Guidelines : Confirming Attendance

Confirming Attendance at Meetings

Guidelines and Alternate Phrases

• State that you will be attending the meeting.
• I’m pleased to say I will be able to attend the May 4 accounting review meeting.
• Thanks for your invitation; I’ll be happy to attend the August 6 New Customer Orientation.
• Yes, I’ll be at the August 6 meeting in Plano.
• Confirm any vague details such as location, time, travel arrangements, and so forth.
• Can you suggest a nearby hotel?
• Will someone arrange to have a company car there?
• I will be staying at the Hyatt if you need to reach me before noon.
• State your intentions to complete any pre-meeting preparation.
• I have phoned my area supervisors to get their input and will be prepared to summarize their comments to the group.
• Yes, I plan to bring with me the Fullerton report.
• By the meeting time, I will have available all figures from our local region and will bring five copies of all the reports you mentioned.
• I noted the reading assignment and intend to complete that before arriving.
• I have phoned all committee members asking they prepare their input to present at the meeting.
• The statistics you requested will be ready for printing next week, and I will mail them to you about a week prior to the meeting.
• I have reviewed the packet of materials you sent and will be ready with my comments.
• Suggest any other agenda items, if appropriate.
• Is the agenda still open? If so, I’d like to add time for a discussion about ….
• There’s one other thing I’d like to add to the agenda: ….
• May I suggest two other topics for our meeting? One is for decision and one is for discussion only ….

Example 1: Confirmation letter of attendance

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mr. Haverty:

I’m pleased to say I have been able to rearrange my schedule so as to be able to attend the Rockford branch meeting on August 1. Laura Reed, our secretary, has made all my travel arrangements, including hotel. I’ll be coming in the evening before the meeting and will give you a call upon arrival about 8:00 p.m.

The models have been shipped directly to the hotel. I’ll be bringing the building plans with me, as you requested.

May I suggest that one other item be added to our meeting agenda? A five-minute overview of the committee’s objectives in their building design would be helpful to those of us who have not been involved from the beginning.

I’m planning on a productive two days with you!

Cordially,

Example 2: Confirm the attendance

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Marian:

I am pleased to say I will be able to make the Region IV Roundtable on Thursday, May 5, at the branch office at 12345 Harry Blvd. If the intent of the meeting is as you outlined, the ideas presented should be stimulating as well as profitable.

As you suggested, I will be prepared to make a ten-minute presentation on “unsuccessful” marketing of software. May I also suggest an additional ten-minute question-answer period for the concerns this presentation will raise about one of our major accounts?

Will you please arrange to have an overhead projector and screen available?

Also, I would appreciate it if your secretary can confirm a late arrival on my room at the Sheraton. My flight doesn’t arrive until 9:50 p.m.

I look forward to meeting your group.

Sincerely,

Example 3: Attendance confirmation letter

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State, Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State, Zip

Dear Ms. Martinez:

I am pleased to be able to join in the July 23-25 decorator’s meeting for the new chain of Royal Inns at the Carraway Conference Center in Little Rock. Our firm is excited at the prospect of working with you on this new venture.

I have received the color schemes requested by the hotels’ owners, and have already come up with several plans. I will be working on refining them for presentation during the next few weeks. I would appreciate if both an overhead and a slide projector, along with a screen, could be made available.

After reviewing the itinerary I received, and considering the length of time I will be given to present my ideas, I was wondering: Would it be possible to meet with you the day before the conference begins to narrow down my choices of presentation materials? I am currently scheduled for a 10:00 a.m. arrival in Little Rock on July 22, but can easily re-book if necessary.

I look forward to finally meeting you in person.

Cordially,

Example 4: Confirmation of attendance

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State, Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State, Zip

Dear Ron:

This letter is to confirm my seat at the Tri-State Business Conference on May 5 at your offices on 645 Armstrong Blvd. I have filled out my preferred roundtable discussion choices, and hope that I have not waited too long to turn them in. You have engaged so many excellent speakers that it was hard to choose among the variety offered.

My secretary, Lindsey Jordan, will be calling in my meal choices to your conference planner as requested. Are there any other materials you require that I may have overlooked?

I look forward to seeing you on the 5th.

Regards,

Example 5: Confirming Attendance Letter

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State, Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State, Zip

Dear Mr. Burrow:

I am writing to confirm my attendance at the April 6 retrofit committee meeting at your offices in Des Moines. I have already forwarded to your office the various lighting samples, and will be able to provide you with a detailed suggestion list once I receive the blue prints for your warehouse locations.

