janicita wrote:I would reference the Meal Train website for ideas for your new idea. I hope it becomes an official standard tool! I have been thinking of trying Meal Train in our ward, with the hope that less active would sign up. But I'm worried that coordinating the paper version with the online version will cause more work and hassle. I'm sure you have designed a way to print the calendar.
Yes, it's easy to print a paper calendar from the MissionaryDinnerCalendar website. It prints pre-populated with all the current signups so it's easy to see what days are available and which are taken.
Many calendar administrators 1) print a paper calendar on Sunday before going to church. 2) Pass it around the various organizations while at church. 3) When back home or from a mobile device input the names of the people who signed up via paper into the online calendar.
Then some time during the week if there are still appointments available you can send out an email to ward members, non-members, investigators etc... giving them a link to the calendar where they can signup online.
I find in many wards there are tech savvy members who only want to signup online because of how convenient it is to do when at home in front of the family calendar or in a family meeting, and others who are less tech savvy who prefer to put their name down on paper rather than fiddle with phones and email. I wanted to make sure this tool was able to reach both groups equally well.
Thanks!