A recent update to Gmail and Google Calendars makes scheduling events even easier. From now on, if someone sends you an email with event details (time and/or date) you can easily add it to your Calendar.

The text appears with a faint dotted-line beneath that opens an event creation window when clicked. You can view your upcoming events to make sure nothing conflicts and change the event title, date and time.

The original email is also linked to the event so you can always check back for more details. I’ve found this particularly useful for users who aren’t familiar with how to send an event invitation, or interacting with people with other email systems (not Gmail / Google Apps).