I would like to suggest that in addition to the blue prints, you have someone walk through the three warehouses and note the size and locations of any pipes or machinery that are suspended from the ceilings and walls. Such obstructions will have a decided effect on light distribution and could drastically effect how many fixtures are needed, as well as the height of ceiling mounts. Please note any lighting areas that are deemed hazardous, as I have a special line of lighting specifically for such locations.

Thank you for the arrangement of my travel plans. My secretary has received confirmation for my flight on Geer Airlines flight. The downtown Hayton has likewise called to confirm my reservations and to assure me that they will provide transportation from the airport to the hotel.

I look forward to meeting you for dinner the evening I arrive. I have heard Chin’s is one of the finest restaurants in Des Moines.

Regards,

Guidelines : Canceling/Postponing

Canceling or Postponing Meetings

Guidelines and Alternate Phrases

• State the cancellation, giving a specific reason.
• We regret to say, because enrollment has been insufficient for the May 10 ETC seminar, we are being forced to cancel it.
• Dr. Harvard, our keynote speaker scheduled for the May 9 Kansas City meeting, has canceled because of unexpected surgery. Finding a replacement of his caliber at such a late date would be highly unlikely. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the meeting until Dr. Harvard can be with us.
• The March 16 meeting in Seattle for senior staffers has been canceled. Obviously, we must have inadvertently selected a date that creates traveling difficulties for many people in the field.
• Return any fees for registration and so forth.
• Your refund check will be mailed in two weeks.
• Your full $45 will be returned immediately.
• I’ve enclosed your $40 check for the dinner reservations.
• Apologize for the inconvenience of the cancellation.
• I know you spent time in planning your attendance, and I regret the inconvenience.
• I always regret having to cancel anything at the last minute because of the inconvenience we cause you, our customers.
• Please accept my apologies for the postponement. Your attendance, I’m sure, involved some now-wasted planning time.
• I apologize for having to ask you to “unmake” your plans. That’s always irritating and inconvenient. I just hope the day can be used now to even better benefit.
• End with a positive note. You may want to announce or suggest ways you can accomplish some or all of the meeting objectives under the conditions stated.
• We are enclosing a videotape of the same meeting conducted at other regions. Most of the ideas should be applicable to your own situation.
• The enclosed report should give you some insights into the issues involved.
• After schedules become less hectic, we will try to plan a similar meeting in early spring.
• On a more positive note, at least you’ll have one less plane to catch!
• Think of it this way: You have one more day in the office to catch up that week.
• We do think such a meeting would have far-reaching results, and we plan to reschedule as soon as feasible.
• Perhaps, at a later date, we will reschedule and can once again ask you to visit our facilities.

Example 1: Postpone meeting letter

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Ms. O’Shea:

Much to our regret, the San Marcos meeting on May 9 has been canceled. Because of a miscommunication with the assistant director at the San Marcos site, we recently discovered the center would permit only 15 attendees from any one region. That limitation, of course, made the chartered bus trip economically unfeasible.

We know this cancellation has caused some inconvenience in clearing your calendars, and we regret the misunderstanding.

In lieu of our firsthand observation, we have arranged to purchase videotapes of the presentations and the facilities. Those tapes will be mailed to each office by the end of the month. We hope the tapes will give you some of the information you need for working with the clientele there.

Sincerely,

Example 2: Meeting cancellation letter sample

Memorandum

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT: Postponement of Sales Meeting

The sales meeting originally scheduled for 8:00 a.m. July 9 has been rescheduled for 8:00 a.m. July 15 as three of the sales staff have a meeting scheduled with a client on July 9.

The July 15 meeting will still be held in Conference Room 4. Coffee and donuts will be provided. Please update your sales logs up to July 14 for this meeting.

Example 3: Postponement meeting example

Memorandum

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT: Cancellation Of Staff Meeting

Dr. Delacourt has been asked to be a guest speaker at the University’s Medical School August 5. While we are excited by this opportunity for her, it does mean our normal staff conference will have to be rescheduled.

Amy will check over the monthly employee schedule, and will let us know the new date and time of the staff meeting before the end of the week.

Example 4: Template for meeting

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State, Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State, Zip

Dear Ms. Gray:

We are writing to inform you that your July 18 meeting with Mr. Reynolds’ will have to be rescheduled. Unfortunately, Mr. Reynolds had to fly out to another branch of the company which was damaged in a recent tornado, and is not expected back until July 20.

We realize that there were several questions you wanted to address with Mr. Reynolds’ immediately, therefore, we are sending you our stockholder’s report for last month. We trust that it will answer several of your preliminary queries.

Please call and we will reschedule your appointment with Mr. Reynolds. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Example 5: Cancellation letters/h1>
Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State, Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State, Zip

Dear Mr. Matula:

We are sorry to inform you that our June 6-8 meeting has been canceled. Ms. Arrow, our guest lecturer, had to decline the engagement—her staff had inadvertently scheduled her to lecture on opposite ends of the country on the same afternoon. She has asked us to convey her apologies to you, and we hope to be able to reschedule her for a fall meeting.

