# What is a Roundtable A **Roundtable** is a meeting poll. Instead of sending one person a booking link and letting them pick a time, you propose a handful of candidate times to a *group*, let everyone mark which ones work, and then book the time that suits the most people. It's the tool for "let's find a time that works for all of us" — and it works even with people who don't use 42min and never sign in. You manage roundtables from the [**Roundtables**](/360/roundtables) page (under *Dashboard* in the sidebar, next to Event Types). ## What it is Every roundtable is built on one of your existing [event types](/help/event-types/overview). The event type decides the meeting's **duration**, **location** (Google Meet, Teams, phone, in person…), and which reminders and workflows run once the meeting is booked — you don't redefine any of that. The roundtable just adds the "which time?" question on top. The flow has three parts: 1. **You propose times.** Pick candidate slots from your real availability — as few as one, up to 128. 2. **People vote.** Each person opens a link and marks the times that work for them (**Yes**, optionally **Maybe**). There's no "No" — leaving a time unmarked simply means it doesn't work. 3. **You book one.** When the responses are in, you book the winning time with one click. 42min creates the meeting on your calendar and emails everyone — exactly as if it had been booked through the event type's normal booking page. While a roundtable is collecting votes, 42min places a tentative **"42min Round Table Hold"** event on your calendar for each candidate time, so those slots don't get booked out from under you. The holds are removed automatically when you book a time (all but the winner) or cancel. ## When to use it - **A team meeting across several calendars** — find the slot that clears everyone's schedule without a dozen back-and-forth emails. - **An external group** — clients, candidates, or partners who don't use 42min. They vote with just a link; no account needed. - **A recurring sync's first session** — poll the group once to lock in a time. - **An interview panel or a workshop** — gather availability from several people, then commit to the time most can make. If you only ever meet **one** person at a time and just need them to pick a slot, you don't need a roundtable — a normal [booking page](/help/booking-pages/your-booking-page) is simpler. ## Who can vote: two access modes You choose this when you set the roundtable up: - **Anyone with the link** — 42min mints one shareable link. Anyone who opens it adds their name and email and votes. Best for larger or open groups. - **Specific people** — you add invitees by email and 42min sends each of them a personal voting link. Best when you have a fixed list and want to track who has and hasn't responded. Only this mode supports **required** invitees and **reminders**. The access mode is locked once you publish, because switching it would invalidate the links already in people's inboxes. ## What voters can see - **Open** voting — voters see a running count of how many people picked each time. - **Blind** voting — voters only ever see their own choices; the tally is yours alone. Either way, **you** always see the full grid of who voted for what on the [Results](/help/roundtables/results-and-booking) tab. ## The lifecycle A roundtable moves through a few states, shown as a badge on its card and detail page: - **Draft** — you're still building it. Nothing has been sent; nobody can vote. You can edit everything and delete it freely. - **Open** — published and collecting votes. The shareable link / invites are live and calendar holds are in place. You can still add or remove candidate times and invitees. - **Booked** — you (or auto-book) confirmed a time. A real meeting now exists and everyone has been notified. - **Expired** — the voting deadline passed without a time being booked. Voting is closed, holds are cleared, but you can still go in and book a time. - **Canceled** — you called it off. Voting is closed and the calendar holds are removed. New to roundtables? The fastest way to learn is to make one in **Draft** and explore — nothing is sent and nobody is notified until you publish. Read [Creating a Roundtable](/help/roundtables/creating-a-roundtable) next.