By Invitation Only
Like many people I know, Google has become their email, contact, and calendar solutions of choice. They're easy to use, always accessible (as long as your district firewall doesn't block them), and reliable. They are, however, not so easy to use if you use Entourage on a Mac.
Well, let me rephrase that. Entourage and Google Mail seem to coexist without many problems. As a matter of fact, Entourage integrates seamlessly with Google Mail. The Entourage calendar and Google Calendar are another story altogether.
For months I have been trying to get these two calendars to talk to each other. I've searched Google, Microsoft forums, and any other forum or site that I could find. No one seemed to have any good idea about how to make this work. The general consensus is, as far as I could see, that there is really no good reason that these two calendars can't communicate with each other. There is, of course, the notion that either Google or Microsoft has to hold something out until such time that the new calendar breakthrough product is available.
Like you, I don't want to wait for that day to arrive. I want a solution now, especially since all of my Google services come directly to my Blackberry (Yes, I'm on a Mac and not on an iPhone; an entry for another day)
Here's what works for me, and may work for you if you don't mind a few extra keyboard strokes in the process.
By Invitation Only: For every new appointment or item of importance that has to appear on my calendar, I now enter it on my Entourage calendar and invite myself to the event at my Google email address. That ensures me that all of my calendar items are with me wherever I go, with me on any computer that I can access at any given time, and on my Blackberry. It may sound like a cumbersome way to get things done, but it works for me. And for the moment, it seems like the only way to make this happen.
If after reading this you have another method that works for you, let me know. I'm not married to this process, just taking advantage of it for the time being.
Well, let me rephrase that. Entourage and Google Mail seem to coexist without many problems. As a matter of fact, Entourage integrates seamlessly with Google Mail. The Entourage calendar and Google Calendar are another story altogether.
For months I have been trying to get these two calendars to talk to each other. I've searched Google, Microsoft forums, and any other forum or site that I could find. No one seemed to have any good idea about how to make this work. The general consensus is, as far as I could see, that there is really no good reason that these two calendars can't communicate with each other. There is, of course, the notion that either Google or Microsoft has to hold something out until such time that the new calendar breakthrough product is available.
Like you, I don't want to wait for that day to arrive. I want a solution now, especially since all of my Google services come directly to my Blackberry (Yes, I'm on a Mac and not on an iPhone; an entry for another day)
Here's what works for me, and may work for you if you don't mind a few extra keyboard strokes in the process.
By Invitation Only: For every new appointment or item of importance that has to appear on my calendar, I now enter it on my Entourage calendar and invite myself to the event at my Google email address. That ensures me that all of my calendar items are with me wherever I go, with me on any computer that I can access at any given time, and on my Blackberry. It may sound like a cumbersome way to get things done, but it works for me. And for the moment, it seems like the only way to make this happen.
If after reading this you have another method that works for you, let me know. I'm not married to this process, just taking advantage of it for the time being.
Posted by David Fisher at 4/9/2009 7:53 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Google Calendar Entourage Mac
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Google Calendar Entourage Mac
Comments