Intro

Rethinking the community calendar

Jon UdellHampton RoadsApril 23, 2013http://elmcity.cloudapp.net

Wh e re I’m w o rk in g to s o lv e th is p ro b le m

Why do posters on kiosks succeed?

there’s no central point of control

everyone is directly responsible for their own stuff

Why do posters on kiosks fail?

you can’t add them (easily) to your personal calendar

you can’t find them (reliably) in community web calendars

Why do posters on kiosks succeed?

there’s no central point of control

everyone is directly responsible for their own stuff

Why do posters on kiosks fail?

you can’t add them (easily) to your personal calendar

you can’t find them (reliably) in community web calendars

Search: “posters on kiosks” Replace: “standard web calendars”

Why do standard web calendars succeed?

there’s no central point of control

everyone is directly responsible for their own stuff

Why do standard web calendars fail?

you can’t add them (easily) to your personal calendar

you can’t find them (reliably) in community web calendars

Search: “posters on kiosks” Replace: “standard web calendars”

Why do standard web calendars succeed?

there’s no central point of control

everyone is directly responsible for their own stuff

Why do standard web calendars fail succeed?

you can’t can add them (easily) to your personal calendar

you can’t can find them (reliably) in community web calendars

Search: “posters on kiosks” Replace: “standard web calendars”

How not: AnnArbor.com

Or: A2Y Chamber

Or: ArborWeb.com

But: A2Chronicle

So: Washtenaw County calendar of events

https://secure.ewashtenaw.org/eventcal/ViewCalendar.do?view=month

A2Cal today

http://elmcity.cloudapp.net/a2cal/html

What is iCalendar and why would I care?

What is iCalendar?

- The standard Internet format for exchanging calendar information. - Supported by Google Calendar, Hotmail Calendar, Outlook, Apple iCal,

Lotus Notes, others.

Why should I care?

When you use a iCalendar-aware program to manage your web calendar:

1. It creates HTML for people to read. 2. It also creates an iCalendar feed for automatic data exchange.

Unfortunately…

Most web calendars (including eWashtenaw’s) are only available as HTML (or even PDF). So people can view them, but computers can't automatically exchange the data.

A2Cal today all

Today in Ann Arbor

Wurster Park

Wurster Park

A2cal feed stats snapshot

Some Ann Arbor feeds I found

A2cal feed stats all

All the Ann Arbor feeds I found

A2cal quick stats

Sources feeding the Ann Arbor hub

iCal PRODIDs

Applications that produced the feeds

Feed count by iCal producer

Bright lights: AADL

Syndication from the Ann Arbor District Library

Bright lights: Crazy Wisdom

Syndication from CrazyWisdom

Bright lights: City of Ann Arbor

Syndication from the City of Ann Arbor

calendar “dark matter”dark matter

The HTML/PDF/RSS fallacyHow humans represent calendar events:

“Community Information Sharing Seminar with Jon Udell, Ann Arbor District Library, Sept. 26 at 4PM“

How computers represent calendar events:

DTSTART;TZID=EST;20120926T160000 SUMMARY:Jon Udell: Community Info Sharing LOCATION:Ann Arbor District Library

HTML, PDF,RSS

iCalendar

A civic scorecard for public calendars

Google create new calendar

Step 1: Create a calendar (once only)

Syndicating from Google Calendar

Google share calendarStep 2: Make it public (once only)

Capture Google HTML and iCal

https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/ajgh1q3t9plrlcoobkovsdfm88%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=ajgh1q3t9plrlcoobkovsdfm88%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York" style="border: 0" width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

HTML (for people)

iCalendar (for computers)

Step 3: Capture HTML for website, iCalendar URL for syndication (once only)

Embed Google HTML

Step 4: Ask webmaster to embed the HTML in your site (once only)

Transmit URL to curator

Step 5: Send the iCal URL to the syndication hub (once only)

From: lucast@ewashtenaw.org 1

To: jonu@microsoft.com 2

Subject: iCal feed for Washtenaw County public meetings

Hi there,

Please syndicate our calendar at this URL:

https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/8i9vg16fbddqkct11sml54a0m0%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

1. Person responsible for the eWashtenaw public calendar

2. Person responsible for the syndication hub

Google create eventFrom now on, when you create an event here…

It shows up here

It shows up here: https://secure.ewashtenaw.org/eventcal

And also here

And also here: http://elmcity.cloudapp.net/a2cal/html

And potentially A2Chron

And maybe here? http://annarborchronicle.com/events-listing/

And potentially also A2YChamber

And maybe also here? http://www.a2ychamber.org/Events.aspx

And potentially even Community Television Network

And maybe even on community access television?