Due to these circumstances, a refund check of $200 for your registration fee is enclosed. You are not obligated to return the books that you paid for with part of your registration fee—consider them our a gift!

As we stated, we hope to be able to reschedule Ms. Arrow’s lecture for sometime this fall. If you would like, we would be happy to send you information on that meeting. We hope this cancellation does not cause you great inconvenience.

Cordially,

Guidelines : Announcing

Announcing Meetings

Guidelines and Alternate Phrases

• State when you have scheduled the meeting. Other brief details such as where, what time, and why can usually be given in one “message” statement.
• The next and final planning meeting for the Oktoberfest will be at 10:00 a.m. Monday, August 21, in the Post Conference Room.
• Plan to join us for the next monthly Horizons meeting: 12399 Silvan Avenue, Suite 299, 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 22. We’ll be discussing how ….
• You are asked to attend the next monthly managers’ meeting (Tuesday, August 9, 9:00 a.m., conference room C) to give your input on the ….
• Be clear about whether meeting attendance is required or optional.
• Ask for confirmation of attendance so if key people will be unable to attend or if necessary information is unavailable, you can reschedule. Better to cancel than conduct meaningless meetings.
• Please call to confirm you will attend.
• Please phone if you will not be attending.
• Attendance is required.
• If you cannot attend, let me know as soon as possible so we may reschedule the meeting, if necessary, to have a majority present.
• Let me know if you will be attending personally or if you plan to send a colleague in your place.
• If you cannot attend, please designate someone from your staff to attend.
• All interested parties are invited to attend.
• We do not need a confirmation of your attendance, but we hope to see you there.
• We need a completed registration form in order for you to attend the meeting.
• Include the meeting agenda in question form so attendees know specifically which direction their thought, planning, and comments should take. Generally stated topics such as “technical problems” give few clues for attendees to come prepared with data, questions, or comments. Also, include time allocations for agenda items. Although these cannot always be adhered to, stated guidelines help attendees to know the depth of discussion expected and later to keep the meeting from getting bogged down in insignificant detail. Also, time limits and the order of agenda will allow those whose presence is not required for the entire meeting to come late or leave early.
• Tell attendees what preparation they should make or what they should bring to the meeting.
• Please come to the meeting prepared to brief us on ….
• Please have the July sales figure with you at the meeting.
• We ask that you review the enclosed report before the meeting.
• You’ll need to have read the operator manual before you report to the class.
• Please make every effort to talk with several sales managers from your district to gather their opinions about this issue.
• Please review the enclosed packet of materials.
• Please bring a list of your accounts with service problems.
• We ask you read the first two chapters in the enclosed booklet before attending the meeting.
• Will you please return the enclosed presidential ballot before the meeting date?

Example 1: Agenda of meeting

Memorandum

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT: New Format for Quality-Control Meetings

The next quality-control meeting will be held Friday, March 5, at 1:00 p.m. in the conference room off the atrium. The “news” is that the quality-control meeting will be heading in a new direction. Instead of an open forum, the meeting will concentrate on one quality-control issue/problem.

For this month, the topic is out-of-season inventory. Those supervisors and managers whose departments are responsible for ordering and processing should attend.

The agenda will follow this basic structure:

• issues and trends
• identifying tracking tools
• brainstorming of solutions
• developing an action plan

For future meetings, you will receive notification of the topic on the Tuesday before the next session so you will know if representation from your area is appropriate. Please call by March 4 to let us know who from your area will attend.

Example 2: Sample of meeting agenda

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Bob:

I have scheduled a meeting of the auditors for 1:00-5:00 p.m., June 6, in conference room 286. The purpose of the meeting is to allow you and Max Applebaum time to discuss the audits conducted last month and to make suggestions for improvements in our procedures. Our focus will be how to help Al’s department.

Come ready to present your views–this is your opportunity to elaborate on specific weaknesses you want to see corrected in the next quarter.

Please let me know by Friday if you can attend.

Thanks,

Example 3: Sample of meeting announcement

Memorandum

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT: Contracts Staff Meeting

Who: Everyone on the Contracts staff
What: A meeting
When: Monday, April 3, 3:00 p.m.
Where: Room 2929
Why: 1) To correct contract terminology
2) To review legal issues
3) To resolve all identified open issues not addressed in the standard contract

Please call Debbie Winter by April 1 at 806-444-3396 to confirm your attendance. As a meeting without all managers present would be counterproductive, we will reschedule the contract review should anyone be unable to attend. (In that event, we would let you know the new meeting date, place, and time no later than the close of business April 1.)

