Converting Recurring Meetings
From Lotus Notes Calendar (JeffCal for University users)
to Microsoft Outlook Calendar

• Conversion to a lot of singular meetings that have to be edited one at a time
• Errors in the information contained in the invitation details
• Errors in the series frequency

Some repeating meeting scenarios that are particularly troublesome include those that:

• Were created over 6 months ago
• Use the “This instance and all previous instances” or “This instance and all future instances” for reschedules, confirmations, updates, or cancellations
• Repeat yearly using the last day of the month as the date
• Contain multiple changes to singular occurrences within a repeating meeting

These types of changes not only negatively impact your ability to convert calendar information, but create a variety of issues for the organizer and attendees. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to target which of our repeating meetings will have an issue and it is highly likely that you will have one or more of the scenarios above.

FOR CUSTOM RECURRING MEETINGS

The most common problems with calendar entries occur in two areas: 1) custom recurring meetings and 2) recurring meetings with modifications to a single instance.

If you are responsible for setting up meetings, please be aware that those scheduled in Lotus Notes using the recurrence pattern of “custom” present issues during conversion.

EXAMPLE: A project committee meeting for a three-month project occurs on the third Tuesday, as well as the first Friday, of each month, with all invitations sent from one calendar entry.

Outlook does not support this custom recurrence type.

In this example, it is important that you take steps PRIOR to your conversion to ensure a smooth migration of this meeting to your new calendar.

SOLUTION:
This invitation should be converted into two meeting entries: Set up all Tuesday meetings in one invitation, then set up all Friday meetings in another invitation.

BE PROACTIVE IN MANAGING YOUR CALENDAR (your attendees will thank you!)

• While waiting for your conversion, please avoid scheduling recurring meetings using the Lotus Notes repeat option (as noted above)
• Inventory your repeating meetings
• Delete your repeating meetings (be sure to send a cancellation notice to all attendees)
• Recreate your repeating meetings by using simple frequency patterns (daily, weekly or monthly by date). Custom frequencies are not supported in Outlook.
• Avoid making modifications until after you convert to Outlook