Event Calendar Re-Launched

Over the Christmas holiday we jumped at the opportunity to relive the most significant local news stories of 2011, as well as Kingstonist’s best posts, interviews and guides from the past year. As we reflected on the year that was, we also took some time to evaluate the things we’re doing right, as well as aspects of the site that need to be improved. Regarding the latter, our collective efforts were guided by an Email we received from Jolene Cheryl Simko, a thoughtful reader who challenged us to advance and enhance our events calendar. The gist of her plea reads as follows:

I write today in the interest of one thing: your online event calendar. How am I supposed to keep abreast of all upcoming events when, at first glance (the only glance that matters online), I only see a handful of articles about past events? So much is going on in this city every night, especially at this time of year.

If each event category is given a colour (much like Google calendar) a prospective visitor can peruse with unprecedented speed. The calendar can be manipulated so that only arts or sports events show at any given time based on their interests.

What do you think? Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my request!

While we have been continuously searching for better ways to integrate our event calendar, Jolene’s message motivated us to really focus in on this problem over the holiday. After hours of searching, testing and configuring, I’m pleased to announce that we’re moving towards better representation of all the fantastic things going on in Kingston. Our new and improved events calendar allows you to peruse upcoming events in both monthly calendar (pictured below left) and sequential list (pictured below right) formats. Additionally, we’ve added colour coded event types, which allow for easier identification of events based on our reader’s interests. As a start, our event categories feature: music, arts and culture, civic and community, as well sports and recreation, while these categories will likely expand and be refined as time marches on. Other fun features include venue maps, the ability to list ticket prices, organizer information and the list goes on.

In spite of these advances, we’re also aware that Kingstonist still has a ways to go before the events calendar is fully and truly representative of every little thing that’s going on in Kingston. In order to help us reach that goal, we’re investigating ways to provide local event organizers, promoters and other know-it-alls with a means to submit events directly to Kingstonist, rather that rely on dated press releases and other less timely means of updating.  Additionally, it’s also worth pointing out that there are still some stylistic tweaks that need to be made.

Testing and updating are ongoing, so please send us your feedback.  Tell us what you like, what you don’t like, and of course what appears to need a little TLC.  With your comments and help spreading the word about this ever-growing resource, we know that Kingstonist’s events calendar can continue to grow and serve as a real asset to the community.