At Paloma, we’ve always loved bringing people together. Occasion is often less important, it’s all about the people and letting people just be as comfortable as possible, and ideally treating them a little. It really is one of life’s greatest joys. As we’ve grown up a little, we’ve come to appreciate the value of doing it a little more intentionally. When the situation affords, gathering your friends and family at a special venue makes sense. It feels good when things are smooth and organized, and takes the load off of hosting at home.

But as we’ve learned, when we have tried to plan events ourselves, even seemingly simple ones, it was strangely hard. The tools felt clunky. The back-and-forth felt endless. It just didn’t match the joy of the occasion we were trying to create.

This really should be easier.

The Email Black Hole

Picture this: it’s Tuesday afternoon, and a busy owner at a restaurant, let’s call her Sam, is staring at her inbox. Eight new event inquiries have come in over the past three days. Others are weeks old and buried. One guest has followed up three times asking if their date is still available. Another assumed she wasn't interested and moved on.

She’s not ignoring anyone. She’s just overwhelmed. 

“I’ve missed a couple just because of the way things used to come in,” she told us. “They’d get mixed with my regular emails, sorted alphabetically instead of by date. I’d respond to the newest ones first just because of how they showed up.”

This is 2025. We shouldn’t be using the digital equivalent of a filing cabinet to manage events.

The Ghost Problem

Ghosting happens on both sides. Guests bail. Venues delay. Everyone’s frustrated.
And it’s not because anyone’s rude or lazy — it’s because the system is broken. There’s no shared rhythm, no quick way to build trust. Just static forms, scattered emails, and slow replies.

You finally work up the energy to plan that anniversary party or baby shower. You send a few inquiries. Maybe fill out a form. Then… nothing. Or you get a reply three days later asking for information you already included.

By the time someone follows up, you’ve already moved on. Not because you’re flaky — it just became too much work. “I’ll just do it at home, I guess.”

And venues feel it too. One restaurant owner told us:

“People book for 14 and show up with six.”

Ghosting isn’t a people problem. It’s a tool problem.

The “I Don’t Know What I Want” Dilemma

Here's a not uncommon request:
“22 people. Individual bills.”

That’s it.

From the sender’s perspective, it’s clear and to the point. From the venue’s perspective, it’s a logistical nightmare.

We’ve seen this play out hundreds of times. People don’t know what venues need to know. They don’t understand that serving 14 people individual meals can be hard depending on how their kitchen is organized and what else is going on. Or that asking for a DJ setup transforms the entire layout and AV needs. Or that pricing depends on whether it's a Tuesday afternoon or a Saturday night.

We’re not blaming anyone — this stuff is nuanced. But right now, that nuance gets lost in translation.

Why This Matters

The pandemic didn’t help at all, and now people want to gather again. But we've lost a bit of the muscle memory for it. And the infrastructure that supports it such as inquiry forms, emails, spreadsheets isn’t cutting it. We still have the phone of course, but people want to make progress at all hours of the day, and often don’t want to invest in a phone call unless they’ve gotten some assurance from the venue that their place is a fit.

We’ve heard versions of the same thing from dozens of venues and hundreds of guests. “This should be easier.”

And they’re right.

We’re busy people too — parents, partners, professionals. Planning something more complex than a group text shouldn’t feel like a full-time job. But that’s where we’re at today.

What About Other Tools?

There are tools out there. A few big names manage event bookings for restaurants and hotels.

But they weren’t built for today. They’re expensive, clunky, and overloaded with features you don’t need. No real intelligence, no real flexibility. Just more manual work, dressed up in tabs and dashboards.

And most of them focus on one thing: maximizing venue revenue. Important, yes — but only half the equation.

Paloma is different. We’re built for modern hospitality teams and designed with the guest in mind. Fast, simple, and quietly smart — with AI that reduces busywork and makes the experience smoother on both sides.

What We’re Building

Paloma isn’t about replacing human connection. It’s about removing the friction that gets in the way.

When someone wants to host an event, they shouldn't have to become a logistics expert. When a venue receives an inquiry, they shouldn’t have to triage their inbox just to find it. And when details change — as they always do — everyone should stay in sync.

We’re building tools that bridge the gap between what people say and what they actually mean. Things like:

• Real-time availability tools, so no one wastes time chasing a date that's already booked

• Smart inboxes that surface the most urgent inquiries without digging

• Guided flows that help guests express what they actually want — even if they’re not sure yet

• Automatic context-building, so venues can quickly picture the event and give confident responses

  
  

The Bigger Picture

This isn’t just about event planning. It’s about making connections easier. It’s about honoring the effort it takes to bring people together — and building tools that support that effort without getting in the way.

The most radical thing software can do in 2025? Help people meet in real life.

A birthday party. A wedding toast. A team offsite that finally feels human again. These aren’t just calendar entries. They’re the punctuation marks in our lives.

We’re building Paloma because we think those moments matter — and they deserve better than email threads and PDF menus.

One event at a time, we’re going to make gathering feel joyful again.

Because the best tech isn’t the flashiest. It’s the kind that gets out of the way and brings people closer together.