partners no longer automatically assigned

We made a change to the partner assignment system last week. The Swap-bot computer no longer automatically assigns partners three days after the sign up deadline. The swap coordinator must manually hit the “assign partners” link in order for the partners to be assigned no matter how long after the sign up deadline it is. We have had many complaints about coordinators who have gone missing before swaps even begin. This new indefinite partner assignment delay will prevent swaps from starting if the coordinator is not actively participating.

The Swap-bot computer still does the random partner assignments, the process just has to be initiated by the coordinator. We are sorry for any confusion.

We are not sure at this point if we are going to continue this change, or go back to the old way of only a three day delay. What do you think?

(Also…I am behind on responding to user emails. I did a less-than-stellar job keeping up with them while I was traveling last week. If you sent me something and I have not responded, you should hear from me by the end of today. You can always drop me another note if you are concerned. I should be totally caught up by the end of today.)