Standardization News

Producing Custom Schedules and Meeting Materials

It's almost time for the first 2011 committee week, and two handy tools at "MyASTM" will help you prepare for this and other upcoming ASTM meetings.

You can use "Create My Schedule" and "Create My Meeting Materials" to prepare a customized schedule and to collect subcommittee and committee documents for your upcoming meetings. Access these features at "MyASTM" in the "My Tools" area, under the "Meetings, Minutes and Agendas" link. (Also at that link, you can choose a tracker service to receive e-mail alerts when new agendas and minutes become available; committee officers can also access a "Create My Agenda" option.)

When you click on "Create My Schedule," upcoming events - committee weeks, independent meetings, symposia and workshops - will be displayed based on your membership. To begin building your schedule, click on the event name to link to the "Committee Selection" screen, which displays information about your main and subcommittee meetings. You can opt for any or all meetings at that event. A schedule preview is then generated; all listings are initially checked but can be unchecked to remove.

At the preview point, you can "Add Additional Meetings" either from other committees meeting at the event or a meeting/meal that you arrange (perhaps with a client or colleague). Or, you can simply choose "Create Schedule," which copies your selections to a spreadsheet (organized by date and time) that can be further sorted, and/or you can "Create *.ics Cal File," which will import your schedule to the calendar on your computer or mobile device.

The second tool, "Create My Meeting Materials," is most useful just a few days before a meeting; it can replace ongoing material collecting and organizing. Choose this option from the "Meetings, Minutes and Agendas" portion of "My Tools" and link to the event (meeting) by name. To collect your meeting materials, you may select either the main committee and all subcommittees or just the subcommittees to which you belong. Note that if your subcommittee has a document out to main committee ballot, you will need to select main committee materials.

Once you make your choices and click "Create My Meeting Materials," the system goes to work. Within minutes, an e-mail with a link to a zip archive will arrive in your inbox, listing the documents - agendas, minutes, ballot items and closing reports - comprising the archive. Documents that have not yet been posted will be noted if they are part of your materials selection. The zip file link will be active for 10 days; rerunning the meeting materials tool in that time will cause a new zip file link to overwrite the existing one.

If you're short on time before a committee week, you can use a member office workstation adjacent to the ASTM registration area at the site to create your custom schedule or to obtain your zip archive and to print materials if needed.

If you need paper copies of any materials, have comments about the new tools or have questions about the zip file, please contact your committee staff manager. If you have technical difficulties, please contact the ASTM support desk Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, at 1-800-262-1373 for calls from the U.S. and Canada; 610-832-9578 for international calls; or via the e-mail form online at www.astm.org/SUPPORT.