Doodle Scheduler App

Have you heard of Doodle?

I hadn’t either until last week when I was “venting” about how frustrating it is to try and find a date and time for a ladies night.

You know – those rare evenings between Hubby’s hockey schedule and the kids’ extracurriculars.

It’s not others’ fault, I’m not accusing – I’m equally, if not more, to blame for not creating time for my friends.

Enter this ingenious app my friend “Lovely Lisa” told me about – Doodle.

The app is free and all you have to do to take a poll / set up a meeting is input your details. There is a version for iPads/androids as well as a version for your desktop.

Your first screen (after installation) is setting up the event itself – in my case a Favourite Things Party.

Step 2 is to select a couple/few dates that you are available to host (or are looking to get together – whichever the case may be). You can select out dates on your own, or allow Doodle to access your online calendar to keep it all sorted and organized in one location.

Input your suggested times – and you can select different start times in the same evening in case your guests/attendees have to work late or can’t arrive until after a certain time.

Finally, you can allow Doodle to access your e-mail address book, or type in each e-mail address individually.

Each attendee will receive an e-mail with a link to the Doodle poll. From there they can just click on the dates and times they would be available to attend.

As the responses come in, you will get a poll like the one below, showing who/how many can make each date and time. You can then book your event for the most popular choice!

Brilliant!

No more email chains that go around and around with a million “reply-all” messages (those make me crazy). One set up, one invite, one location for responses.

Think Family get-togethers like vacations, barbecues or Christmas gatherings. This would be great for arranging a surprise birthday for someone and ensuring their favourite people could attend.

Use this BEFORE printing out invitations for showers. What about group projects like creating wedding favours where you need several people to get together to streamline?

Of course it’s great for meetings – that’s what it was created for (I believe) – but the applications can go beyond the office and into “life” as well. Creating a Mommy group – set up meeting times here. Been a long time since your last ‘date-night’ – grab Hubby’s attention and get something booked.

I LOVE this app – Thank you Lisa for saving my sanity! (Oh, and I guess I should say thank you to Doodle for creating it) lol

Have a great one!