Accommodation Requests
Now that the Food Drops have been defined, and the Labels created and the Pre & Post Walk Itinerary completed, the Accommodation Requests can be emailed out.
Itinerary Version | 8 |
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Itineray Date | 2021-03-01 |
The Accommodation Requests have three steps:
- Compile the dataset
- Create the Request document
- Merge the dataset with the document
- Email the Merged Text
1. Compile the Dataset
Compiling a dataset is simply constructing a sheet that either links to a column or looks up the Location value and inserting the appropriate value. Some of the Merge Columns are manually added, simply because they don't exist anywhere else in the Spreadsheet, or it's not calculable.
2. Create the Request Document
Me being me, I wanted the document to merge correctly without manual edits, so this involved a lot of logic in the document to achieve an acceptable result.
The aim of the document is to convey the dates and times we'll arriving and the purpose of the visit, something like 'to drop off a fully sealed Food Drop', 'overnight stay' or 'pick up a small package of non-perishables, if required', etc. Each row had four possible visits: Pre-Hike, Hike, Post-Hike and Drive-Home (which helps explain all that logic code in the document).
I also used my funky Return from Egypt logo, which I am really enjoying.
3. Merge the Dataset with the Document
I did the take the liberty of scrolling though all the records to ensure that all the logic is working correctly. Then use the 'Merge to a new document' function… and save it somewhere.
4. Email the Merged Text
The Spreadsheet has on the 'Permits' Worksheet an email address as part of the data that's stored, so it was simply a matter of clicking the appropriate link, which will open a new Email in ThunderBird, and just Select All and copy the text from the document into the Email body.
Click 'Send'…
All done…
Have a well-earned rest, and wait for the replies.
Oh, I should mention that all the various actions are managed in ToDoList, which effectively remindes me when things are due (as well as many other things).
Next TaskPre-Hike / Post-Hike Adjustments
where we'll process the responses to the requests and adjust the Itinerary if required.
Our Resources
The Friends of The Heysen Trail have a huge amount of resources available, which we have obviously availed ourselves of quite liberally. I'll be updating this as required…
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