Scheduling Meetings

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If it’s not on my calendar, it doesn’t exist :-). To meet, make an MS Bookings request or a calendar invitation (see below), keep them updated if anything changes.

1. Meeting with Me (one-on-one)

This section only applies to one-on-one meetings with me alone. To schedule a meeting with me plus others, see below.

You can consult my availabilities and book a meeting on my MS Bookings page (If you’re bookmarking the link, use this one: https://renaud-detry.net/p/book).

1.1 Scheduling a Meeting via my MS Bookings Page

This method only makes sense if we meet one-on-one, since the calendar invitation generated by MS Bookings is only addressed to two people (me, and the person who submits the request). It also only makes sense if we meet either in my office or on Teams. In any other situation (2+ meeting participants, location other than my office or Teams), use a regular calendar invitation (below).

The easiest way of scheduling a meeting with me is via my MS Bookings page:

  • You need to select one of four “services”:
    • Detry–30m–Online, Detry–1h–Online : 30min or 1h on MS Teams.
    • Detry–30m@ESAT, Detry–1h@ESAT : 30min or 1h in my office at ESAT.
      • I am not at ESAT every day. To meet in person, first ask me what days I’m there.
      • If we need to meet in person but elsewhere, make a calendar invitation (see below).

1.2 Scheduling a Meeting via a Calendar Invitation

You may wish to directly send a calendar invitation yourself instead of using MS Bookings, e.g., to specify a meeting location other than my office. Please adhere to the following guidelines:

  1. Pick a slot based on the availabilities shown at https://renaud-detry.net/p/book.
    KU Leuven personnel: you can also see my availabilities via Outlook:
    1. Connect to KULeuven’s Outlook Web App (the desktop app works too).
    2. Click on the Calendar icon near the left edge of the window.
    3. Click on New Event.
    4. Add me to the list of attendees.
    5. Click Scheduling Assistant:
      scheduling-assistant
    6. Navigate the days of the week. The slots shown in white are available.

  2. If we haven’t explicitly discussed a duration, select 30 minutes.

  3. Always include a meeting location:

    • Avoid ambiguity. Include either a physical location or a videoconferencing link, but not both, unless you are expecting a mixed in-person/Teams meeting, eg because the meeting involves both KU Leuven personnel and externals, or because you strongly suspect that one of the KU Leuven participants will need to join via Teams.

    • If you wish to meet in person, e.g., in my ESAT office, do include the location (e.g., ESAT 01.07) in the location field of the invitation.
      • I am not at ESAT every day. If you wish to meet in person (instead of online), ask me what days I’m there.
      • If the location of the meeting is a conference room, strongly prefer a conference room at ESAT. Don’t forget to reserve it:
        • ESAT: Use this page (select Room reservation).
        • C300/MECH (only if there is a specific reason to meet at C300 instead of ESAT): Create the event via Outlook, and use the Room Finder in the location field of your event.
    • If you wish to meet online, include a videoconference link:
      • KU Leuven personnel (incl. Ph.D. students): the link should be a KU Leuven Teams link,
      • Other (including KU Leuven Master’s students):
        • Use one of the following providers: MS Teams (preferred), Jitsi, Google Meet, WebEx.
        • Zoom is also ok, but because of the 40-min limit imposed on free accounts, only use Zoom if our meeting is scheduled to last less than 40 minutes, or if you have a paid license.
      • Please make sure to test the app before our meeting, ensuring that audio, video and screen sharing properly work.

  4. Choose a meaningful meeting title. Do not name the meeting with a generic title like interview or meeting with Renaud. By default, name the meeting as YourFirstName/Renaud. Alternately, the name of the project, or the subject of the meeting, or both.

  5. Set a reminder 15 min prior to the meeting.

  6. If relevant, invite other people needed for the meeting.

  7. Address the invitation to .

2. Meeting with a Larger Group

To do so:

  1. Figure out when.
  2. Figure out where.
  3. Send an invitation.

More detail below.

2.1 Where?

First, you need to figure out where the meeting will be held, because the meeting location can affect the availability of participants. At this point, deciding on an approximate location is sufficient. Typically: either in person at ESAT, in person at WTK C300, or online/Teams. Take note of the following:

  • I am not at ESAT or C300 every day. If you wish to meet in person (instead of online), ask me what days I’m there.
  • If you wish to meet in person, the location should be ESAT, unless there is a specific reason to meet elsewhere.
  • If you wish to meet in person and the (total) number of people in the meeting is at most 4, the location should be my ESAT office 01.07, unless there is a specific reason to meet elsewhere.

2.2 When?

To find a time that works for everyone, you will generally need to share a poll. One exception to this rule is when you’re only meeting with me and one other person. In that case, you could shortcut the poll, and work directly with that person to find a date and time, while taking into account my own availabilities (https://renaud-detry.net/p/book, read Meeting with Me above beforehand).

If you’re meeting with me and several others, run a poll. When doing so, only include days and times when I am available. Look up my availabilities at https://renaud-detry.net/p/book (read Meeting with Me above beforehand).

  • When organizing a meeting within the next 30 days:
    • Create a poll on https://when2meet.com,
    • Suggest at most 4 days for others to fill in.
      • Ideally, pick days that span across two different weeks, to have robustness against someone being on travel for a whole week.
  • When Organizing a meeting more than 30 days in advance:
    • (This is what you usually must do when organizing a formal meeting with several other seniors, such as the intermediate presentation of a Master’s thesis, or the 9-month presentation of a Ph.D.)
    • Create a poll with approximately 5 slots:
      • If you suggest more than 5 slots, people are unlikely to respond.
      • If possible, pick slots that are a few days apart, and in different weeks. This way, you have robustness against someone being on travel for a whole week.
      • If everyone is in the CET time zone, use https://dud-poll.inf.tu-dresden.de.
      • Otherwise, use https://zcal.co or https://doodle.com.

Once you’ve created your poll, proceed as follows:

  1. Email the poll link to everyone (including me), specifying the meeting location. Either say it’ll be online, or specify the meeting location (ESAT or WTK/C300).
  2. Keep an eye on the poll. If some people aren’t responding after a day, send a reminder.

2.3 Scheduling the Meeting

Once everyone has responded to the poll, follow Scheduling a Meeting via a Calendar Invitation (see above) to send the calendar invitation.