Hotmail create new calendar

Step 1: Create a calendar (once only)

Syndicating from Hotmail Calendar

Hotmail share calendarStep 2: Make it public (once only)

HTML (for people)

iCalendar (for computers)

Capture Hotmail HTML and iCal

Embed Hotmail HTML

Step 4: Ask webmaster to embed the HTML in your site (once only)

Transmit URL to curator

Step 5: Send the iCal URL to the syndication hub (once only)

From: lucast@ewashtenaw.org To: jonu@microsoft.com Subject: iCal feed for Washtenaw County public meetings

Hi there,

Please syndicate our calendar at this URL:

webcals://cid-dffec23daaf5ee89.calendar.live.com/calendar/eWashtenaw/calendar.ics

Hotmail create eventFrom now on, when you create an event here…

It shows up here

It shows up here…

And also here

And also here: http://elmcity.cloudapp.net/a2cal/html

And potentially A2Chron

And maybe here? http://annarborchronicle.com/events-listing/

And potentially also A2YChamber

And maybe also here? http://www.a2ychamber.org/Events.aspx

Blind Pig home calendar

http://www.blindpigmusic.com/calendar.html

Blind Pig in a2cal via upcoming

http://elmcity.cloudapp.net/a2cal/html?view=music

The Hood Internet shows up here via Upcoming

Blind Pig in facebook

https://www.facebook.com/BlindPigAnnArbor/events

The Blind Pig didn’t include The Hood Internet (Sep 26) in its Facebook calendar.

But it was a source for these events.

Blind Pig Sept 30 in a2cal

Two Gallants shows up here (at the right time, because The Blind Pig entered the data into Facebook)

Two Gallants also shows up here (at the wrong time, because somebody else entered the data into Upcoming)

Duplication isn’t necessarily bad. When times and titles match, multiples coalesce.

Syndicating from Facebook

What could the Blind Pig do? (Strategy 1: Use Facebook)

How? Put the whole schedule on Facebook.

Pros Popular, convenient, great way to socialize events.

Cons 1. Doesn’t automatically feed the Blind Pig home site

2. Event details only available to logged-in Facebook users.

Workarounds 1. Syndicate from Facebook to standard calendar, embed that on home site.

2. Now details visible to Blind Pig home site visitors (as well as Facebook site).

What could the Blind Pig do? (Strategy 2: Use a standard calendar)

How? Put the whole schedule into an iCalendar-aware program.

Pros Write it once, show it automatically on website and elsewhere.

Cons 1. Not in Facebook.2. Widgets don’t match site design.

Workarounds 1. Use one-click Add to Facebook 2. Extract data from Facebook, flow through

site template.

One-click Add To Facebook

Any syndicated event can also be added to personal calendars in the cloud (Google, Hotmail) or on the desktop (Outlook, Apple iCal)

Music in Ann Arbor

Feeds in the Ann Arbor hub’s music category

Exploratorium

Creating a “Music Around Town” widget

Blind Pig with widget

“Music Around Town” widget embedded in the Blind Pig site

Crazy Wisdom with widget

“Music Around Town” widget embedded in the Crazy Wisdom site

Crazy Wisdom: all vs music only

http://elmcity.cloudapp.net/a2cal/html?view=crazywisdom

http://elmcity.cloudapp.net/a2cal/html?view=crazywisdom,music

Organizing feeds into categories

Crazy Wisdom feeds and tags

Organizing feeds into categories

Crazy Wisdom: making the music feed

BEGIN:VEVENTCATEGORIES:crazywisdomCATEGORIES:musicDESCRIPTION: Live Music Weekends at Crazy Wisdom Tea Room \n 8:30 to 10 :30 p.m. &ndash\; No Cover Charge \n Every Friday and Saturday night C razy Wisdom invites you to Tea and Tunes. Not a tea drinker? No problem! C razy Wisdom offer a wide selection of coffee drinks. (while you&rsquo\;re here\, don&rsquo\;t forget to try some of our tasty treats as well!) \n Click here to see who is playing DTEND;TZID=Eastern Standard Time:20120928T223000DTSTAMP:20120924T135335DTSTART;TZID=Eastern Standard Time:20120928T203000LOCATION:SEQUENCE:0SUMMARY:Live Music in th Tea RoomUID:eab1368d-f802-45ab-b63f-842bf09fa1c6URL:http://www.crazywisdom.net/events.htmlEND:VEVENT

Organizing feeds into categories

Slauson: all vs music only

http://elmcity.cloudapp.net/a2cal/html?view=slauson

http://elmcity.cloudapp.net/a2cal/html?view=slauson,music

Organizing feeds into categories

Slauson: multiple gcals

Organizing feeds into categories

Arts Alive site

Arts alive hub

music

healthsports

environment

tech

Community Arts and Culture Hub

art

business

music art

Community Tech and Business Hub

tech business

State Hub A: Arts and Culture

Ann Arbor music

Ann Arbor art

Detroit music

Grand Rapids art

…State Hub B: Tech and Business

Ann Arbor tech

Ann Arbor business

Detroit tech

Lansing business

…

…

…

Big picture

For more information:

http://elmcity.cloudapp.net

jonu@microsoft.com