Scheduling a family gathering

It is that the answers are scattered. Two came by text, three in the family chat, one on the phone to your mother who is now relaying it, and none of them are written down anywhere you can look at together.

One link fixes the scattering. Whatever channel you send it through, the answers land in the same grid.

• Go long. For anything involving travel, three months ahead is not early.
• Offer whole weekends rather than single days when people are driving.
• Send it in every channel you have. It is the same link, and answering twice does no harm.
• Say who is asking in the title. "Christmas at ours - which weekend?" gets answered; "date poll" does not.
• Do not require an email address. It is optional, and for the relatives who guard theirs, that is the difference between an answer and a shrug.

Every date poll has a short code that can be read out over the phone and typed into the front page. It is six characters, with no letters that can be confused for numbers, so it survives being written on the back of an envelope.

Is there an app to install?

No. It is a web page and it works in any browser, on any phone, including old ones.

Can I answer for someone who is not online?

Yes. Open the link and answer under their name. Nothing stops you entering more than one person's answers.

Do people have to give an email address?

Only if you switch that on. By default it is asked for, but you can turn the requirement off, and it is never shown to anyone else on the date poll.

Get everyone on a date → Free, and nobody needs an account.

• Camping trip scheduling
• Ski trip scheduling
• Reunion date poll
• Baby shower scheduling
• Birthday party date poll
• Christmas party scheduling
• Dinner party scheduling
• Game night scheduling

• Find a date everyone can make Stop guessing which evening works. Propose a handful of dates, share one link, and let everyone mark when they can. Free, no account, answers in minutes.
• Group scheduling poll Create a scheduling poll for a group in about a minute. Propose dates, share one link, and see at a glance which date the most people can make.
• Scheduling a team dinner Organising the team dinner? Propose a few evenings, send one link, and see who can make which. Free, no account, and the calendar invitation sends itself.

• How to get people to actually answer your date poll Most people who do not answer a scheduling poll are not refusing - they hit friction. Here is where the drop-off happens and what removes it.