All for One and One for All Calendar?

At lunch today several ideas crossed the table and one that caught my attention was the notion of an electronic community calendar. Wouldn't it be efficient if all community events were on one calendar?

Around the Preston home and studio we have calendars that mark when the dog gets the next flea treatment, our social appointments, fire department activities, doctors appointments etc. They are not all in one place. Studio appointments are at the studio, dog flea treatments are marked on the kitchen calendar and the bathroom calendar has assorted appointments that we often forget because the calendar is usually hidden behind the bath robes. Renee has appointments plugged into her phone and I have reminders on my computer. How confusing and inefficient.

The same is true for community events. So many calendars and so many events are just too confusing. Some events are covered in the local papers and others are in weekly bulletines. An idea of a community calendar was discussed and the mechanics are really quite simple. Using an internet master calendar from a Google type host, a community calendar can be generated. A calendar coordinator would need to be appointed and responsible for assigning access codes to each participating organization. Each participating organization, once registered, would update events specific to that organization. I envisage a mix of organizations participating including, churches, fraternal organizations, St. Joes, WVWC, CVB, Strawberry Festival,Chamber, SUBA, BURMA,City and county governments, WVU Extension service, schools, neighboring counties and CVB's etc. The list is almost endless.

This idea would only be successful if it was fully utilized and most importantly updated often. Another responsibility of the calendar coordinator might be to send reminders to all participants making sure updates are received in a timely manner (easily accomplished with a batch email). This idea falls into what I consider the regional approach to communication and networking.

As usual all good ideas need someone to champion the cause. If this idea strikes a positive cord with any reader, please let me know and I can put you in touch with other like minded people.