Potluck signup
List what you need. Send one link. Everyone claims a dish and says what they're actually bringing — so you find out about the seventh dessert now, rather than when it arrives.
Why a list beats a group chat
In a chat, "I'll bring something sweet" scrolls away in four minutes and nobody can see what's already covered. Six people independently decide dessert is the safe choice, because from where each of them is sitting, it is. The fix isn't nagging — it's making the gaps visible at the moment someone is deciding.
Claims are one line each: the slot, and what they're bringing. "Dessert — Sam is bringing brownies" tells you the thing a bare tick never does.
What to put on the list
- Be specific enough to be useful. "A side" invites another bowl of crisps. "A green salad" gets you a green salad.
- Ask for the unglamorous things. Ice, plates, cutlery, serving spoons, bin bags. Guests claim food happily and forget that forty people need something to eat it off.
- Leave a couple of open slots. People like bringing the thing they're proud of, and a list with no room for it gets ignored.
Potluck FAQ
How do you organise a potluck without a spreadsheet?
List what you need, send one link, and let people claim. No accounts and nothing to install — a claim takes about five seconds on a phone.
How do you stop everyone bringing dessert?
Make what's still needed visible. Six desserts is a coordination failure, not a character flaw.
What should the host bring?
The main, plus ice, drinks and everything people eat with.
The rest of the cookout
Working out how much to buy is the cookout calculator, and counting who wants what off the grill on the day is the cookout tally. It all sits together on the cookout page.