Patent Publication Number: US-2009222747-A1

Title: Designation of delegate for modifying an electronic meeting definition defined using electronic calendaring software

Description:
FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY 
     The present disclosure pertains to electronic calendaring software, and more particularly to the designation of a delegate for modifying an electronic meeting definition defined using electronic calendaring software. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Collaborative software (or “groupware”) applications, i.e. software applications designed to help a, group of people involved in a common task achieve their goals, are ubiquitous in the contemporary business world. Collaborative software typically includes such capabilities as electronic calendaring, project management tools, workflow tools, video or data conferencing, electronic mail (email), and instant messaging for example, with the exact set of capabilities varying from vendor to vendor. Commercially available collaborative software includes, at the time of this writing, Microsoft® Exchange Server, Novell® GroupWise®, and IBM® Lotus Domino®, to name but a few. Each person in the group typically accesses the collaborative software using his or her electronic user account, which may be a network account on a corporate computer network, having a unique username and password for example. 
     Using the electronic calendaring component of a collaborative software application, a meeting organizer (using his or her electronic user account) may schedule a meeting and specify a list of invitees. The act of scheduling the meeting automatically causes an invitation to be sent to each invitee, e.g. via email to each invitee&#39;s user account. When an invitee accepts the invitation, the scheduled meeting appears within the invitee&#39;s calendar in a client software application, which may either be a software application executed on a wired desktop computer (e.g. Microsoft® Outlook® client) or a software application executed on a wireless communication device (e.g. Pocket Outlook™). 
     The organizer may opt to post meeting-related documents to a repository that is accessible only to meeting invitees. 
     After electronically scheduling a meeting, the meeting organizer may later decide that some aspect of the scheduled meeting should be modified. For example, the meeting length may need to be extended or additional meeting-related documents may need to be posted to the repository. By default operation of conventional collaborative software applications, only the organizer of the meeting is permitted to modify the scheduled meeting in this way. If the organizer wishes to delegate the responsibility of making the necessary modification to another user, the organizer could use the collaborative software application to designate a delegate who would then be able to modify the meeting as desired. However, in conventional collaborative software applications this designation would be a universal (“blanket”) designation that would not be limited to just that meeting. As such, modify permissions may inadvertently or undesirably be granted to other meetings. Moreover, delegated privileges may unnecessarily remain in place even after the meeting has concluded, unless the meeting organizer has remembered to revoke them. Finally, delegation capabilities may be limited or unavailable when the electronic calendaring software is accessed by way of a wireless communication device-based client. Therefore, a meeting organizer, having only a wireless communication device, who is desirous of designating a delegate, say, during an ongoing meeting, may be unable to do so. 
     The above-noted disadvantages may impact upon not only the modification electronic meeting definitions defined using the electronic calendaring component of a collaborative software application, but generally upon the modification of electronic meeting definitions scheduled using any electronic calendaring software that permits meetings to be scheduled with other users. 
     A solution which mitigates or obviates one or more of the above-noted disadvantages would be desirable. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       In the figures which illustrate at an exemplary embodiment: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system permitting designation of a delegate for modifying an electronic meeting definition defined using electronic calendaring software; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a data record stored within the system of  FIG. 1  upon the designation of a delegate; 
         FIG. 3  is a sequence diagram illustrating interaction between various components of the system of  FIG. 1  during system operation; and 
         FIGS. 4-8  illustrate a graphical user interfaces for designation of a delegate that are presented at a wireless communication device of the system of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Briefly, in an exemplary embodiment, a meeting organizer using a wireless communication device invokes an “appoint delegate” command in respect of an electronic meeting definition representing a (possibly recurring) meeting scheduled using electronic calendaring software. The meeting may have been scheduled by the meeting organizer, using his or her electronic user account (e.g. a user account on a corporate computer network), through intercommunication with the server-based electronic calendaring software. The purpose of the command is to designate another electronic user account, such as a meeting invitee&#39;s electronic user account, as a delegate account of the meeting organizer account for modifying that electronic meeting definition, but not necessarily for modifying other electronic meeting definitions. For convenience, this may be referred to simply as “designating a delegate for the meeting organizer” or using other language that does not specifically refer to “electronic user accounts”, “user accounts” or “accounts” (the latter two terms being a common shorthand expressions for “electronic user accounts”). By way of a graphical user interface, the meeting organizer may be prompted for various delegation parameters. The delegation parameters include the identity of a user to act as the delegate, and may further include an enumeration of delegated privileges (optional) and a delegation expiry time (also optional). 
