How to coordinate dates with a large group

Decide your threshold up front

Before you send anything, decide what success looks like: "the date where at least twenty can come" or "the date that works for all six organisers plus the most guests".

Announcing the threshold with the poll changes how people answer. They stop treating it as a vote and start treating it as a schedule.

Fewer options, clearly labelled

Large groups need short polls. Five to eight options, each obviously distinct — a weekend, a specific evening — will out-perform a thirty-day range every time.

Chase twice, then close

Expect roughly 60% to answer on the first message and 85% after one reminder. The last 15% will not answer regardless, so build your deadline around two nudges and then decide.

Accept the near-miss

With thirty people, a perfect date almost certainly does not exist. The grid lets you see exactly what a near-miss costs — which three people lose out — and that is a decision you can make and explain in one message.