I still had Gmail invitations, so I sent one to a friend I worked with through Praxis.
That was how you got an account. Gmail was not open signup yet. Somebody already inside had to invite you.
Google sent the automated note and registration link. I did not add a personal message to this one. A month earlier I had been more direct with another friend: get Gmail, use the space, stop working out of the old mailbox.
My own account was about a month old. It already held a Denver flight, hardware returns, SimAuthor mail tests, and normal personal messages. I was moving between a personal Gmail address, the Praxis domain, and my work account all day. Having one searchable place with enough room to keep the old threads was useful immediately.
The invitation went to an EarthLink address. I do not know from this message whether he accepted it. Praxis did not suddenly move all of its mail to Gmail either. We kept using several addresses.
I had an invite. He needed an account. Sent.
The invitation is also a clean line between the accounts I was using. Gmail was personal. SimAuthor was work. Praxis still had its own domain. Messages and attachments crossed all three depending on who I was talking to and which system I was testing.
The message does not say whether my friend accepted the invitation or which address he used next. The automated notice shows that I spent one of the limited invites on a regular collaborator. It does not show a company-wide move or even a completed signup.
At the time, none of that needed a project plan. Send the link and let him make the account.