Accept, Decline and Pending - revisited

[LesStrangers]

For a while I was of the mind that ‘Decline’ and ‘Accept’ were the only needed responses for schedule requests. But I have finally come to think ‘Pending’ (with an explanation) is also a valuable option. Reasons:

1. Sometimes I have a player who can’t be sure of their availability immediately or until this Friday, for example. So they hesitate to either Accept or Decline. Then I’m not sure if they missed the request or can’t be bothered, etc. If they could hit Pending and have a blank field called ‘Reason’ or ‘Please explain’ or ‘When you’ll know’ in which to explain - “Wife will tell me Thurs night, so I’ll know for sure on Friday,” I’ll at least know that they have seen the request, they’re working on it and I can send a second request Friday AM, or just call them.

2. Often I can wait on some players for a day or two and it won’t keep me from locking in the gig, because I can likely sub them out if they end up not being able when Friday comes.

3. If I can’t wait until Friday, I can simply let them know that I have to use their second chair this time, etc., and they’ll understand -or- it might prompt them to verify before Friday.

4. Sending second requests then seems less random, more timely, less like impatience. The context of second requests seems kinder less like nagging, when they quite possibly have a reason for a delayed response. Giving a Pending option takes away excuses that they just didn’t reply because they’re still trying to resolve their availability.

Thoughts?

[arlo]

I like your train of thought here. It wouldn't be an easy change, but I'll put it on my wish list and give it more thought.

[LesStrangers]

I had a feeling this would be a complex change. I appreciate your considering it so much.

[arlo]

I'm looking at this again and have two thoughts:

1) Including a field to enter a reason or a comment would make it much harder than just adding another status option. Would this still be useful without the field?

2) I imagine someone at the "maybe" status would still receive all the reminders as if they hadn't replied yet. Otherwise they might forget to follow up and leave it at "maybe" forever. Do you agree?

[themetallikid]

I have some scenarios where a 'maybe' would be beneficial.  More so than that person just not responding to an event.

[arlo]

Can you describe the scenarios, and would a "reason" or "comments" field be necessary?

[themetallikid]

I think the reason/comments field would be a bonus.  The way we do our schedules, is if guys want 'off' for a date they will put it on the calendar.  But they dont always put comments where a gig is feasible pending details.  So if I get an offer for one of those dates, I end up checking BH, then send texts to find out if they can really not do the gig or could do it if $$ is right or location makes sense. 

It'd be cool if I could enter the event, and they could mark it as maybe...or pending....and that would let me know they are working on some details.  Bonus they could add a comment where they mention, "camping this weekend, might be able to drive there/back"  and set a reminder to know by. 

What I dont want, is BH to turn into a messaging app if you will.  There is no reason we can't do that through text, and such, but even if they mark it as pending, I'd know that they 'saw' the event and are aware of it. 


Edit:  one last one I thought of is more for my side acoustic stuff.  I still brand it as my band: Acoustic....sometimes its just me, sometimes the other guitar player and sometimes the bass player jumps in.  It'd be cool if I could book the gig with just me for sure, but could include one or both of the other two...and they could mark it as pending until they know they can do it for sure.  It doesnt really matter....but would allow me to attach a setlist for the show pending who is all involved.


its a minimal repetitive scenario really...so not a high priority...but could help in the right situation.

[arlo]

I'm circling back to this again. Adding only a simple Maybe option (without any additional fields or functionality) would be relatively easy, but I'm not sure it adds much value. I think the only benefit it would provide is to reassure the band leader that people are considering the event rather than totally ignoring it. But the same people who don't check their schedules and give a definite response promptly might not click the Maybe button, either, so then it wouldn't have any benefit.

I guess the potential benefit outweighs the cost of adding it, so I'll work on that now. I'm also considering the ability to add a response deadline, which would be included in the request notifications, and then an automatic fallback to second and third chair players if the first choice doesn't respond by the deadline.

[arlo]

The Maybe option is now available on all platforms:

http://www.bandhelper.com/support/release_notes.html

[LesStrangers]

Circling back to say thank you for the 'MAYBE' option!