Group Calendar for BlackBerry
May 2, 2012 8:41 AM   Subscribe

I need to find a way to share a group calendar that will work with a Blackberry and a boss who doesn't like technology. Special Snowflake details inside.

My boss is very technophobic. We have been keeping our department events calendar on a shared Google Spreadsheet so that everyone can access and modify their own events at any time.

Boss does not like this because 1) she does not like having to open a browser window to look at the bookmark for the calendar 2) she has issues viewing the calendar on a Blackberry (she does not use Gmail) 3) she wants a very simple layout more like a to-do list with lots of detail than a typical boxy calendar view (hence the Google Doc Spreadsheet rather than a shared Google Calendar).

I need to find a shared calendar of some kind that allows all to view and edit, easily viewable on a Blackberry (like one button, no syncing with Google because my boss finds it too complicated), and has an "agenda" list-like view so you can see detailed information about events for the full year in one view.

Also note, my boss is the only one with a Blackberry so everyone else would need web access to edit.
posted by forkisbetter to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)
 
Woof. I would suggest BES to sync up your in-house mail server to her device, but if she's the only one on it, that may be a tad pricey.

You realize that once the Google apps are installed on her BB, they sync without any action from her, right? They do so whenever she opens them, so there are no further complications than what she's already managing.

In fact, you should be able to put a shortcut for the web address to the Google spreadsheet right on her BB desktop. But, that's sort of getting around the problem.

The limitations of the BB display do make the Google calendar app appear much like a todo list. Perhaps you could set up a trial run with a shared calendar, and then see how she likes the look of it on her BB?


...and don't get me started on Snowflake Bosses. Mine has lost or broken his BB at least once every 6 months for the past 6 years. Once he left it on the top of his car while on the side of the highway. Once he dropped it in the Atlantic ocean.
posted by thanotopsis at 9:06 AM on May 2, 2012


Are you using an in-house mail server? And if so, have you priced out hosted options? Either Google Apps or Office 365 allows basically all of the functionality you've mentioned out of the box.

If you're using in-house Exchange and plan to continue doing so, Blackberry Enterprise Server Express is free now, and should handle one user easily.
posted by Diacritic at 2:38 PM on May 2, 2012


The "enhanced gmail plugin" can sync the calendar with a BB, no BES required, but it looks just like the regular calendar. (I did just find something called "Agenda view" that looks more like a todo list, just shows everything on one page that is an appointment, etc, not in the bubbly style.) I know you said she doesn't use gmail, and that's fine - just set up a dummy gmail address for her and let everyone else use Google Calendar to edit her schedule.
posted by getawaysticks at 8:04 AM on May 3, 2012


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