It's been a hot minute (i.e. ages) since I sent my last update about what's happening with Tendee - it just went through its biggest update yet! If you've been using it to manage your rec league team, things should feel a lot smoother. If you're new here, now is a good time to jump in.

Here's what's new.

The Puffins

First and foremost: Puffins! Puffins are the little helpers that make sure you have a full team for game day. They send the invites, the messages, and the reminders - then let the captain know what's happening. In short, they do the nagging and comms on behalf of the captain.

But, why puffins? Because they're social, work in teams, come back to the same place regularly, are endlessly chipper but surprising capable, and most importantly: they're hard to be annoyed at.

You'll see this guy a few days before game day letting you know who's in.

The Sub Finder

Finding subs typically involves going through your list of available players, picking up your rotary phone, dialling each one individually, and facing a lot of rejection - basically the job of a telemarketer. The odds of someone being available that week are usually low, so you have to do this a few times before you find someone. Now, Tendee can do that for you with the all-new Sub Finder. It messages your queued invites until capacity has been reached, or 1 at a time if you haven't set capacity.

Here's how it works:

1. You add your sub list (people who are available but not regulars)
2. When someone drops, it automatically messages whoever is at the top of the list
3. If they decline, it automatically messages the next person (note: nobody sees the declined subs except the captains)
4. If capacity is set, it keeps going until spots are filled
5. You can cancel, pause or resume at any time

Before, there was just capacity and waitlist - you set a limit, blast everybody on your contact list, and the first to respond gets in. That's not how the real world works. You don't blast your network and risk someone facing rejection when you've already filled the spots.

It's worth noting that the Sub Finder and Waitlist cannot be used together. The Waitlist is better when you're oversubscribed and people want in. The Sub Finder is better when you need to actively recruit to fill the roster.

The whole season

A season still flows like it did before. After the captain sets up the season and adds all the dates, you can start adding your availability for the entire season. The idea is that things like holidays are predictable, so there's no reason they should be a last-minute scramble. Now, the captain knows well in advance when subs will be needed. A few days before game day, an overview of who's attending hits your inbox. This is just an FYI, but if you haven't responded, or something has changed, this is your chance to update your response - the captain will be notified shortly after. If something changed, they and their faithful puffins have plenty of time to recruit a sub. Otherwise, game on as usual.

See? Everything's automated. And captains still have their superpowers to respond on behalf of those deathly afraid of commitment.

What else changed

Ok, so those are the major changes, but there were a few other updates along the way:

1. One click responses! Whether you have an account or not, now it only takes one click from your email to add your availability. If you don't have an account, it asks for your name, adds you in and registers your response.
2. Contacts & lists: If you've ever interacted with somebody before on Tendee, they're a contact. You can group them into lists so you can easily invite them to your teams or as subs. This isn't actually a new feature, but it wasn't widely communicated and is deceptively useful. More on this later.
3. Better maps: Before, a place was described with words and a basic link was provided. Now, a map can be embedded and directions can be added.
4. Polls are gone. They were a clunky experience and introduced unnecessary complexity. Instead, we're laser-focused on attendance. If you need a poll, they exist in the wild. And most chat apps have them built in now.

Try it out

Those are all the changes for now. It's spring time, meaning summer sports will be upon us shortly. If you have a team in a rec league, beer league, or any other league and want to make sure you always have a full team for game day, give it a shot.