Easing the reunion grief

Dear PropellerHeads: My sisters and I are planning an out-of-town family reunion. We live hours apart and coordinating everything over the phone is challenging. Are there any online tools that can help?

A: You're planning a large group event, which culminates in a family road trip, with in-laws at the other end? You've hit the ultimate stress trifecta. Would you rather we just point you to some websites selling cheap headache medicine in bulk?

We are unaware of any sites that focus on family reunion planning, but we have been using a great collaborative planning tool for the last few months called Trello (trello.com). Trello is one of those rare online tools that strike the right balance between ease of use and flexibility, without cluttering the screen with extra features you'll never use. Plus, it's free!

Let's go offline and consider how multiple people meeting in the same room might tackle this problem. Perhaps you would start with a list of tasks - "reserve the venue," "order catering," etc. - and split the list among all the planners. You could write each task on a separate index card, with room left over for jotting down notes.

If you had access to a whiteboard, you could draw three columns on the board, labeled "To-Do," "In Progress," and "Done." You might tape all the cards up on the board, under "To-Do" first. After you leave a message with the caterer, you would move the "order catering" card into the "In Progress" column. Once the catering details are finalized, you would move it into the "Done" column.

That's the idea behind Trello. You are given a page that represents a "board" (like our whiteboard). Create as many columns (or "lists") across the board as needed. Your lists would be labeled "To-Do," "In Progress," and "Done." We use Trello to plan our PropellerHeads column schedule, so our lists are named "Upcoming Topics," "Scheduled," and "Ready for Review."

Under each list there are "cards" (think index cards), which can represent anything, like reunion planning tasks or PropellerHead column topics. You can type notes on the cards and move them from one list to another (say, from "In Progress" to "Done") by dragging them across the screen with the mouse.

These concepts are generic enough that they can be applied to almost anything. People use Trello to organize job searches, to plan weddings and vacations, and to manage projects at work.

It's perfect for working with remote collaborators. Once you and your sisters sign up, create your own

see REUNION, C4

REUNION

from C4

"Family Reunion Planning Board" that only you three can access. Assign people to each card and Trello displays a picture in the corner of the card indicating who is responsible for that item.

Users can also upload attachments to a card, so you could attach the caterer's ordering form and ask your sisters to double-check it. The "comments" feature allows users to add notes to a card. You can even assign due dates and Trello will place a red icon on the card before a pending deadline.

We hope you find Trello as useful as we do. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to move our "Write a column on Trello" card from the "Scheduled" list over to the "Ready for Review" column.

When the PropellerHeads at Data Directions aren't busy with their IT projects, they love to answer questions on business or consumer technology. Email them to questions@askthepropellerheads.com or contact us at Data Directions Inc., 8510 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23116. Visit our website at www.askthepropellerheads.com.