System and method for group choice making

A method for making choices among a group of participants, comprising:

• generating an electronic form having a plurality of network addresses associated with the participants, and specifying one or more choices to be selected;
• receiving the electronic form at a server,
• sending an electronic message to at least one of the participants from the server and associated with the electronic form;
• in response to an open action by the at least one participant, sending to the at least one participant, from an electronic medium associated with the electronic form and the electronic message and having dynamic content regions in response to the open action stored in the server and including all updates thereto, the electronic medium being stored in the server, the then current dynamic content representative of the selected choices;
• receiving one of input from any of the participants and a selection of one of the choices by any of the participants;
• and
• asynchronously dynamically updating and dynamically retrieving the selected choices from the server based on the one of input from any of the participants and a selection of one of the choices by any of the participants.

A method for scheduling an event among a group of participants, comprising:

• generating an electronic form having a plurality of network addresses associated with the participants, and specifying one or more schedule choices to be selected;
• receiving the electronic form at a server,
• sending an electronic message to at least one of the participants from the server and associated with the electronic form;
• in response to an open action by the at least one participant, sending to the at least one participant, from an electronic medium associated with the electronic form and the electronic message and having dynamic content regions in response to the open action stored in the server and including all updates thereto, the electronic medium being stored in the server, the then current dynamic content representative of the schedule choices selected by any of the participants;
• receiving one of input from any of the participants and a selection of one of the choices by any of the participants;
• and
• asynchronously dynamically updating and dynamically retrieving the selected schedule choices from the server based on the one of input from any of the participants and a selection of one of the schedule choices by any of the participants.

A method for polling among a group of participants, comprising:

• generating an electronic form having a plurality of network addresses associated with the participants, and specifying one or more poll choices to be selected;
• receiving the electronic form at a server,
• sending an electronic message to at least one of the participants from the server and associated with the electronic form;
• in response to an open action by the at least one participant, sending to the at least one participant, from an electronic medium associated with the electronic form and the electronic message and having dynamic content regions in response to the open action stored in the server and including all updates thereto, the electronic medium being stored in the server, the then current dynamic content representative of the poll choices selected by any of the participants;
• receiving one of input from any of the participants and a selection of one of the choices by any of the participants;
• and
• asynchronously dynamically updating and dynamically retrieving the selected schedule choices from the server based on the one of input from any of the participants and a selection of one of the poll choices by any of the participants.

A method for inviting a group of participants to an event, comprising:

• generating an electronic form having a plurality of network addresses associated with the participants invited to the event, and specifying one or more invitation choices to be selected;
• receiving the electronic form at a server,
• sending an electronic message to at least one of the participants from the server and associated with the electronic form;
• in response to an open action by the at least one participant, sending to the at least one participant, from an electronic medium associated with the electronic form and the electronic message and having dynamic content regions in response to the open action stored in the server and including all updates thereto, the electronic medium being stored in the server, the then current dynamic content representative of the invitation choices selected by any of the invited participants;
• receiving one of input from any of the participants and a selection of one of the choices by any of the participants;
• and
• asynchronously dynamically updating and dynamically retrieving the selected invitation choices from the server based on the one of input from any of the invited participants and a selection of one of the invitation choices by any of the invited participants.

An apparatus for facilitating choice making by participants, comprising:

• a data store comprising one or more stored electronic media, each electronic medium associated with an electronic message, each electronic medium having one or more dynamic content elements associated therewith and stored in the data store, each electronic medium comprising one or more choices for selection;
• a processor that is communicatively coupled to the data store;
• and
• a memory that is communicatively coupled to the data store and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of:
• generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants;
• asynchronously receiving, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more selections of choices in the first electronic message;
• dynamically updating one of the dynamic content elements of an electronic medium that is stored in the data store and associated with the first electronic message based on the one or more selections;
• receiving information specifying a first open action from any other participant among the selected participants;
• providing the dynamic content elements from the electronic medium, including all then current updates, to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message.

A computer-readable medium comprising one or more sequences of instructions for facilitating choice making by participants, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

• creating and storing one or more electronic media, each electronic medium having one or more dynamic content elements associated therewith and stored in the data store, each electronic medium comprising one or more choices for selection;
• generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants;
• asynchronously receiving, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more selections of choices in the first electronic message;
• dynamically updating one of the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium based on the one or more selections;
• receiving information specifying a first open action from a first participant among the selected participants;
• providing the dynamic content elements, including all then current updates, to the first participant for display in association with the first electronic message.