Staff an event
This is the heart of it: putting the right people on the right weekend. You can do it entirely by hand, or let Herding Cats take a first pass and correct it. Most people end up doing both.
Where staffing happens
This trips people up. You assign people on an event’s Overview tab, in the section headed Roster.
The tab called Staffing is the depth view — travel, rooms, and notes for people who are already on the event. Its own empty state says so: No active assignments yet — staff the event from the Overview roster first.
Assign somebody by hand
- Open the event’s Overview tab
Find the Roster section. Every role you asked for on the event has a row. Empty ones show a + Assign button.
- Press + Assign
A search box opens: Search qualified staff… Only people tagged for that role appear. If it says No qualified staff available, nobody on your roster is tagged for it.
- Pick a name
That is it. You get a confirmation reading {name} assigned as {role}.
Open the staff pool — headed Staff pool with a count — and drag someone’s card onto a role. Dropping on a filled row swaps that person in.
You can filter the pool by name or email, by Position, and by Airport (e.g. LAX). Pin it open so it does not close every time you assign someone.
Each filled row shows how their travel stands: Travel not booked, No flights needed, or their actual flight. To take somebody off, use the remove button on their row.
Let Herding Cats suggest a roster
Press Run AI staffing at the top of the roster.
Before it runs
A box headed Run AI staffing appears: Here’s how people get picked. Nothing is assigned until you review and apply.
If the roster already has people on it, you choose the scope:
- Only unfilled roles — People already assigned stay put.
- Every role — May suggest swaps for filled spots.
Then it lists, in order, how it decides:
- Who’s free
Who’s free comes first. Anyone who said they’re busy is never suggested. A “rather not” counts less than a clear yes.
- Right person for the role
Only people who can do this job are considered.
- Flight prices
Looks up real round-trip prices for the people we suggest. Prices never change who gets picked.
This step is part of the Live Flight Pricing add-on. If you do not have it, you will see it marked as an add-on and it simply will not run.
- Easy travel
People who live closer to the event, or near a big airport, rank higher. This is a rough guess, not real prices.
Press Run staffing.
One rule is always on: nobody is put on two events on the same weekend. You cannot turn that one off, and you would not want to.
Reading what it suggests
Nothing is assigned yet. Each open role gets a strip showing a name, their airport, and a short reason. Press Apply to take the suggestion, or +{n} more to see the runners-up ranked #1, #2 and so on, each with its own Assign button.
To take everything at once, press Accept all ({number}). To throw it all away, press Clear.
If you ran it over Every role, a role that is already filled shows a strip marked Possible swap with a link reading Open details to swap. There is deliberately no one-click apply — swapping someone out has knock-on effects on flights and rooms, so it makes you go the long way round.
What the explanations mean
There is a panel headed How this roster was chosen. It has two parts.
The first is a standing explanation of the method: everyone qualified and available was scored on flight cost and ease, availability across the event days, day rate, and any travel preferences or constraints on their profile — and then the top picks were weighed across all the roles together, so a strong pick in one role does not strand a weaker one somewhere else.
The second is specific to this run. A line beginning Strategy for this event: gives the overall thinking, then each pick is listed as {Role}: {Name} — {reason}.
Those per-person reasons are short and concrete. You will see things like:
- No flight needed
- Direct flights between MSY and BOI
- Cross-country, but both major hubs
- Layover expected on both ends
- OK with Sunday travel
- Available across the event dates
- Solid pick for the role
- A note in quotes, repeating a constraint from their own profile
The reasons are where you catch the thing the computer could not know — that this judge has history with that studio, or that person is already exhausted. The suggestion is a starting point, not a decision.
At the bottom you may see a ballpark travel cost. It says plainly it is an airport-tier estimate, not a fare quote. Treat it as a rough comparison between options, not a budget.
Sometimes you will see: The AI optimizer wasn’t reachable for this run, so each role got its highest-scoring candidate directly from the scores above — same criteria, no cross-role trade-offs.
That means it still used the same rules but could not weigh the roles against each other. The picks are fine; just check that two roles have not both grabbed your best option.
Staffing a whole weekend or a whole season
Doing this event by event is fine for one-offs. When two events share a weekend, work the weekend instead — open Weekend view and press Run AI staffing (weekend). It treats both events as one puzzle with one pool of people.
For the whole tour at once, use Build season plan on the Season planning tab. See Plan your weekends.
When somebody drops out
This is the moment the whole thing earns its keep. There are three ways to handle it, depending on how big the mess is.
Swap one person for another
Open the person’s assignment and press Swap staff.
The box is headed Swap out {name} and explains: Only staff qualified for this role are listed, ranked by availability, airport match, and schedule. Estimated $ impact reflects flight rebooks and cascade risk.
Before you pick anyone, look at Travel follow-up needed. It tells you exactly what breaks:
- Inbound flight will be cancelled + rebooked
- Outbound flight will be cancelled + rebooked
- Hotel room reassignment queued
- Rental car transfer flagged
Each candidate carries chips explaining why they are ranked where they are — Same home airport (LAX), No flights on file — nothing to rebook, Inherits 3-night room block, Already on 2 conflicting events, Prefers not to work these dates.
You can add a Reason for the record. The button then reads Swap in {name} with the estimated cost beside it.
If the person you are swapping in is already on another event, you get a block headed Cascade ahead: Swapping them in here leaves that event without a staffer in this role — you’ll need to fill it next.
Do not ignore that. You have just moved the hole, not filled it.
Remove without replacing
Press Remove. Marks the assignment replaced and queues any flight/hotel cancellations as coordinator follow-up. Optionally pick a replacement now.
Leave the Pick a replacement now box unticked to backfill the role later.
Report a bigger disruption
When it is not just one person — a venue floods, a truck breaks down, a storm hits — press Something changed? at the top of the event page.
- Say what happened
Pick the closest match: Someone dropped out, Venue problem, Schedule shifted, Equipment failure, Weather threat, or Something else.
- Give it one line
One line is enough. The plan builder fills in the rest. Something like Jordan called — family emergency, out for the weekend. Press Build the plan.
- Check the plan it built
You get a checklist grouped into Right now, Today, and This week. Untick anything that does not apply, add anything it missed, then press Save plan & alert the team.
The plan includes a section headed Who to call for {role} — everyone who could cover, ranked, with tap-to-call and pre-written text and email messages.
Each person carries an honest note. No time off marked for these dates — the calendar says free, but always confirm by phone. Or, for someone who asked to keep the dates clear: workable, but lead with that when you call. Or, for someone who marked the dates off: Last resort — plans can change, but be gracious.
That last line is the right instinct. Read it before you dial.
Cleaning up afterwards
Every swap and removal leaves a list headed Travel actions needed on the event’s Travel tab — things like Cancel inbound flight for Sam (LAX→BOI UA1234) or Free up hotel room seat.
Anyone on your team can press Claim to take one, then Mark done with a note about what they actually did.
Herding Cats records what needs doing. It does not ring the airline or the hotel. Those calls are still yours to make — this list is just so none of them get forgotten.
What to do next
- Staff availability — so the suggestions have something to work with.
- Flights — book travel for the people you just assigned.