Managing Away Talks

The Away Talk window is displayed when you press the Add or Edit buttons on the Weekend Meeting Editor.

---

If you are creating a new away talk assignment, then all fields will be empty apart from the date and time. When editing an existing assignment, the current details will be displayed for you to change (as in the screenshot above). You must dismiss the window by pressing the OK button in order to save your changes.

To learn more about the features of this window, glance down the table below or highlight the control you are interested in by clicking on the screenshot above.

Congregation

Use the drop-down list to select the congregation that the talk is being given in.

Is the congregation you want to select not in the list? Then you must add it using the Congregations Database manager. This means that you need to temporarily close this window.

Confirmed Status

Uncheck this option if you have not yet confirmed the away talk assignment.

Unconfirmed assignments can be highlighted in a separate text colour on some of the reports that can be generated. Set this option once you have confirmed the assignment details.

To set the default Confirmed Status for new schedules, go to the Database Options window.

Speaker

Use the drop-down list to select the brother who will be giving this public talk. Is the brother you want to select not displayed in the list? In this case you must add him to the Congregations Database. Use the Manage menu button to add, edit or delete speakers as required.

Brothers who are appointed as Ministerial Servants will be shown in your chosen colour (see Options).

Manage

This menu is displayed when you click the Manage button:

Here is a brief review of the available actions:

• Add: add a new public talk speaker to the congregations database
• Edit: edit an existing public talk speaker in the congregations database
• Delete: delete an existing public talk speaker from the congregations database
• Change Congregation: move the selected speaker from one congregation to another in the database

Use these shortcuts to avoid navigating the Congregations Database menu.

Exchange Notes

Shows a popup window for you to type in a note about this talk exchange. Some examples:

• Email reminder sent (20/03/2024)
• Confirmed with [Talk Coordinator] (10/07/23)
• Request sent (26/04/24)

Meeting Date and Time

The Meeting Date is determined automatically from the Congregation Database. This is also true for the Meeting Time. The time will be adjusted automatically to take into account any Time Changes that you have set up.

Override time

There are a few circumstances (for example, the visit of the Circuit Overseer) that may require a change in meeting time. Use this option to cater for this.

Talk Number and Theme

Use the drop-down list to select the assigned talk number. The theme gets displayed automatically.

Is the public talk outline number you want to use not in the list? Use the Submit Update feature on the Public Talks database manager window to let us know.

Add to list of assigned talks

Click on the hamburger symbol to display this context menu.

If the talk number is not yet included in the speakers’ list of assigned talks, the menu item Add to list of assigned talks will be available. You will be asked to confirm whether you want to add the talk number to the selected speaker. If you answer Yes, it will automatically add this talk number to their list of talks. This saves you from having to go through the Congregations Database menu navigation to do it.