5 ms·

Show HN: Cardybot, a Slack app that sends signed birthday cards for remote teams

48 points by dammyX 7y ago

dammyX 7y ago
Hello! We've been working on Cardybot for some months and are excited to share it! Send fun, personalized, and physical birthday cards to your co-workers with ease. All organized and mailed automatically through Slack. Great for remote teams or teams that just want to send birthday cards that co-workers will cherish forever. The story: I started my career in a non-remote company where (like many other teams) we signed birthday cards for co-workers. Unlike most other birthday perks it was actually fun and personalized. But my last couple of roles have been on remote teams so it's been impossible to do cards like that. While I love working remotely, I wish we still did birthday cards and our early customers agree - that's why Cardybot was created. As a Slack integration, we take the fun in this for all teams (remote and non-remote) to the next level . When we started building Cardybot, we (off course) had no idea we would be launching during a pandemic but I hope this brings some fun and engagement to your team during this tough time. We'd love to get some feedback and are happy to answer questions!
- masukomi 7y ago
  it's a cool idea. a) i'd use a handwritten font and semi-randomized angles to make it look more real. b) PLEASE don't send me yet another thing i have to sterilize before bringing in my house. Countless (literally can't be counted) people are involved in the mailing, sorting and delivery of mail and all of them are potential Covid-19 carriers. Lacking an autoclave i can't really sterilize paper without getting it wet and that sucks for a birthday card. I'd read it with gloves on the porch, and then immediately trash it.... and most folks don't have disposable gloves.
  - dammyX 7y ago
    - Thanks for the feedback on fonts! - The good news is the cards come in an envelope. So you can be sure no one has touched the card during the shipping period (which is more than enough time for the virus to cease on paper according to https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/health/coronavirus-mail-packages.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/health/coronavirus-mail-p...)
  - nicoburns 7y ago
    > most folks don't have disposable gloves. Why not just read it without gloves, and then wash your hands afterwards?
    - markdown 7y ago
      Or just don't touch it until it's been untouched for four days.
- si1entstill 7y ago
  Nice - this is a great idea! How hard would it be to add support for other kinds of cards? We typically do "welcome" cards for new hires, but (as we are now all working from home) that has recently become difficult.
  - dammyX 7y ago
    Thanks for the feedback! Supporting other cards is definitely a high prio feature for us
tssva 7y ago
I count not having to sign cards as one of the perks of working remote. Please don't take this from me.
- dammyX 7y ago
  This should reduce friction with that though because unlike someone walking up to you with a card, it's an app you can choose your level of participation in! We hope that this will be more natural since people typically send birthday wishes in Slack anyway
- ciceryadam 7y ago
  The times they are a-changin' - this week I signed a card remotely, a PDF one through Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- derision 7y ago
  Writing "Happy Birthday, <name>!" takes literally a few seconds and absolutely 0 effort, but means a lot to the recipient. You should consider your coworker's more empathetically
IgorPartola 7y ago
I have been wanting something like this but for my Facebook friends. I am really bad at keeping up with people's birthdays unless it's someone I talked to at least once a week. I'd love to automate sending birthday cards like this. Or hell, even just writing on their wall with one of like 19 preset messages. Even better: an AI that determines how I talk to this particular individual (SMS, iMessage, email, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, something else), and opens a pre-composed message on their birthday for me to edit and hit Send on. Obviously I need some way to blacklist certain contacts from this since I wouldn't want my partner who I live with to get a generic "Happy Birthday" while we are out to lunch or something, or an ex who I am still somehow friends with on Facebook or some such but don't actually want to talk to. A related problem: who have I not messaged in a while? Scan my messages and tell me who is due for a "Hey, how are you doing?" message? Again, simple in principle, hard to make usable especially given that I use different apps to talk to different people.
- dammyX 7y ago
  Thanks for the feedback! We'll always be evaluating new features.
s_r_n 7y ago
Great idea! I've wished for something like this, except for personal contacts because it would help me get on top of sending thank-you letters.
- dammyX 7y ago
  Thanks for the feedback!
akamaka 7y ago
My team recently bought a gift for someone who was leaving, and it was slightly time consuming to figure out who wanted to contribute, and then to keep track of the cash. I thought a good idea would be to build a Slack app to split purchasing gift cards, with built in suggestions. Feel free to steal my idea and add it to your app!
- dammyX 7y ago
  That's an interesting problem. Thanks for the feedback! - we're looking at ways to integrate gifts.
quickthrower2 7y ago
Very nice idea. Another thing you can do is work anniversary and of course leaving cards.
- dammyX 7y ago
  Yes! Other types of cards are coming soon. Birthdays are just the starting point for Cardybot. Thanks for the feedback.
angry_octet 7y ago
The last thing everyone in the office needs is to know everyone else's birthday.
- dammyX 7y ago
  Many offices actually do some kind of birthday related recognition. In any case, Cardybot doesn't even tell you your co-workers birthday. It just tells you that the birthday is coming up soon so you can sign the card.
CalumWebb0 7y ago
Hey there! This looks fantastic, just wanted to let you know someone's now hunted this on Product Hunt, you may want to mark yourself as the maker there!
- dammyX 7y ago
  Thanks for the feedback and heads up. Looks like someone beat us to it!
dammyX 7y ago
Thanks for all the feedback so far! Cardybot is now on Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/cardybot https://www.producthunt.com/posts/cardybot
ziggomat 7y ago
If I got an automated birthday card via Slack I would be extremely depressed.
- dammyX 7y ago
  Hello there, Cardybot is not just an automated card sender. It collects personal birthday wishes/sentiments from your co-workers and organizes them in a card.