     The command and parameters are sent to a middleware server, which is where wireless communication device-originated commands destined for the server-based electronic calendaring software are conventionally sent before being relayed to, and implemented by, the electronic calendaring software. The latter software may be a component of a collaborative software application. 
     However, because conventional electronic calendaring software does not support meeting-specific or time-limited delegation, this particular command cannot simply be relayed to the electronic calendaring software for implementation. Rather, special processing is performed at the middleware server in order to configure it to communicate any future commands that originate from the delegate&#39;s account as though they originate from the meeting organizer&#39;s account (or another user account with like privileges), in order to “fool” the electronic calendaring software into accepting and performing the commands. This is despite the fact that the delegate who originated the command is neither the meeting organizer nor a “universal delegate” of the meeting organizer capable of modifying all meetings scheduled by that organizer. 
     In particular, the middleware server creates a rule specifying that the delegate account shall be authorized to modify the identified electronic meeting definition with the enumerated privileges (if enumerated) until the specified time of expiry of the delegation (if any). At the time of the designation, the middleware server may seek confirmation from the prospective delegate that he/she accepts the designation or may at least send a notification message to the delegate&#39;s account to inform the delegate of the designation. 
     Thereafter, each time a command to modify an electronic meeting definition is received from a user account that is not the meeting organizer account (i.e. from a user who did not create that electronic meeting definition in this example), the middleware server performs a lookup in its rules database to determine whether the user is a delegate for modifying the specified meeting definition and to confirm that the delegation has not expired (if an expiry time was set). Upon determining that the user is in fact a delegate who is authorized to make the requested modification to the meeting definition, the middleware server generates a version of the command understood by the electronic calendaring software that appears to originate from the meeting organizer (or a user having like privileges), and sends the generated command to the electronic calendaring software for implementation. This operation continues until the delegation is revoked or until the delegation expires (if an expiry time has been specified). Because the designation is meeting-specific, a request or command to modify an electronic meeting definition for which no delegate has been designated that originates from anyone other than the organizer will be rejected. 
     In one aspect of the below-described embodiment, there is provided a method of modifying an electronic meeting definition created using electronic calendaring software, the method comprising: receiving a command identifying the electronic meeting definition and a modification to be made thereto, the command originating from a first user account that is distinct from a meeting organizer account used to create the electronic meeting definition; based on the identified electronic meeting definition, determining that the first user account is a delegate account of the meeting organizer account for modifying the identified electronic meeting definition; based on the determining, generating a command for causing the electronic calendaring software to make the modification to the electronic meeting definition, the generating resulting in a generated command, the generated command being made to appear to the electronic calendaring software as having originated from a second user account distinct from the first user account, the second user account having sufficient privileges to make the modification to the electronic meeting definition; and providing the generated command to the electronic calendaring software to make the modification to the electronic meeting definition. 
     In another aspect of the below-described embodiment there is provided a machine-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor of a computing device, causes the computing device to: receive a command identifying the electronic meeting definition and a modification to be made thereto, the command originating from a first user account that is distinct from a meeting organizer account used to create the electronic meeting definition; based on the identified electronic meeting definition, determine that the first user account is a delegate account of the meeting organizer account for modifying the electronic meeting definition identified by the command; based on the determining, generate a command to make the modification to the electronic meeting definition, the generating resulting in generated command, the generated command being made to appear to the electronic calendaring software as having originated from a second user account distinct from the first user account, the second user account having sufficient privileges to make the modification to the electronic meeting definition; and provide the generated command to the electronic calendaring software to make the modification to the electronic meeting definition. 
     In yet another aspect of the below-described embodiment there is provided a method comprising: displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) containing: a first GUI element for selecting an electronic meeting definition created using a meeting organizer account using electronic calendaring software; and a second GUI element for selecting a user account to serve as a delegate account of the meeting organizer account for modifying electronic the meeting definition selected using the first GUI element; and based on a selection made using the first and second GUI elements, causing a data record to be stored for future use in determining whether commands from the user account to modify the electronic meeting definition shall be effected. 
