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User Guide

How to Use the
Design Center

Build your party bracket, assign stops, set timing, and launch — step by step.

🗺️
The Big Picture. The Design Center is where your party takes shape as a bracket — a sequence of stops that Snowballers move through. You set the structure here. The Command Center is where you run it live. Think of Design as rehearsal, Command as showtime.
1
Plan Tab
Name Your Party

Start in the Plan tab. Give your party a name, pick a city, and set a keyword — this is the SMS shortcode Snowballers text to check in at each stop (e.g. SNOWBALL).

✏️
Keep the keyword short and memorable — one word, all caps, no spaces. Snowballers will be texting it in the moment.
📍
City is used to pull weather data and helps narrow down location search when you add stops later.
2
Design Tab
Set Party Size & Timing

Switch to the Design tab. Choose your party size (16, 32, or 64 people), set a start time, and pick how long each stop lasts. The bracket auto-generates based on these settings.

👥
16 people = 4 stops. 32 = 4 stops with bigger groups. 64 = 4 stops with large groups. The bracket always has 4 rounds.
⏱️
Stop duration affects the auto-countdown timer in the Command Center. 45 min is the default sweet spot for a bar or venue stop.
3
Design Tab
Build Your Bracket

The bracket is your party map. Each card is a stop. Tap any stop to configure it — set a location, assign an activity, add a contact at the venue, and upload photos.

TAP A STOP → ADD LOCATION → SET ACTIVITY → ADD VENUE CONTACT → SAVE
📌
Location search uses the city you set in Plan. Type a venue name or address and select from the dropdown — coordinates are saved automatically.
🎯
Activity is what happens at the stop — a challenge, a photo op, a performance. Pick from the library or type your own.
📞
Venue Contact is a person at the location who gets alerted when Snowballers are en route. Add their name and number.
4
People Tab
Add Your Snowballers

Head to the People tab to build your roster — the people attending the party. Add them via paste, CSV upload, or Google Contacts. Then auto-assign them to stops or drag and drop.

👥
Add from Contacts opens a picker. Paste a list (Name, Phone one per line), upload a CSV, or connect Google Contacts.
⚡
Auto-Assign distributes people evenly across stops. You can still drag individuals between stops to tweak the lineup.
💬
People with a phone number can receive SMS invites with their personal party link before the event starts.
5
Command Center
Go Live

When you're ready to run the party, switch to the Command Center. This is mission control — live check-ins, stop timers, group SMS, and real-time visibility of where everyone is.

▶️
Start Timer begins the countdown for the current stop. When it hits zero (with Auto-Send on) it fires the SMS to move everyone to the next stop.
📲
Send Stop SMS blasts the next stop address to all Snowballers assigned to a group — manually or automatically when the timer fires.
✅
Check-in — Snowballers text the keyword when they arrive. You see them flip from grey to green in real time.
6
Snowbank
Track the Budget

The Snowbank tab tracks spend per stop. Set a budget for each stop, log what was spent, and see a running total. Useful for keeping the night on track financially.

💵
Open any stop → Budget tab → enter an amount. The Snowbank rolls up all stops into a total party spend view.
7
After the Party
Save as a Template

Had a great party? Save it to the admin as a template. Next time, load it from the Templates tab and you've got a ready-to-go bracket — just tweak the stops and invite new Snowballers.

🗂️
Templates live in the Admin panel under the Templates tab. They capture the full bracket structure, activities, and stop order — but not the specific people.
🔁
Great for recurring events in the same city. The Wicker Park bracket, the River North bracket — build once, reuse forever.
🎉 Open Design Center View Pitch Deck →