Brainstorm · meridian-waitlists

Waitlists that actually fill the class

Meridian is booking software for independent climbing gyms. Instructors lose a third of a full class to no-shows while the waiting list sits full and silent. This is the plan to fix that.

complete · 2026-10-10 · Meridian · this example uses illustrative data

01 · The idea in plain words

Read-back

When a spot frees up, Meridian offers it to the next person on the waiting list and gives them ten minutes to say yes. If they say no, it moves on. The instructor sees a full class without calling anybody.

02 · Why it matters

Figure 1 · share of bookings that end in a no-show, by monthly class volume (illustrative data)

the loss

One in five bookings ends in an empty mat, and the seat is never offered to the list.

the work

Staff phone down the list by hand, usually after the class already started.

the cost

A filled seat is a paid seat, and the waiting list is already demand you own.

03 · Who it's for

Who	Feels it when	What they need
Front desk	A spot opens ten minutes before class	No phone calls, no spreadsheet
Instructor	The class starts half empty	A full room without chasing it
Member on the list	They miss a class they wanted	A fair, immediate offer

04 · What exists today

A waiting list that only records who is next; it never reaches out.
A manual refund flow when a spot is released.
No notion of a hold, so two members can claim the same seat.

// today: the list is a queue nobody drains
SELECT member_id FROM waitlist WHERE class_id = ? ORDER BY joined_at LIMIT 1;

05 · What success looks like

A freed spot is offered within seconds, not at the desk.
At least half of released spots refill from the list.
Two members can never hold the same seat at once.

06 · Decisions already made

Locked

A ten-minute hold; a first-come offer to the next in line; no change to how members book today.

07 · Still open

Only the owner closes these

Whether a second no-show sends someone to the back of the list. Default: it does not, this release.

08 · Limits

The offer must never double-book a seat, even under a race.
It has to work on the phone browser the desk actually uses.

09 · Out of scope

Not this release

Payments, dynamic pricing, and any change to the instructor's own schedule view.

10 · Questions for research

How long does a hold need to be before a member says yes? needs data
Does a text reach people faster than the app? needs data

11 · Handoff

Next: the plan, then the build. Every name and number on this page comes from the project file, not from prose.

{ai} engineering · example page, generated from a real template · the data here is illustrative