Not all Short emails are Inane

"Thanks"
"You're welcome. And thank you"
"No, no. It was nothing"

Inane emails. None of those should have been written, let alone sent. (Ok, so the initial, 'Thanks', maybe).

But not all short emails are inane. Here's one that I wish I received more often:

"Yep. I can make it. Locked into my calendar."

If I'm trying to coordinate a meeting with multiple parties by email, those are the emails I want back. Even if one person has said, "Nah, I can't make that time. Sorry! How about... x, y, z (time, place)". Even then, I still want to know if *you* can make my originally proposed time. Two reasons:

• I may not consider that first person essential to the meeting--I obviously care about their coming, or I wouldn't have invited them, but that doesn't make them essential.
• There may be no time in the near future when everyone can gather at once, so I may split the meeting. i.e. meet with persons a, b, c. Then, an hour later, meet with persons d, e, f. (Obviously, for this to be even vaguely sensible depends on the purpose of the meeting).

Make sense? I'd be keen to hear how others manage to efficiently coordinate meetings with vast networks of volunteers.