Plan a Meeting

Second of seven walkthroughs. This one covers everything from "we need a meeting on the 14th" to directors having the date in their calendars, with the agenda taking shape behind the scenes.

A meeting in Boardwise moves through three stages that control what attendees can see:

• Draft: only you and other administrators can see it. Build freely.
• Date Hold: attendees can see the name, date, and location, and have a calendar entry. They cannot see the agenda or documents yet.
• Materials Ready: attendees can see everything. This is covered in the next walkthrough.

The point of the two-stage release is that you can get the date into calendars weeks early, then keep working on the agenda and materials until they are ready.

1. Schedule the meeting

1. From the dashboard, click New Meeting (or open Meetings and click Schedule a Meeting).
2. Choose the board or committee the meeting belongs to. Choose "Non-Group Specific or General Meeting" only for meetings that are not part of a body's business.
3. Enter a title such as "Q3 Board Meeting".
4. Set the Date, Start Time, and Duration. Check the Meeting Timezone: it defaults sensibly but matters for a board spread across time zones, since every attendee sees the meeting in their own local time.
5. Under attendees, type the group name (for example "Board of Directors") to add everyone at once, or add people by name or email. Guests who are not in your Directory can be added by email.
6. Click Add location for the room or address, and Add video link if you are pasting a link. If you connected Zoom or Teams during setup, leave this blank and add the video meeting in the next step instead.
7. Click Save. The meeting is created in Draft.

Advanced Options on the form lets you set a different Organizer (the person who receives calendar responses and is shown as the contact) and a retention override for this meeting. Most meetings need neither.

2. Check the attendee list

On the meeting page, the Attendees section shows everyone invited. Click Manage Attendees to adjust:

• Required or Optional: shown to attendees and used for quorum.
• Full access or Agenda only: agenda-only attendees (management presenting one item, an auditor) see the agenda but not the documents.
• Excuse from in-camera sessions: excused attendees will not see in-camera agenda items or their documents at all.

Each row carries small icons for invitation status, required or optional, and access level, followed by that director's RSVP. Hover any icon to see what it means.

3. Add the video meeting (if connected)

If Zoom or Teams is connected in Configuration, click Add video meeting in the About This Meeting section. Boardwise creates the meeting on your account and attaches the join link, meeting ID, and passcode. Attendees get a Join the meeting button when the meeting is near.

4. Send the date hold

Once at least one attendee is on the list, the meeting can be announced.

1. At the top of the meeting page, click Announce Meeting, then choose Send date hold.
2. Read the confirmation. It tells you exactly what attendees will see (name, date, location) and that they will receive a date hold notice.
3. Confirm.

The meeting's badge changes to Date Hold. Each attendee receives an email with a calendar invitation. They can RSVP from the email or from the meeting page, and the RSVP tracking panel on your meeting page shows Confirmed, Pending, and Declined counts as responses arrive.

If you would rather send everything at once (date, agenda, and documents, typically for a short-notice meeting where the materials are already done), choose Send everything from the same menu instead. It skips the date hold stage.

5. Build the agenda

You can do this before or after the date hold. Attendees will not see it until you publish materials.

1. In the Agenda section, click Add Agenda Item.
2. Enter the item's title, a description if useful, and a duration. Durations add up to a running timeline that attendees see.
3. Attach the item's documents by dropping files onto the item or choosing from the meeting's documents. Attaching a document to an agenda item is what puts it in the right place in the meeting book.
4. Mark an item In-Camera (Executive Session) if only non-excused attendees should see it and its documents.
5. Repeat for each item. Use Sort Agenda Items to drag items into order, then Done Sorting.

6. Upload the materials

Drop files into the Documents area on the meeting page, or attach them directly to agenda items as above. Documents uploaded here belong to this meeting; documents that live in the library (policies, prior minutes) can be attached to an agenda item without re-uploading.

7. Watch the readiness panel

While the meeting is still in Draft, the panel at the top of the meeting page tracks four things: Invitations, Agenda Items, Documents, and Quorum. When all four look right, you are ready for the next walkthrough. Use Preview as attendee at any time to see the meeting exactly as a director will.

Once you send the date hold, this panel is replaced by RSVP tracking — Confirmed, Pending, and Declined — because from that point the open question is who is coming, not what is missing.

If the date or time changes

Edit the meeting with Change the meeting. Because attendees already have a calendar entry, a banner appears: The calendar details have changed. Click Send Calendar Update to push the new details to their calendars. Their entries update automatically and they are not asked to RSVP again.

Next

3. Publish the Materials: release the agenda and documents, and track who has read them.

Related reference: Managing Meetings, Tracking Meeting RSVPs, Meeting-Only Access, Video Conferencing.