Guides to getting a group in one place
Six how-tos for the dull part of seeing people, from settling on a date to agreeing the money. Each one works without Vennado, and each ends by saying what Vennado would have done for you.
- Find a date everyone is freeGroup chat, polls, shared calendars and overlays compared.
- Calendar linksWhere the .ics address is in Google, iCloud and Outlook, and how to keep it safe.
- Share free and busy onlyWhat Google, Apple and Outlook let other people see, and how to limit it to busy and free.
- Group trips on a budgetAgree the money first, then book in the right order.
- Rota to calendarTyping, importing, repeating events and rota reading, with the pitfalls of each.
- Planning around night shiftsWhy free on paper is not free, and which day after nights you can really use.
They sit alongside who Vennado is for, which has a page each for friend groups, families and people on shifts. Once you have a date, ideas with guide prices shows what a free day and a budget a head will cover, and how Vennado works is the walkthrough of the planner.
Questions people ask
Do I need to use Vennado to follow these guides?
No. Each guide gives the manual method properly: the steps in Google Calendar, iCloud or Outlook, the spreadsheet layout, the order to book things in. Where Vennado does part of the job for you, the guide says so near the end, along with what Vennado does not do.
Are the calendar steps up to date?
Each guide was checked against Google's, Apple's and Microsoft's own help pages on 10 October 2026, and links to the page it was checked against. Menus change. If a step does not match your screen, follow the linked help page, which is the company's own and will be more current than ours.
Which guide should I start with?
If nobody can agree a date, start with finding a date everyone is free. If the planner has asked you for a calendar link and you do not know what that is, go straight to calendar links for Google, Apple and Outlook. If your time is on a rota, start with turning a rota into a calendar.
Or skip the manual method
Start a plan, add your calendar or rota, and send one link to the group. Vennado finds the days you are all free.
Start a plan