here is a comparison of the conventional way you may book resources and how you would do it in FirstClass. [Image:92203_31828_0.png] [Image:9203_31709_1.png] Example Michael Green is vice president of Sales and Marketing at Husky Planes. Several times a year he showcases the company's newest products for his sales staff. His presentations usually consist of a promotional videotape from the Marketing department accompanied by a slide presentation. Michael schedules the presentation, invites members of the sales department, and books the boardroom and multimedia resources all at the same time. He doesn't have to leave his office to ensure that his presentation goes off without a hitch. Here are the steps he takes to handle the arrangements: STEP 1: Schedule presentation Michael schedules the presentation in the Sales Dept Calendar by creating a new event entitled New Product Promo. This is the new event he created. [Image:8102006_91145_0.png] STEP 2: Reserve venue Each resource or location Michael wishes to book has its own calendar. When he schedules an event, he simply enters the name of the resource calendar or location calendar on the Scheduling tab of the event he is booking. If there is a time conflict, it will show immediately and he can decide how to handle it. Michael reserves the company's mid-sized boardroom using the Scheduling tab. STEP 3: Reserve resources Michael also reserves a large screen television, a video cassette recorder, and a video projector. This is the Scheduling tab where he books the resources. [Image:882006_33623_2.png] When he entered his requests on the Resources tab for the New Products Promo event, a new event appeared in each item's calendar. Husky Planes' IT department monitors the resource and location calendars and ensures that requested equipment is ready for use when scheduled. This is the calendar for the video projector that John booked. [Image:882006_32721_0.png] STEP 4: Invite participants Michael invites the members of the sales department by entering their names on the Scheduling tab. From this screen, he sees who may have a time conflict. He adjusts the date and time as needed (the booked times for the resources and locations will also change automatically). The presentation will then appear in each of their personal calendars. This is the Scheduling tab where he invites participants. [Image:882006_33910_4.png] [Image:9203_31709_1.png] Variation If Michael has content he wishes to share before the presentation, he can attach it to the calendar event at the time of scheduling or type it in the text box on the event form. This is the event he created. He attached a file for review and included an agenda in the text area. [Image:882006_32224_4.png]

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Scheduling Stages Previous stage: Organizing the environment Next stage: Conducting meetings Sample projects Once you have created the project environment, you can start working on your projects. You will either work in a group or individually. If you are in a group, one of the first things you will do as a group is schedule meetings or interviews, and milestones. If you are working on an individual project, then you will likely use your personal calendar or a project calendar to schedule the project milestones.  Traditional scheduling In a traditional setting, you may pass around numerous emails between group members or run around between offices trying to find a suitable time to meet. If project members are out of town, this can make scheduling even more difficult. A FirstClass calendar simplifies scheduling by eliminating the need to run around or send emails to coordinate with others.  FirstClass is a group scheduler When the team leader decides to schedule a meeting in FirstClass, he simply goes into the project's group calendar and creates an event. Note You can use the same methods described below in your own personal calendar or project calendar to schedule milestones for individual projects. This is a sample event that the team leader may schedule. From this same screen, he can click the Scheduling tab to determine if team members are already booked for that time, and can easily find a mutually convenient meeting time by just looking at one screen. He can also differentiate events with color. For example, he may use one color to schedule meetings, and another to schedule milestones. He can display and/or print the calendar in one of a number of different views, including: •       a daily view •       a weekly view •       a monthly view •       a Today view with a mini month calendar You can use the mini month calendar to easily select days to view in the opposite pane. When he schedules the meeting, he can request responses from team members to ensure they know about the meeting, schedule repeating events, such as a meeting every Friday at 1 PM, schedule reminders, and even attach messages or documents that team members may need to review before the meeting. FirstClass lets you easily coordinate all aspects of a meeting from a single form.  FirstClass is an individual scheduler Aside from group scheduling, you can also use FirstClass for personal scheduling. You can use your personal calendar or a project calendar to schedule milestones and meetings. All of the features discussed above are still at your fingertips. If the person with whom you are meeting is not a member of your FirstClass environment, you can still schedule them in your calendar so nobody else tries to book you for that time period.  The next step Once you have scheduled your meetings and milestones, you can actually conduct meetings.