Roadwarrior Calendar Users Please Enlighten Me! (Timezones)

[DongleBerry]

I've searched on the topic and am either confused or in disbelief (likely both)

I travel all the time and rely heavily on BB Calendar (BES/Outlook). I'm still in total denial that I have a "world device" and have to manually update the timezone everytime I touch down. Add injury to insult, the calendar appointments don't update to the new timezone.

Someone please tell me that I'm doing something incorrectly.

I've seen suggestions to set the appointment in the calendar so that it alligns with the timezone for which I will be traveling. My issues here are that I'm not the one sending out the appointment notice (I just accept the meeting) and/or, it's possible that I'll set up an appointment without knowing that I'll be on the road and then end up traveling. E.g, its not feasible or very impractical to do this proactively.

This nonsense about not automatically updating timezones because it will mess up the calendar seems completely absurd. I had a Treo on Good MM for 3 years and the timezone would automatically update when touching down and the calendar would automatically adjust to reflect. Came to BB for rock solid OS--which I got, but doesn't help when the time's all screwed up.

Sorry to vent but as arguably the worlds number 1 business tool, I'm in utter disbelief that everyone traveling deals with this. Please tell me I'm just not getting something.

Thanks In Advance,

[aiharkness]

Wirelessly posted (8700g: BlackBerry8700/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Sounds like you have searched on this and read some of the many, many threads from over the years. I don't think there's anything that anyone can say that you will like. This is the way it is. Either use the feature or do some sort of work around such as discussed here on the forum.

[djm2]

Sorry to vent but as arguably the worlds number 1 business tool, I'm in utter disbelief that everyone traveling deals with this. Please tell me I'm just not getting something.

Thanks In Advance,

My guess is that the thing that you just don't get is the value in booking meetings according to GMT as opposed to local time which, if you use it, will make your phone calls, etc., sync up as expected. The hard part is tolerating that the meeting in London at 10 AM GMT will appear to be at 4:00 in the morning when you book it in Chicago -- only to resolve correctly when you are in your new location.

[tsac]

Unfortunately I also travel a lot but have learned to keep a watch on the time change. The Outlook calendar is time zoned based on the location your assigned. I’m not sure Microsoft has a method of changing it based on Cell location. Would be nice though.

Welcome to the Forums

[x14]

When I travel all I have to do is change the timezone on my BB and all my calendar entries reflects the correct local time.

[tsac]

When I travel all I have to do is change the timezone on my BB and all my calendar entries reflects the correct local time.

Good idea , never thought of that. It may save missing meetings.

thanks x14(y)

[pgab]

I'm with x14. All of my meetings are scheduled to my home timezone. Then, wherever I touchdown, I go into Options-->Date/Time and change the timezone to which ever I am in. All the calendar items will then pop a reminder at the right time; they all adjust relative to the change in the timezone option just changed.

[FF2]

pgab:

Let me see if I understand. Say you are in LA. You will be meeting someone in NYC. When you schedule the appt, say for 2pm, you just set the time of that appt as 2pm. You do not "play" with the dropdown timezone feature in the Calendar.

Then you fly to NYC and merely reset the timezone for the BB and the appt shows up at 2pm? It does not get shifted by the change in the clock time?

Hmmm. That does not appear to be working on my 8830. My appt has been reset to 5pm.

I know there are advocates on both sides of this issue (I've had an HP 200 palmtop). On that I would set the appt for the time the meeting was to occur. It would not be altered or affected by a change in time zone. So all I needed to know was that the meeting at at 2pm. I would not worry about whether it was NYC or Paris or Hong Kong. When I changed my "clock" on the device, the meeting was still at 2pm.

[pgab]

FF2,

My meetings do get shifted by the change in timezone. This shifting of the timezone is to me the convenience of the timezone feature. If I have a meeting at 9:00 Pacific, and then happen to be on Eastern time that day, the calendar "shifts" the meeting to 12:00.

If I know ahead of time that I will be meeting someone in their local timezone (not mine), then I do set the meeting by "playing" with the dropdown in the calendar.