Google calendar group booking system

[Lagentium]

Evening ladies and gentlemen,
Our group wants to use the Google Calendar to book out our aircraft and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience in setting it up, because I just can't get my head around it! It's the part where several people can access it. Or should I just use another booking system altogether? Any ideas gratefully received.

Many thanks, Jim:ok:

[Yorkphil]

We use Google Calendar in the Oscar Whiskey group at Sherburn.

We used to use an on-line booking system but stopped when they wanted to charge silly money. To be honest, Google Calendar does everything we need and is free and easy to setup.

PM me and I can talk you through setting it up if you like.

Phil

[riverrock83]

I haven't done this as part of a group. But I suspect its something like:

log into your google account (gmail etc)
select calendar at the top of the screen
where it says "my calendars" on the left side of the screen, find the pulldown menu at the right hand end of "my calendars".
create new calendar
Call the calendar the plane name
select which individuals you want to be able to view the calendar and what permissions they will have
select whether you want to make the calendar public. This will allow you to embed it into a website.
When you save, I believe emails are sent out to the people you have said can view the calendar. When they select "calendar", they will get the plane's calendar in an "other calendars" section under "my calendars".
Alternatively, follow the steps above but create a google account for your group and create the calendar from that account. This way, if you leave the group, you can pass on the reins to someone else.

Hope this helps, why not post your expiences on here in using google calendar rather than one of the aviation specific ones out there?

My group uses the hotmail calendar, with everyone logging in using the same username / password. That has its advantages too, but does involve a greater degree of trust in your members not to lock out the account.

[flybymike]

We use Google calendar although I didn't set it up personally so cannot comment on that.
In terms of using it, it does the job just fine.

[Tone]

We use Google docs to set up a calendar for a Rotary Club, this provides an Excel lookalike spreadsheet which can then do lots of magic tricks and provide more options that the normal calendar. It works very well exept for the (very) few Luddites who refuse to use the Interweb and the people who can't resist changing the contents of random cells just to see what happens.

[Tay Cough]

Easy.

Set up a new Google email address and password. Give both to everyone in the group and instruct them not to change any of the settings. Job done and dead easy. Been doing it for our group for a couple of years.

[stickandrudderman]

I was in a group once that used it.
I thought I understood how to use it and booked the a/c for a certain time and date. When I landed the owner and his mate were furious because I'd taken the a/c without booking it and they'd turned up to fly the now missing a/c. I explained that, as far as I understood it, I had been using the booking system and I couldn't understand how this had happened.
The evidence suggests that they didn't believe me as a few days later I was informed that the a/c was no longer available.........
It turns out that the system was't set up correctly so that everyone could see everyone else's bookings.
So, just make sure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet and it should be fine!