We would also like you to review the attached contract prior to our meeting. At the conclusion of our meeting, I will seek agreement to submit the contract for approval by our General Counsel.

Jack Forman and I will be meeting this week to discuss the financial issues of the compensation to user-designers. This should give us data useful in completing our own contract review.

Example 4: Announcement of meeting letter

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear ANNT Alumni:

You are cordially invited to attend a meeting of ANNT alumni in the Dallas area. We will meet from 6:00-8:00 p.m., June 27, at Babbit’s Restaurant, 3300 Delmar.

The purpose of this meeting is to get acquainted with your fellow alumni and to determine interest in organizing on a formal basis. Also, Ms. Marie Wilson, executive director of development, will give us a 30-minute overview of what is now happening in various campus programs and answer your questions about the advisory committees now forming.

As you know, we do not have a formal, local alumni association. However, the University Advancement Office is currently organizing advisory committees in 20 cities across the state. These advisory committees are being organized around seven committees designed to involve alumni with ANNT and to provide research services and other information to our alumni. Attached is a list of the committees with their corresponding functions.

Please return the enclosed card if you can attend this meeting. If you cannot attend but are interested in organizing a local chapter or working on an advisory committee, please phone William Reynolds (214-444-5555).

Come early to the June 27 meeting and get acquainted!

Sincerely,

Example 5: Meeting letters

Memorandum

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT: Accounting and Scheduling Meeting for Arcon Staff

We request your attendance at a special Arcon meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 14, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., in Building G, Room 30. William Blackley will be present to discuss the following:

• Procedures and guidelines concerning the new accounting processes (1 hour)
• Overview plan for scheduling (5 minutes)
• Suggested approaches (2 hours)
• Format models for basic departmental reports (1 hour)

For those individuals who will be unable to attend this meeting, please call Sharon Gargden (ext. 223) so she can make arrangements to forward a copy of the review comments and handouts to you.

Example 6: Letter for announcement of meeting

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Marketing Representatives:

Mark Stevens, Ellen Crowe, B. D. Taylor, and Darin Poindexter have scheduled a meeting for their staff members for March 1-2 at the Courtyard Marriott in Executive Park, Atlanta. Please arrange your schedules to attend.

Also, I suggest you come prepared to ask questions about the new product lines as they apply to your major customers.

Here is the agenda:

March 1, Monday: 1:30-4:00 p.m. Frank Smith will speak on packaging.

March 2, Tuesday: 7:30-9:00 a.m. Gene Holtz will speak on the MUTE reports. Then we will break into small groups around various CRTs set up for us at the surrounding branch offices.

March 2, Tuesday: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon A question-answer session at the hotel will be moderated by Sarah Bind.

March 2, Tuesday: 1:00-5:00 p.m. The comptroller’s group will make presentations on how the MUTE reports relate to our current projects.

There will be a group dinner at the hotel on March 1 at 7:00 p.m. Lunch both days will be on your own.

See you there,

Example 7: Letter for meeting

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Parents:

Please join us on September 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Belview High to begin to make our school drug free.

We are all aware drugs threaten the lives of our children, destroy family ties, and disrupt the educational process. Your concern as parents is shared by educators throughout the state. It is time for us to join forces to address the drug problem.

By uniting parents, community members, educators, and law enforcement officials, we hope to send a strong message to those who use or sell drugs to our students: We will not tolerate illegal drugs on our campus.

Help us help your kids. Please attend this meeting to share your ideas and learn how you can put others’ ideas into action.

Sincerely,

Example 8: Announcing Meeitng

Memorandum

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT: Barbarina Isle Project Meeting

I have scheduled a meeting of the task force for developing the Barbarina Isle Project for September 6 at 10:00 a.m. in my office. Because of the unusual technical problems that have come to light in the past few days, we need to discuss the issues below.

Please note what individual preparation you should make before the meeting. If, for any reason, you cannot attend or gather the required information, let me know immediately (ext. 682) so I can reschedule for later in the week.

Agenda

5 min. What is the cost of the additional technical personnel to solve the problems?

(individual reports on projected costs)

30 min. Can the problems possibly be identified as “projects” for which actual costs can be recaptured?

(open discussion)

1 hour Will the owners resist approval of these new “problem/project” costs? If so, what approach can we take to sell them? Who should do the selling?

(John Davis and Fred Qupo will report on previous “feeler” conversations with the owners; open discussion to follow)

If, for some reason, we have not come to conclusions by noon, we’ll have lunch brought in–that is, if any of you can eat with this bugaboo still hanging over our heads!

Sincerely,