Changing Organizer of event (for single to total calendar move; long way )

[htd01]

Many people say you cannot change the organizer of the event. This is untrue. You can, but it is not easy.

For a single event:

Download from Original as iCAL, open in text editor, find\replace the organizer section, upload to new organizer, cancel from old organizer without message, send updates from new organizer; alternatively, cancel from old organizer with message about the change await response, send from new organizer, await response.

For multiple, you'll have to do the same with all of them, or download all to a single ical file with a shell box (an equipment mailbox you create to pack them all together). If an entire calendar needs to be moved, just output it all as an ical from that box. Then use a text editor to find\replace all the "Organizer" entries with "Me" as the organizer (or the new email address), and upload to the new organizer. Now you can update them all as necessary. I suggest you waste a day and send up to two months of updates for that new organizer. Then do this again once every month until the calendars are all caught up. You may have to move the times and locations, but this isn't difficult. And at least you can move them.

If you want to have multiple organizers use google, or you can try this:

set up a shell ID (equipment mailbox) for each group of organizers, and give all group members send-as permission, as well as full access permission, and set a delegate or delegates who will receive responses (the whole group?). This will allow them all to make changes to the event and send the updates to themselves. (if they send as a member of a group, they send as the ID of the Group or the Shell ID; so they still get the message in their own box and can add it to their agenda, but no need to really). This logic can make or break you. Set the auto-attendant and other settings right, and it'll make your job security.

 

[htd01]

Just an update:

Once you have the events copied into your shell id or into your new organizer id, you'll have to create another calendar in that user, copy the items to it using ctrl+x (cut) and then paste with ctrl+v. This appends your GOID to it. Do this again to move items back to the agenda calendar, then you can use the UPDATE functions or, at the very least, Send. However, you may want to write a VBA script to find them all and send. I haven't found one yet, but soon I may try to write one. Stay tuned.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

If i correctly understand what you want to do with vba - i think you can tweak the macro at Accept or decline a meeting request then forward or copy it - Slipstick Systems

 

[htd01]

Not quite. I'm talking about removing the events completely (Resources included, any other automated calendars) by downloading from original box, deleting\canceling from there, and then reuploading and resending so that the new box is the new organizer. I did find some help in VBA though. You can use a simple four line command to send all of them you select, and you should be able to move them wherever you want using the "Cut" command with a PASTE after. By using CUT, you keep the GOID intact, so it isn't a "COPY" of the event, it is the event. You might be able to add any new resources and recipients using VBA. But all you need is the SEND. Using VBA you can use an active selection to iterate through all of the requests you move and send them with the .Send action. If you already know the recipients are valid and only need the finishing touch, that will do it. If you don't know about validity, you can have it checked, and display a message for all that don't resolve.

 

[htd01]

Hello again. I thought I'd add my VBA idea, and see if anybody wanted to try this. I know that when somebody leaves the company it's hard to see them go, and even harder to ask somebody else to take over their workflow for meetings and such. That last part is just as difficult when the people you work around get promoted. They ask the person who fills their old position to take over their meetings and responsibilities. That means filtering through their calendar and removing their meetings that pertain to their old position, while handing them over to the new employee. I say, filter them all. You can export whatever format you want, but if you categorize and tag everything, you should be able to find them quickly, and export all of them to a single file. I suggest iCal\vCal. Sure, you can forward the events, but you don't want to leave them locked if they're a meeting and not an appointment. You want to change the organizer. Not difficult. Process: Filter, export, text edit with notepad (find the tag for "ORGANIZER" and copy one whole line with the tag and the name next to it, then place insertion at the top, use Replace to find and replace the organizer tags) save the file and import to new employee (to do this, you'll have to open the new employee as a separate file and mailbox, but set as default). Now delete from old employee. Now send all the events.

To help, I wrote this based on somebody else's find appointment script. Try adding your own options for msg boxes. I haven't tested it fully so you may have to modify it further, but the logic withstands scrutiny.

Public Sub SendAllMtg()



Dim calAppt As Object

Dim mtgReq As Object

Dim apptItms As Object

Dim ns As Outlook.NameSpace



Set ns = Outlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")

Set apptItms = ns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderCalendar).Items



For Each calAppt In apptItms.Items

Select Case Typename(calAppt)

Case "Meeting Item"

Set mtgReq = calAppt

mtgReq.Send



Case Else

End Select

Next



EndSub

If you want to display a message box, I'd stick with one that tells you how many were sent, and one that tells you either the subject, date or some other identifier, of the ones that don't get sent. Closing 50 msg boxes is tougher than closing 2, the code is faster, and you can run this again with options for Word later, so you don't have to try and remember which 30 didn't get sent. If you're okay with more boxes, you can try and add program pauses to allow you to check for errors. Also, stick with future appointments only, and if it's a recurring set, you may have to make other arrangements for the options with recurring meetings.