     In yet another aspect of the below-described embodiment there is provided a wireless communication device comprising: a processor; and memory interconnected with the processor storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the device to: display a graphical user interface containing: a first GUI element for selecting an electronic meeting definition created using a meeting organizer account using electronic calendaring software; and a second GUI element for selecting a user account to serve as a delegate account of the meeting organizer account for modifying the electronic meeting definition selected using the first GUI element; and based on a selection made using the first and second GUI elements, cause a data record to be stored for future use in determining whether commands from the user account to modify the electronic meeting definition shall be effected. 
       FIG. 1  schematically illustrates an exemplary system  10  that permits user  12  of electronic calendaring software  14  (which, in the present embodiment, is an electronic calendaring component of a collaborative software application, such as Microsoft® Exchange Server, Novell® GroupWise®, or IBM® Lotus Domino®), who has earlier used the software  14  to schedule a meeting with one or more other users of the software (“meeting invitees”), to designate one of those users as a delegate for the purpose of modifying the electronically scheduled meeting. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the system includes a server  16  which executes the electronic calendaring software  14 , as well as a middleware server  18 , a computer  20 , two wireless communication devices  26  and  28 , and a number of other components as described hereinafter. 
     Server  16  is a conventional server executing conventional electronic calendaring software  14 . The software  14  may be loaded into volatile or non-volatile memory of middleware server  16  from a machine-readable medium  15 , such as an optical disk or magnetic storage medium, prior to its execution. The electronic calendaring software  14  maintains or distinguishes between accounts for different users and permits a meeting organizer  12  to electronically schedule a meeting using his/her account, such that meeting invitations are automatically sent to other users&#39; accounts including the account of user  32 . User accounts are accessed via client software applications executing on client computing devices. In the present embodiment, this includes client software application  24  executing on computer  20  and client software  30  executing on wireless communication device  26  and  28 . 
     The middleware server  18  is a server executing middleware software  19  effecting automatic synchronization of users&#39; collaborative software records (including electronic calendars) between server  16  and wireless communication devices  26  and  28 , according to a “push” content delivery model. Middleware software  19  conventionally has full access (i.e. read/write/delete/create access) to the calendar of all users, including users  12  and  32 , to facilitate its synchronization responsibilities. The synchronization responsibilities of software  19  may involve encrypting and compressing communication traffic with wireless communication devices  26  and  28  in a known manner. The middleware software  19  differs from conventional middleware software, however, in that it is designed to support the modification of electronic meeting definitions by delegate users as outlined above. The software  19  may be loaded into volatile or non-volatile memory of middleware server  18  from a machine-readable medium  21 , such as an optical disk or magnetic storage medium, prior to its execution. Middleware server  18  is capable of intercommunication with server  16  by way of a local area network (LAN)  22 , to which both devices are connected. The middleware server  18  is interconnected to the Internet  34  by way of a conventional firewall. 
     Computer  20  is a conventional computer, such as a Intel® or AMD™ processor-based desktop personal computer or laptop computer having a display such as a liquid crystal display. Computer  20  executes a client software application  24  having electronic calendaring capabilities that, in conjunction with electronic calendar software  14 , permit users to schedule meetings with other users. The client software  24  has been enhanced from a conventional client software application, such as Microsoft® Outlook® or the like, in order to provide delegate designation capabilities, as will be described. The software  24  may be loaded into volatile or non-volatile memory of computer  20  from a machine-readable medium  25 , such as an optical disk or magnetic storage medium, prior to its execution. Computer  20  is used by a first user  12  who will act as a meeting organizer. In the present embodiment the user  12  is named “Paul Manager” has accordingly has an electronic user account with username “pmanager”. Computer  20  intercommunicates with server  16  by way of LAN  22 . 
     Wireless communication devices  26  and  28  are two-way paging devices, each having an input device (a keyboard), an output device (a liquid crystal display), a processor in communication with volatile and non-volatile memory, and various other conventional components. In the illustrated embodiment, the first wireless communication device  26  is assigned to the meeting organizer  12 , while the second wireless communication device  28  is assigned to a second user  32  whom the meeting organizer intends to designate as his delegate. In the present embodiment the second user  32  is named “John Smith” has accordingly has an electronic user account with username “jsmith”. The memory of each of devices  26  and  28  stores client software application  30 , which provides similar capabilities to those of client software application  24 , but is designed for execution at a wireless computing device. The client software application  30  is designed to support a delegate designation capability, as described hereinafter. Both devices  26  and  28  intercommunicate with server  16  by way of middleware server  18 , the public Internet  34 , relay  36  within wide area network (WAN)  38 , and a wireless network  40 . More specifically, the middleware server  18  coordinates intercommunication between client software  30  at the wireless communication devices  26 ,  28  and electronic calendaring software  14  at server  16 , e.g. for the purpose of synchronizing a remote copy of the user&#39;s electronic calendar at the wireless communication device  26 ,  28  with a centrally maintained electronic calendar at server  16 . 
