Does anyone use the calendar correctly?

[craiggsmith]

When the current-style calendar came out 15 or so years ago, I managed it for our stake for many years and trained all our stake and ward leaders and schedulers. I submitted many defects and enhancement requests. Yet it never seemed to fully catch on. New leaders weren't trained and schedulers never wanted to enforce the "rules", or people simply didn't want to bother using it. In my new stake I was called as a scheduler temporarily and saw many incorrectly scheduled events. I then trained my current stake leaders and schedulers, and they were supposed to train the wards. I'm not sure if that happened.

Regardless, no one seems to use it correctly. It seems that only activities that request building scheduling are put on the calendar, and I see personal events on ward calendars and ward events on building calendars. And don't use the setup and cleanup time feature but rather just schedule the event for the entire time they want the building, not the time members should come.

One thing that might help is guidelines right on the scheduling screen, such as:
- Do not schedule personal events on ward calendars
- Do not ask schedulers to schedule ward events
- Enter the event time members should arrive. Use the Setup and Cleanup times below to reserve the building for additional time. (Not sure how to word that one.)

It is nice to see that now there are enough setup/cleanup options to achieve what you want. But I'm not sure people notice it, it seems like it should be right next to the time, not under Location. But it's still awkward. A better option I think would be to simply have two sets of times:
Time the event takes place
Time the building is reserved for

I actually use the calendar to see upcoming events, so I can plan my personal schedule accordingly. But maybe no one else does?

[russellhltn]

I actually use the calendar to see upcoming events, so I can plan my personal schedule accordingly. But maybe no one else does?

So do I. I even have selected calendars synced to the calendar of my personal device.

I've always viewed the calendar as a means of informing members of upcoming events. Scheduling the building was secondary, but a desirable function. Way back in Pre-Palm Pilot days, Franklin Planner classes was telling us we should only have one calendar. Otherwise, there's a risk of things getting out of sync and creating conflicts. With the church calendar system, when a event moves or is canceled, the building reservation is updated automatically. Under the old paper system, it wasn't unusual for building reservations to be out of sync with the events.

Having it available on the web is desirable for members who can't make it to Sunday meetings. When I was having to deal with my mother's estate, I was at her house on weekends. Consequently I couldn't visit my ward. The only way I knew of upcoming activities is because I used my key to enter the building and look for Sacrament Programs left behind.

Years ago, when the topic of retention of new converts came up, a counselor observed that we had zero problems with investigators that were socialized into the ward, but a serious problem with those who were not. I have no doubt that door works both ways. If we don't provide a way for members who can't attend on Sundays to know about upcoming events, we're assisting in socializing them out of the church.

As you can tell, the church calendar system is a bit of hot topic for me.

[lajackson]

I actually use the calendar to see upcoming events, so I can plan my personal schedule accordingly. But maybe no one else does?

I used to do this, and I still do occasionally. But then I would miss half of them because they changed them on the calendar and I have no notification or insight that there was a change.

[russellhltn]

That's correct, you're not notified of a change, but it should update the meeting on the calendar. So long as they aren't making changes last minute, it should work out as long as you check your calendar periodically. Which is why it's nice to sync to the device calendar were all your stuff is.

[lajackson]

That's correct, you're not notified of a change, but it should update the meeting on the calendar[1]. So long as they aren't making changes last minute[2], it should work out as long as you check your calendar periodically[3]. Which is why it's nice to sync to the device calendar were all your stuff is[4].

[1] It does, if I have remembered to sync.
[2] There are regular last minute changes.
[3] Checking for updates weekly is not often enough.
[4] Syncing would require too much time deleting unneeded information. My calendar is already busy enough.

Their solution is to use Facebook. They think changes will still get to me even though I do not use my FB account at all. It seems to be a lot like mind reading. I am not very good at that.

[russellhltn]

[1] It does, if I have remembered to sync.

Mine syncs automatically, daily. Nothing manual required. This is on Android which can be harder to set up.

[4] Syncing would require too much time deleting unneeded information. My calendar is already busy enough.

That's where having leadership set up calendars so I have some expectations of what kind of events will sync over becomes important. The few remaining ones I just simply ignore. Having all the church events that come over in a set color helps. My personal calendar is an advisory, not a "must do".