RSVP - More proof that I'm brilliant!

I want to begin by saying that I am a huge fan of evites but evites can't happen if you don't have all of the guests' email addresses.  What you are about to read is my solution for when evites aren't an option, but you want a convenient, handy RSVP option.

Nowadays it's not a strange idea to have people RSVP via email.  It's quick, convenient, easy to keep up with.  Well, why not create an email address to use for all RSVP's for all of your future events?  Why not create an email address like this:  For the John Doe Family: RSVP2Doe@gmail.com.  All future events the Doe family has can be RSVPed to that email address.  Now this might not seem too exciting, but I have more...

Right now we are about to send out invitations to Gavin's birthday party.  I created a similar type of email address.  Within the email address, I created 2 labels "Gavin's 5th Y" and "Gavin's 5th N."  I can label each RSVP and archive it so I don't lose it or have a cluttered inbox.  When I need to see how many are coming, I can click on the label "Gavin's 5th Y" and go through the necessary emails.  I can do this each time we have a party/event and easily keep it organized.

I know, this is pretty smart, but that's not even the most brilliant part...

I also created a "vacation" or "out-of-office" reply in my email settings.  The response thanks the person for RSVPing and then includes all of the party information and my phone number in case it's needed.  The auto-reply ends the day after the party.  How many times have I misplaced an invitation and had to text a parent to find out the date/time/location of a party?  How convenient would it be to have all of the information in my email which I can easily access on my iPhone.  (Of course the responsible parent would probably put all the info in my iCalendar, but I don't always think of these things).  Or, what I just thought of and probably will do in the future, take a picture on my phone (that's how I got Gavin's class list today).

Anyways, I've been sharing my brilliance with anyone who would listen today, and I have yet to find someone as excited about this as I am.  I'm pretty sure people think I'm a crazy hyper person in my enthusiasm.  Oh well, I'm excited and I know there's someone out there who will be just as excited by my idea when they read this! :)