Meet-o-matic

Meet-o-matic

Overview

Meet-o-matic (http://www.meetomatic.com) is a tool to find the best date for multiple parties to participate in a proposed meeting. Setting up a poll requires four steps: 1) open the program and select possible dates and times, 2) send an email that directs prospective participants to a custom meeting response form on the web, 3) monitor progress as response forms are completed and conflicts are resolved, and 4) review ranked responses and email best choice. It is important to keep the link so you can review the poll later.

Strengths

The basic service is free and no registration is required. Meet-o-matic uses a simple whole month calendar format to select choices of dates and times (whole days, am or pm). Responses are ranked based on minimizing conflicts. However, the poll administrator must email the participants with the selected date. Meet-o-matic provides you with two links, one to forward to meeting attendees and one to use to monitor progress of the poll. You receive an email when everyone is finished. There are no restrictions on the number of attendees. Unlike Doodle, another similar program, users can edit choices as long as the poll is open.

Weaknesses

Generally, it requires more time to set up a poll in Meet-o-matic than in Doodle.

Examples

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.fws.gov) and the Midwest Coordinated Bird Monitoring Partnership (http://midwestbirdmonitoring.ning.com/) use Meet-o-matic to schedule conference calls.

Tutorial

http://www.meetomatic.com/quickstart.php

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