SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SCHEDULING AN EVENT SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF REQUESTED PARTICIPANTS

A system and method are provided for scheduling an event subject to the availability of requested participants. A server application (16) receives event information submitted by a scheduler using a client application (12) to access an event definition page (50). The event information provides one or more options for scheduling an event and lists a plurality of requested participants. Responsive to receiving the event information, the server application (16) creates an event reply page (60) and an event confirmation page (70). The server application (16) then creates and sends an electronic mail message to each requested participant to provide information about the one or more options and a link to the event reply page (60). The server application (16) also creates and sends a message to the scheduler to provide a link to the event confirmation page (70). The server application (16) then receives reply information submitted by the requested participants using client applications (14) to access the event reply page (60). The server application (16) processes this reply information together with the original event information to generate one or more potential schedules and then updates the event confirmation page (70) based upon the potential schedules. The server application (16) receives an event confirmation submitted by the scheduler using a client application (12) to access the event confirmation page (70), and then create and sends a message to each available participant to provide the schedule for the event.