     Wide area network  38  hosts a relay  36  whose purpose is essentially to buffer electronic calendaring synchronization commands destined for wireless communication devices  26  and/or  28  while those devices are inaccessible (e.g. powered down or out of communication range of wireless network  40 ) and to forward the commands to the devices  26  and/or  28  once they have become accessible. Relay  36  may maintain information regarding a current network  40  with which the devices  26 ,  28  are communicating. WAN  38  is interconnected to the Internet  34  by way of a conventional firewall. 
     Wireless network  40  supports data communication between the relay  36  and the wireless communication devices  26  and  28 . The network  40  may employ the Mobitex™, DataTAC™ or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile data communication technologies. In some embodiments, the network  40  may also support voice communication. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a data record  202  stored within a table  200  of a rules database at middleware server  18  is illustrated. The record  200  has a meeting identifier field A, an organizer identifier field B, a delegate identifier field C, an expiry field D and a privileges field E. The record  200  is created upon the designation of user  32  as a delegate of meeting organizer  12 . It is intended for use by the middleware server  18  for determining whether commands to modify an electronic meeting definition received from users other than the meeting organizer should be effected. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a sequence diagram  300  illustrates the operation of the present embodiment in two phases: designation of a user as a delegate of a meeting organizer (phase I) and modification by the delegate of an electronic meeting definition previously defined by the meeting organizer (phase II). In particular, the illustrated sequence diagram  300  shows intercommunication between four components of system  10 : electronic calendaring software  14 , middleware server  18 , wireless communication device  26  and wireless communication device  28 , during system operation. 
     In phase I, the meeting organizer  12  initially interacts with the collaborative client software  30  at the wireless communication device  26  to schedule a meeting using the meeting organizer&#39;s electronic user account (the “meeting organizer account”). Using a graphical user interface  400  of software  30  that looks like an address book page (see  FIG. 4 ), the meeting organizer may perform such conventional steps as selecting a time for the meeting, identifying a list of meeting invitees, and providing a textual label (e.g. “Weekly Status Meeting”) for the meeting. The interaction causes a “create meeting” command  302  ( FIG. 3 ) with the above-noted information to be sent from the device  26  to the middleware server  18 , so as to cause an electronic meeting definition reflective of the scheduled meeting to be created within electronic calendaring software  14 . The nature of the electronic meeting definition is specific to the electronic calendaring software  14 , and may for example comprise a data structure, data record or instance of an object-oriented class. The command  302  is communicated to server  16  by way of wireless network  40 , WAN  38 , relay  36  and Internet  34 , in a conventional manner. In some embodiments, the command  302  may conform to the proprietary Compressed iCalendar (CICAL) protocol that is conventionally used for calendar synchronization between certain types of wireless communication devices and middleware server  18 . 
     Upon receiving the command  302 , the middleware server  18  generates an equivalent command  304  in a proprietary format understood by electronic calendaring software  14  (i.e. “translates” the command  302  from a format understood by middleware server into a format that is understood by electronic calendaring software  14 ) and sends it to the server  16  for execution by electronic calendaring software  14 . To connote the semantic equivalence of commands  302  and  304  (and other commands of  FIG. 3 ), a convention is adopted in  FIG. 3  whereby the arrows used to represent the sending of semantically equivalent commands are horizontally aligned head to tail within sequence diagram  300 . Receipt of the command  304  causes the electronic calendaring software  14  to create an electronic meeting definition representative of the meeting. 
     Although not shown in  FIG. 3 , meeting organizer  12  could have alternatively scheduled the meeting using client software application  24  executing at computer  20 , rather than client software  30  executing at wireless communication device  26 . In this case, the “create meeting” command would have been sent from computer  20  to server  16 , and commands  302  and  304  would not have been sent. 
