One of the biggest complaints we all make about where we live is that we complain there is never anything to do. The reality of the situation is that in most cities all across America there are plenty of things happening you just aren't aware of what's going on.
Most cities have event calendars. These event calendars could be from the local newspaper, radio or TV station, local directories or even the visitor center. However, if there is not an event calendar in your area or the ones that are available are lacking, you should create your own. Below are some suggestions as to what your online calendar should look like and the features it should have.
The biggest and most important feature is that it should be free to post any event. If you charge people will not post their events and your event calendar has dies before it was event started. It would be a good idea to require people to register as this can help you police it as well as keep it from getting spammed to death.
Navigation is the next critical point for an online calendar. Allowing people to search for the types of events they are most interested in is critical. Common categories would be classes and work shops, arts, live music, comedy, civic, non-profits, sports and recreations, community events, food and home and garden.
Critical components of the navigation would be a side bar with categories or a drop down menu. A calendar for the visitor to click on a specific day to see what is happening. The ability to use a search or filter function is also important. You may even want to consider adding other categories such as city, times, and holidays to allow people to even further refine their search.
Another really cool feature that you should look at implementing is allowing people to purchase tickets directly from your site for events that are charging. Not only is this a really easy and cool thing your visitors will love it can also help you generate revenue.
Tie it all together with a map of what businesses are around the area where the event is happening. When someone clicks on an event they are interested in it should take them to a page for more details including maps, addresses, times and description. But the maps should pull in other info that the person would also want to know such as restaurants, bars, ice cream shops etc. that they can take advantage of before or after the event.
If you are worried about the expense of creating an event calendar or the technical experience required, relax. There are plenty of turnkey software programs, scripts, and plug-ins that you can purchase very inexpensively. And if you need technical assistance there are plenty of freelance websites out there with people who are eager and willing to work with you.
Looking for a good example of an event calendar? Check out event calendar Medford OR. One of the most popular sections of this event calendar is the live music in Medford OR section. Use this site to get your creative juices going when you are ready to build your own event calendar.
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