What Is the Group Event Coordinator?
This tool runs the full lifecycle of a group event from one link: propose time slots, collect votes from every participant, watch the aggregate update as votes land, pick the winning time, split the bill among attendees, and export the final event to everyone's calendar as .ics. Participants vote by opening the link — no signup, no app download, no account for anyone. The organizer's data stays local; votes travel through the link itself rather than a server, so there is no central database holding your group's schedule.
Who Should Use This Tool?
Friend groups scheduling dinners, trips, and game nights without a six-message thread arguing about weekends. Team leads finding meeting times across time zones for contractors and clients outside a shared calendar system. Volunteer coordinators polling availability for shifts. Family organizers managing birthday parties and reunions where relatives will not install another app. Anyone who has bounced between Doodle, group chats, and calendar invites and wants one link that does all of it.
How Does It Work?
(1) Create the event: name it, propose candidate time slots, and optionally set a voting deadline. (2) Share the link with the group by message or email. (3) Each participant opens it, ticks the times that work, and submits — no signup at any point. (4) The aggregate view shows attendance count per slot, making the winner obvious; the organizer confirms the final time. (5) Export .ics for every calendar app, and use the built-in bill splitter to divide costs among who actually showed.
How Do You Find a Time That Works for a Whole Group?
Group scheduling fails for predictable reasons, and the fixes are mechanical. First, cap the options: offer three to five concrete slots, not open-ended availability — unlimited choices produce analysis paralysis and endless rounds. Second, include the decision rule up front: majority wins, or organizer breaks ties after the deadline; ambiguity is what makes scheduling threads drag. Third, set a real deadline two to three days out and decide with the votes you have; waiting for one straggler costs more than an imperfect slot. Fourth, for cross-time-zone groups, propose slots in each participant's local time within the link so nobody does UTC math wrong. Fifth, put the winning slot straight into .ics export rather than trusting people to type it — calendar-entry errors are the top cause of no-shows. For recurring events, lock the first occurrence with a vote, then default subsequent ones to the same slot and re-poll only when attendance drops.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do participants need to sign up?
No. Nobody needs to create an account or download an app. The organizer creates an event and shares a link. Participants open the link, enter their name, tick their available times, and get a vote code to send back to the organizer.
How does voting work without a backend?
Event data is encoded directly in the share link URL using base64. When a participant votes, their selections are encoded into a short vote code. The organizer collects these codes and pastes them into the results area to automatically find the time with the most votes.
Is my data uploaded to a server?
No. Everything happens in your browser. The event data lives in the URL hash (which browsers do not send to servers), and vote codes are shared via your preferred messaging app. There is no database, no API, and no data collection.
Can I export the winning time to my calendar?
Yes. Once votes are aggregated and the best time is identified, click "Add to calendar (.ics)" to download an iCalendar file that imports into Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook, or any calendar app that supports the .ics standard.
Does it include a bill splitter?
Yes. The Split Bill tab lets you enter the total amount, number of people, and tip percentage. It calculates the grand total and how much each person owes. This is useful for group dinners, trips, and shared expenses.