     When scheduling the meeting, the meeting organizer  12  specifies a list of meeting invitees including user  32  ( FIG. 1 ) by way of their account usernames. As a result, the act of scheduling the meeting automatically causes an invitation to be sent to each invitee, including user  32 . By virtue of the fact that user  32  has a wireless communication device  28  executing client software  30 , the invitation is pushed to the device  28  (by way of middleware server  18 , Internet  34 , relay  36  within WAN  38 , and wireless network  40 ) through conventional calendar synchronization techniques. This is illustrated in  FIG. 3  as a first communication  306  from server  16  to middleware server  18  and a second communication  308  from middleware server  18  to the device  28 . Like commands  302  and  304 , communications  306  and  308  are aligned within sequence diagram  300  to connote their semantic equivalence. It will be appreciated that communication  306  may actually represent active monitoring of electronic calendaring software  14  by middleware server  18 . 
     Assuming that the user  32  accepts the meeting invitation through conventional interaction with client software  30  at device  28 , a communication  310  reflective of this acceptance is sent from device  28  to the middleware server  18 , and is relayed by server  18  as communication  312  to the electronic calendaring software  14 , again through conventional techniques. When the user  32  has accepted the invitation, the scheduled meeting appears as an appointment  402  within the GUI  400  ( FIG. 4 ) at the device  28  of the user  32 . The scheduled meeting also appears as an appointment within the GUI  400  at the device  26  of the meeting organizer  30 , but this is not contingent upon acceptance of the invitation by user  32 . If the meeting is a recurring meeting, an icon  404  ( FIG. 4 ) is displayed within GUI  400  at both devices  26  and  28  to indicate this fact. 
     At this stage, the meeting organizer  12 , using features of client software  30  which distinguish it from conventional versions of such software, interacts with GUI  400  at wireless communication device  26  for the purpose of appointing a delegate for modifying the electronic meeting definition associated with the newly scheduled meeting ( 320 ,  FIG. 3 ). Specifically, referring to  FIG. 5 , the meeting organizer  12  highlights the appointment  402  as shown at  410  and selects appropriate controls (e.g. depresses a thumb-wheel) at the wireless communication device  26  to cause a menu  412  to be displayed. The menu  412  includes a number of menu items representing user-selectable actions. Some of the actions are meeting-specific, i.e. pertain to the currently highlighted appointment (e.g. Open, Delete, Appoint Delegate) while other actions are not specific to the currently selected appointment (e.g. Help, Today, Go to Date). All menu items but the Appoint Delegate menu item  420  are conventional. 
     The meeting organizer selects Appoint Delegate menu item  420 . When this is done, an Appoint Delegate GUI  500  of  FIG. 6  is displayed. The GUI  500  prompts the meeting organizer for various delegation parameters including the identity of the user to act as a delegate, the delegated privileges and the expiry time of the delegation (if any). More specifically GUI  500  includes a meeting identifier field  502 , a delegate identifier field  504 , a delegation expiry time field  506  and a privileges field  508 . These fields are initially populated with the default values shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     Meeting identifier field  502  identifies the electronic meeting definition within electronic calendaring software  14  in respect of which a delegate is to be appointed. By virtue the meeting organizer&#39;s earlier selection of appointment  402  in the GUI  400  of  FIG. 5  prior to the selection of the “Appoint Delegate” menu item  420 , the relevant meeting definition is known to be the one associated with appointment  402 . Accordingly, the textual label of the associated electronic meeting definition, i.e. “Weekly Status Meeting”, appears within field  502 . If desired, the user may change the value in field  502  to indicate another electronic meeting definition. This may involve selecting a meeting from a list of previously scheduled meetings. In some embodiments, it may be possible to invoke the Appoint Delegate GUI  500  without having first selected an appointment (i.e. meeting) using GUI  400 . In such embodiments, the value of field  502  may initially be blank. 
     Delegate identifier field  504  identifies the user to be appointed as a delegate for modifying the electronic meeting definition identified by meeting identifier field  502 . In the present embodiment, the delegate identifier field  504  is initially blank. However, in some embodiments field  504  may initially be populated with a default value identifying, e.g., the username of the first meeting invitee or of a pre-designated default delegate user. 
     Privileges field  506  specifies the exact privileges to be granted to the delegate for modifying the meeting definition. By default, read/write/delete/create privileges are granted. This permits the delegate to change one or more of the start time of the meeting, the end time of the meeting, the duration of the meeting and documents posted in conjunction with the meeting, as well as to delete the meeting outright or create a new meeting. 
     Delegation expiry time field  508  specifies an expiry time for the delegation after which the user is to cease being a delegate for modifying the electronic meeting definition in question. Completion of this field is optional. If left blank, the delegate designation remains effective until it is revoked by the meeting organizer. 
