Techniques for managing conference schedules using groups

A method and apparatus for scheduling a conference among multiple persons includes receiving group data that indicates persons in a first group. Availability data is received from a shared database that includes information about availability for a conference of a population of persons that includes the persons from the first group. Quorum data is received that indicates that a quorum for a particular conference includes any one or more persons in the first group and less than all persons in the first group; thus the first group is a called a "representative group." A proposed time interval that satisfies the quorum based on the group data, the availability data, and the quorum data is determined for the particular conference.