48 points by dammyX 7y ago

Hello! We've been working on Cardybot for some months and are excited to share it! Send fun, personalized, and physical birthday cards to your co-workers with ease. All organized and mailed automatically through Slack. Great for remote teams or teams that just want to send birthday cards that co-workers will cherish forever. The story: I started my career in a non-remote company where (like many other teams) we signed birthday cards for co-workers. Unlike most other birthday perks it was actually fun and personalized. But my last couple of roles have been on remote teams so it's been impossible to do cards like that. While I love working remotely, I wish we still did birthday cards and our early customers agree - that's why Cardybot was created. As a Slack integration, we take the fun in this for all teams (remote and non-remote) to the next level . When we started building Cardybot, we (off course) had no idea we would be launching during a pandemic but I hope this brings some fun and engagement to your team during this tough time. We'd love to get some feedback and are happy to answer questions!

masukomi 7y ago
it's a cool idea. a) i'd use a handwritten font and semi-randomized angles to make it look more real. b) PLEASE don't send me yet another thing i have to sterilize before bringing in my house. Countless (literally can't be counted) people are involved in the mailing, sorting and delivery of mail and all of them are potential Covid-19 carriers. Lacking an autoclave i can't really sterilize paper without getting it wet and that sucks for a birthday card. I'd read it with gloves on the porch, and then immediately trash it.... and most folks don't have disposable gloves.
- dammyX 7y ago
  - Thanks for the feedback on fonts! - The good news is the cards come in an envelope. So you can be sure no one has touched the card during the shipping period (which is more than enough time for the virus to cease on paper according to https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/health/coronavirus-mail-packages.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/health/coronavirus-mail-p...)
- nicoburns 7y ago
  > most folks don't have disposable gloves. Why not just read it without gloves, and then wash your hands afterwards?
  - markdown 7y ago
    Or just don't touch it until it's been untouched for four days.
si1entstill 7y ago
Nice - this is a great idea! How hard would it be to add support for other kinds of cards? We typically do "welcome" cards for new hires, but (as we are now all working from home) that has recently become difficult.
- dammyX 7y ago
  Thanks for the feedback! Supporting other cards is definitely a high prio feature for us

tssva 7y ago

I count not having to sign cards as one of the perks of working remote. Please don't take this from me.

dammyX 7y ago
This should reduce friction with that though because unlike someone walking up to you with a card, it's an app you can choose your level of participation in! We hope that this will be more natural since people typically send birthday wishes in Slack anyway
ciceryadam 7y ago
The times they are a-changin' - this week I signed a card remotely, a PDF one through Adobe Acrobat Reader.
derision 7y ago
Writing "Happy Birthday, <name>!" takes literally a few seconds and absolutely 0 effort, but means a lot to the recipient. You should consider your coworker's more empathetically

IgorPartola 7y ago

I have been wanting something like this but for my Facebook friends. I am really bad at keeping up with people's birthdays unless it's someone I talked to at least once a week. I'd love to automate sending birthday cards like this. Or hell, even just writing on their wall with one of like 19 preset messages. Even better: an AI that determines how I talk to this particular individual (SMS, iMessage, email, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, something else), and opens a pre-composed message on their birthday for me to edit and hit Send on. Obviously I need some way to blacklist certain contacts from this since I wouldn't want my partner who I live with to get a generic "Happy Birthday" while we are out to lunch or something, or an ex who I am still somehow friends with on Facebook or some such but don't actually want to talk to. A related problem: who have I not messaged in a while? Scan my messages and tell me who is due for a "Hey, how are you doing?" message? Again, simple in principle, hard to make usable especially given that I use different apps to talk to different people.

dammyX 7y ago
Thanks for the feedback! We'll always be evaluating new features.

s_r_n 7y ago

Great idea! I've wished for something like this, except for personal contacts because it would help me get on top of sending thank-you letters.

dammyX 7y ago
Thanks for the feedback!

akamaka 7y ago

My team recently bought a gift for someone who was leaving, and it was slightly time consuming to figure out who wanted to contribute, and then to keep track of the cash. I thought a good idea would be to build a Slack app to split purchasing gift cards, with built in suggestions. Feel free to steal my idea and add it to your app!

dammyX 7y ago
That's an interesting problem. Thanks for the feedback! - we're looking at ways to integrate gifts.

quickthrower2 7y ago

Very nice idea. Another thing you can do is work anniversary and of course leaving cards.

dammyX 7y ago
Yes! Other types of cards are coming soon. Birthdays are just the starting point for Cardybot. Thanks for the feedback.

angry_octet 7y ago

The last thing everyone in the office needs is to know everyone else's birthday.

dammyX 7y ago
Many offices actually do some kind of birthday related recognition. In any case, Cardybot doesn't even tell you your co-workers birthday. It just tells you that the birthday is coming up soon so you can sign the card.

CalumWebb0 7y ago

Hey there! This looks fantastic, just wanted to let you know someone's now hunted this on Product Hunt, you may want to mark yourself as the maker there!

dammyX 7y ago
Thanks for the feedback and heads up. Looks like someone beat us to it!

dammyX 7y ago

Thanks for all the feedback so far! Cardybot is now on Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/cardybot https://www.producthunt.com/posts/cardybot

ziggomat 7y ago

If I got an automated birthday card via Slack I would be extremely depressed.

dammyX 7y ago
Hello there, Cardybot is not just an automated card sender. It collects personal birthday wishes/sentiments from your co-workers and organizes them in a card.