Accept the Invite
NDP sends you a calendar invite by email
NDP creates an NDP Appointments calendar for you and sends you an invite. Accepting it adds that calendar to your Google account, so your shoots land right on your schedule.
- Open the calendar invite email from NDP.
- Follow the prompts to accept it and sync the calendar with our booking system.
Next you'll share two calendars with NDP - the NDP Appointments calendar and your main personal calendar - each with a different permission. Do these on a computer.
Share the NDP Appointments Calendar
Give NDP full access to your appointments calendar
On a computer, open calendar.google.com. In the left sidebar under My calendars, find Next Door Photos Appointments.
- Hover over it, click the 3 dots, and choose Settings and sharing.
- Scroll to Share with specific people or groups and click Add people and groups.
- Add eric.nystrom@nextdoorphotos.com and set the permission to Make changes and manage sharing, then click Send.
For the NDP Appointments calendar, use Make changes and manage sharing so NDP can add and manage your shoots directly on your schedule.
Share Your Main Calendar
Repeat for your personal calendar - with a different permission
Now do the same for your main calendar (usually titled with your name or email address).
- Hover over your main calendar, click the 3 dots, and open Settings and sharing.
- Click Add people and groups and add eric.nystrom@nextdoorphotos.com.
- Set the permission to See only free/busy (hide details).
For your personal calendar, choose See only free/busy (hide details). NDP will see when you're busy, but never the details of your personal events.
Block Off Time You’re Unavailable
An open calendar means you’re open for shoots
Once your calendars are shared, open time = bookable. When you're not available, block it off with an event.
To block off time, create an event on your calendar and set it to Busy (not Free).
We can see the event title, but none of the other details (no location, no description). It really helps us if you put your general area in the title - like “Unavailable - Marietta area” - so we know roughly where you are when we're managing the schedule.
Add a little buffer at the start and end of each block for travel back to your homebase. That way you're ready to be dispatched from your homebase address as soon as your block ends.
Practice: Block Off Sunday
Try it once so we can confirm it’s synced
Let's make sure it's working with a quick practice run.
- Block off some time on your calendar for this coming Sunday - a timed event, set to Busy, with a title.
- Message your Slack support channel to let us know you created the block.
- Ask a team member to confirm it synced on our end.
Once a team member confirms your Sunday block came through, you're all set. From here on: keep your calendar open when you want shoots, and blocked when you don't.
Calendar sync complete
Nice work! Both calendars are shared with NDP, and you know how to block off time you're unavailable. Keep your calendar open when you want shoots and blocked when you don't. If anything looks off, message us in your Slack support channel.