Easy Party Planning

Webware: There’s something to be said about Web services that been set up to help people coordinate things in the least stressful way as possible. I dig sites like CircleUp that offer a way to set up polls, or solve quick logistical questions amongst a group, without requiring the creator–or the users to agonize over interface and execution. That’s why MyPunchBowl’s new checklists feature is pretty much the best addition to a party planning service yet.
The idea is simple: you as party creator make a list of things you need for the party. This list is just for you in a GTD sense. You can hit one button to add any items to your “potluck” list, which is made public to all your invitees. Your party goers can then claim each item that they’ll (hopefully) bring to the party, or add their own items, helping you avoid harassing e-mails or phone calls to coordinate.
The new checklist feature launched alongside several other updates. The service is continuing its foray into the world of themes with about two dozen Halloween templates, and a new duplicate party feature that lets you clone a party you’ve already made to reuse–which is helpful if you want to recycle things like a guest list and directions. There’s also a bounce notifier to let you know if your party invitations never made it to your addressees’ mailboxes.
Figure out who’s bringing what with MyPunchBowl’s checklists [Webware]