     The setting of delegation parameters is illustrated in  FIG. 7 . As illustrated, the only two fields whose values are changed from their default values are delegate field  504  and delegation expiry time field  508 . In field  504 , the username “jsmith” is specified. The value of field  508  is set by selecting that field and activating a control to cause menu  510  to be displayed. The menu  510  lists three menu items (options). Selection of the first menu item, “None”, indicates that the delegation is to persist until it is revoked by the meeting organizer. Selection of the second menu item, “End of meeting”, indicates that the delegation shall expire at the scheduled end time of the meeting (which, in the example, is 3:00 PM, May 2, 2007—see  FIG. 4 ). Selection of the third menu item, “Set Date/Time of Expiry”, permits specification of a date and time at which the delegation shall expire. In the present example, it is assumed that the third option is selected, as shown in  FIG. 7 , and that an expiry time of Dec. 31, 2007, 11:59 PM is specified. The resultant values of the delegation parameters are as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     Upon confirmation by the meeting organizer  12  of the desired set of delegation parameters, as shown in  FIG. 8  (which confirmation may be performed by selecting an “OK” button or similar GUI element), the wireless communication device  26  sends an “appoint delegate” command  322  ( FIG. 3 ), along with these delegation parameters, to the middleware server  18 . The command may have the following structure: “ACCOUNT pmanager GRANTS RWDC ACCESS FOR MEETING WITH ID=3201031 to ACCOUNT jsmith UNTIL 20071231 23:59”. 
     Receipt of this command  322  at middleware server  18  causes middleware server  18  to send a communication  324  to the wireless communication device  28  for seeking confirmation from the prospective delegate  32  as to whether the designation is accepted. Assuming that the user  32  accepts the designation at  326 , confirmation  330  of the acceptance is communicated to the middleware server  18 . Receipt of confirmation  330  triggers special processing  332  ( FIG. 3 ) at middleware server  18  for configuring the server  18  to communicate any future commands originating from delegate  32  as though they originate from the meeting organizer  12 . This special processing  332  constitutes creating of a data record  202  ( FIG. 2 ), described above, within table  200  of the rules database at middleware server  18 . This concludes phase I of the system operation shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     It is noted that, in some embodiments, the middleware server  18  may not seek confirmation of the designation, but may instead simply send a notification message to the wireless communication device  28  of the delegate  32  simply to inform him/her of the designation. 
     In phase II, the delegate  32  enters a command to modify the electronic meeting definition using software  30  at wireless communication device  28 . Command entry may involve using GUI  400  ( FIG. 4 ) to select the appointment  402  and then causing a menu similar to the menu  412 , but without the “Appoint Delegate” option (which is reserved for the meeting organizer  12  in the present embodiment), to be displayed. To modify the electronic meeting definition, the delegate  32  selects the “Open” menu option within menu  412 . This causes a GUI page to be displayed with appointment details, such as start time, end time, invitees, recurrence, a list of posted documents, and so forth. By virtue of his/her appointment as delegate, user  32  is able to make changes to the electronic meeting definition using this GUI page in the same fashion as the meeting organizer  12  could do using software  30  at his/her wireless communication device  26 . Specifically, the delegate  32  can make one or more modifications to the electronic meeting definition including: changing the meeting start time, meeting end time or meeting duration; adding to, removing from or changing a set of documents posted in conjunction with the electronic meeting definition; adding to, removing from or changing a list of meeting invitees; deleting the electronic meeting definition; causing a unique meeting to become a recurring meeting (or vice-versa); creating a new electronic meeting definition; adding/deleting new attachments; adding/modifying hyperlinks in the body (notes modifications); modifying reminder times; modifying free/busy status; changing importance (e.g. low/medium/high); and changing attendee status (required, tentative, etc.) 
