Note: This is a blog series about “The Pipeline”, you can read more about it here.

“I have 8 yeses, 10 noes, 6 non-responses, and 12 maybes. How many snacks should I buy for this party?”

If you’ve ever used a social media network to create an event invitiation for your friends, you’ve almost certainly run into this problem. Event invitations get missed, guests cancel at the last moment (or flat out ghost), and people who were never invited in the first place show up unannounced with a six-pack of beer as a peace offering.

There has to be a better way.

On the other hand, creating your event in The Pipeline is a different story. You can use different types of invitations for different events. For instance, if you have a themed party for the series finale of The Good Place where everyone brings a different dish featured in the show, your event invitation can list out suggestions of dishes guests can claim. Guests claiming specific dishes will be clearly displayed in a list, preventing duplicates. Your guests are reminded a day in advance to make sure the dish will be ready, because everyone wants a taste of peeps chili! (Maybe a deconstructed version, though.)

Or maybe you have a dinner party where you’re making all the food and need to know exactly how many people will be there. Your event can enforce an RSVP-by date and not offer a “Maybe” response option. Later in the summer you may be hosting a midwestern-style barbecue potluck where you want to set a start time, a time when you’ll be grilling, and an end time of “???”. Your potluck could then show up in your guest’s calendars as a gradient rather than solid boxes.

A channel is automatically created for the event where guests can coordinate shared rides, post photos and videos, and congratulate you for what an amazing host you are! After the event is over, the channel is automatically archived, but you can always go back and look up details so you can create your next event.