'Hi! I am Robert, but my friends call me Bob (but I don't answer calls from any of my ex-lovers!). I enjoy long, hot, soapy showers...ripe strawberries dipped in hot melted Godiva chocolate....mmmm.... I bet you are tasty! Let's meet soon and French!'

That should catch your new co-workers' attention (and for certain the HR Department!)

Agree that the calendar thing varies by workplace culture. OP, ask your supervisor for tips on this -- how do they routinely do things? Does it matter if the person is a peer or more senior to you?

And then:

Dear XX,

I'm excited to have newly jointed The Widget Factory as your new Managing Editor of Widgets. As part of my onboarding, Sue suggested I reach out to you to find some time to learn more about your department. I'd love to learn more about what the Widget Polishing Team does at the Widget Factory.

(At my org, we do this the other way around -- you get a note saying you'll have a meeting to onboard the new widget editor, please reach out to her in Week 3 of her training schedule to introduce her to your work. I like it -- takes the onus of the newbie to try to figure out the org culture.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp sending a calendar invite is annoying & presumptuous. You must be Gen X

Interesting. At my large workplace, emailing first to request a meeting is considered annoying and a waste of the readers' time. The person will respond, "my calendar is up to date".

Not surprisingly, this varies by office. In my company, getting a calendar invite out of the blue is rude. OP can ask someone about this company's culture.

Exactly. If I get a calendar invite from someone I don't know, I hit delete or don't accept it.

That inefficient. In most calendar programs, the sender can include basically an email message indicating why they want to meet. Why make people send both a schedule request email and then a separate calendar invite?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Subject Line: Request informational meeting with you re: (fill in the blank)

Body of email:

Hello Ms. or Mr. X,

I am writing to request a 15 minute with you regarding (fill in the blank). Would Feb. ___ at __ or Feb. __ at __ work for you? If not, please suggest an alternate date/time that is convenient for you.

Thanks very much, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Very uptight and formal. You really call people at work Ms. Jensen and Mr. Buttons? Not Janice and Scott?

I like this but loosen it up. I'm happy to be in this role, looking forward to working withyou, want to meet as i am interested in collboating in the future.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp sending a calendar invite is annoying & presumptuous. You must be Gen X

Interesting. At my large workplace, emailing first to request a meeting is considered annoying and a waste of the readers' time. The person will respond, "my calendar is up to date".

Not surprisingly, this varies by office. In my company, getting a calendar invite out of the blue is rude. OP can ask someone about this company's culture.

Exactly. If I get a calendar invite from someone I don't know, I hit delete or don't accept it.