     Once the modification(s) has (have) been fully entered, a “modify meeting” command  340  ( FIG. 3 ) indicating the identity of the delegate  32  (jsmith), the identity of the electronic meeting definition to be modified (3201031), and the modification(s) to be made is sent from the device  28  to the middleware server  18 . Upon receiving command  340  from the account of user jsmith, the middleware server  18  performs a lookup in its rules database to determine whether the indicated user jsmith is a delegate (delegate account) for making the specified modifications the specified electronic meeting definition  3201031  and to confirm that the delegation has not expired ( 342 ,  FIG. 3 ). When this determination is made in the positive, the middleware server  18  generates a version  344  of command  340  that is understood by the electronic calendaring software  14  and which appears to originate from the account of meeting organizer  12 , as indicated by the dotted arrow  335  of  FIG. 3 . The identity of the meeting organizer  12  (“pmanager”) from whom the command  344  is made to ostensibly originate may be taken from field B of record  202  ( FIG. 2 ). The command  344  is sent to the electronic calendaring software  14  at server  16 , which accepts and performs the command ( 346 ) as if it originated from the account of meeting organizer  12 . This is possible because the middleware server  18  has full access to the calendar of all users, including user  12 . Because the delegate is authorized to modify electronic meeting definitions on a meeting-specific basis, the security of any other electronic meeting definitions scheduled by the meeting organizer (to which delegate access may not be desired) is enhanced, and inadvertent modification of such other electronic meeting definitions by the delegate may be prevented. Also, to the extent that the delegated authority has an associated expiry time, the possibility of later inadvertent modification of the meeting definition by the delegate is eliminated. As well, when an expiry time has been specified, automatic withdrawal of the delegate&#39;s authority reduces the burden on a meeting organizer by eliminating the need for positive action to be taken to withdraw the delegate&#39;s authority once access to the electronic meeting definition is no longer desirable. Finally, to the extent that the delegation is performed via a wireless communication device, it may be conveniently performed without regard to the presence of a wired computer terminal. 
     Thereafter, conventional notifications  348 ,  350  and  352 ,  354  of the meeting change are sent to the wireless communication devices  26  and  28 , respectively, in the same fashion as they would be sent if the meeting organizer  12  had modified the electronic meeting definition. Phase II of system operation is thus concluded. 
     If the command  340  had arrived from a non-delegate user account or had arrived after the specified delegation expiry time, the command  340  would have been rejected during operation  342  ( FIG. 3 ), and command  344  would not have been generated or sent. Upon delegation expiry, the record  202  ( FIG. 2 ) is removed from the table  200 . 
     It is noted that the meeting-specific delegate appointment by meeting organizer  12  as described above in conjunction with  FIG. 3  could have been performed using the client software  24  at computer  20  rather than client software  30  at wireless communication device  26 . The client software  24  provides a similar user interface to that shown in  FIGS. 5-8  for appointing a delegate. The result of the designation would the same: record  202  would be created in table  200  ( FIG. 2 ). 
     In some embodiments, requests to modify a meeting that are received from a wired computer  20  executing the client software application  24 , even if from the account of a delegate, may be rejected, because the request may bypass the middleware server  18 , which is the component that “fools” the electronic calendaring software  14  into modifying the definitions. This may be the case when it is anticipated that delegates will only modify meetings using their wireless communication devices. However, in other embodiments, a mechanism may be in place to ensure that such requests are honored, even from wired computers. For example, all requests to modify a meeting that are generated by a client software application  24  executing on a wired computer  20  could be “intercepted” by the middleware server  18 , regardless of whether the requests are from the account of a delegate or another user. The interception could be implemented by physically intercepting data destined for electronic calendaring software  14  or through the use of “callbacks” to the middleware server  18  from the from the electronic calendaring software  14  and/or server  16  which are triggered by the receipt of such a request. Such callback mechanisms are well understood in the art, although they are not known to be used in this context. 
     As should now be appreciated, the above-described approach addresses various shortcomings of known systems. In particular, modification privileges are granted to electronic meeting definitions on a meeting-specific basis, which prevents a delegate from inadvertently modifying other electronic meeting definitions (as may occur when a universal delegate is designated). Delegated privileges may be made to expire if desired. As well, both the appointment of a delegation and the delegate&#39;s subsequent modification of the relevant electronic meeting definition may be performed from a wireless communication device-based client. As a result, these tasks may even be performed from a meeting room which lacks conventional networked computers, e.g. during an ongoing meeting. 
     As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, modifications can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the essence of the invention. For example, it is indicated above that the command  344  generated by the middleware server  18  for causing the electronic calendaring software  14  to make the desired modification(s) to the relevant electronic meeting definition is made to appear as having originated from the meeting organizer. This is not absolutely required. In some embodiments, the command could be made to appear as having originated from the account of another user, such as a “super-user” having the necessary privileges to make any desired modification to the relevant electronic meeting definitions. 
     Other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and, therefore, the invention is defined in the claims.