One of the advantages of being freelancers is the ability to set our own schedules—sure we have deadlines, but it’s up to us how we meet those deadlines. Sounds simple enough, but sometimes we forget about other people and how THEIR calendars may affect our deadlines—church groups, writing groups, family events, even teams of writers we collaborate or work with. Convenient Calendar aims to solve scheduling conflicts and share information by allowing groups of people to access centralized calendars—this lets you and all the people you know in any particular group:

• Schedule meetings and events
• Share and update contacts
• Share photos and images

As a calendar, the Convenient Calendar Web site is exactly what it says it is. Simply create a group, add its members, name its calendars, and all of the group’s members can easily enter their information and important dates into the appropriate calendar. Even better, there’s no limit to the number of calendars you can maintain, and access to calendars is limited to whomever you provide it; for example, your writing group doesn’t have access to your Bible Study group, and while you keep your social life organized, you can also keep your deadlines and work information and contacts current as well. Keeping your busy days up-to-date and getting all eyes on the same calendar stops the back and forth of, “OK, what days are YOU free … oh, that doesn’t work for Jane.”

Keeping all of your colleagues’ and group members’ contact information current is also as simple as a few clicks. When a co-worker or group member changes their email address, phone number, etc., it updates automatically site-wide and everyone will be able to see all the changes. Again, this eliminates the time consuming drudgery of alerting all your colleagues every time you add a new email address or cell number and keeps everyone working out of the same address book.

Photos and images are also easily shared via the Convenient Calendar Web site, which is especially nice if the file you want to share exceeds your email’s size limit. Images shared on Convenient Calendar can be up to 6MB, which is plenty for photos from an event or gathering that everyone attended and wants to see. Even better, for co-workers deciding on a logo or looking to give feedback on a brochure or Web design layout, everyone involved can view the images at their convenience and send their comments to the team.

Overall, Convenient Calendar simplifies a whole bunch of aspects of a freelancer’s life, merging personal and professional so that all you need to know about your schedule—and everyone whose schedule affects and is affected by you—is available at a convenient and secure central location. Best part? It’s all free! No subscription fee or software to purchase—Convenient Calendar is totally free, no matter how many calendars you create, contacts you upload, or photos you share. So while it’s true that part of the joy of the freelance lifestyle is being in control of our own schedules, it’s also true that if we have any outside interactions, our schedules and deadlines sometimes revolve around 15 other people—Convenient Calendar sorts out the hassle.