Google Calendar — CL2 — global calendar and event sharing

Reading the post today about the forthcoming Google Calendar — or CL2 as its being called — on TechCrunch, was like a flashback to my first time using the SalesLogix calendar, only better.

I spent 4+ years at SalesLogix, now a division of Best Software. I joined as director of product marketing and worked under Pat Sullivan, the inventor of ACT!, the long-time best selling software for managing sales contacts. Pat was credited with creating the “Contact Management” category. While there, I participated in the growth of SalesLogix from 50-650 employees and a successful IPO. Interestingly enough, while at SalesLogix, I also participated in the acquisition (or homecoming) of ACT! from Symantec.

SalesLogix was like ACT!, but positioned upstream at sales teams needing opportunity management and team-oriented contact management features.

The first time I used the SalesLogix calendar, I thought it was really cool. Way better than Outlook. More powerful and elegant at the same time. I loved being able to schedule activities (phone calls, meetings, follow-up activities, task) inside the hours of a day. I loved being able to have a unified view of our entire sales and marketing teams, seeing where everyone was at a glance. It was far better than a setting up a meeting request. This feature allowed a sales manager to see exactly where his/her salesperson was spending their time. Some felt the presence of Big Brother. I, on the other hand, used the calendar religiously for all my activities because it was like a daily journal of what I worked on. Things I didn’t complete were simply rolled to the next day and rescheduled in my open time blocks.

I’m excited about the Google Calendar. I can’t wait to subscribe to other calendars and get a unified view. To see all my wife’s activities, our family events, the birthdays of extended family, items my children need to be working on for school assignments. It will be like coming home.

Since I work with college students every day, I can see the power for students who are trying to find a block of time for a study group across 5-8 people, all who are busy with school, work, and extracurricular activities. Secondly, one student could post the assignments from a syllabus and everyone in the class could subscribe and benefit from the work already completed — talk about a time saver. And these are just a few examples.

I’m sure the people worried about Google “knowing” everything about their lives could ruffle a few feathers. However, for me, it’s just like Gmail: a no brainer.

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