Topic: New event layout?

[John Gimber: Webmaster]

Hi All

Just looking for opinions on a new layout I'm thinking of trying out for event ads...

http://www.leroc-in-bristol.co.uk/Events_Details.asp#testlayout

Any thoughts?

It adds a new section for linking to previous reviews of events by the organisers, and also to any ongoing chats about the event coming up on the forum too.

John.

[John Gimber: Webmaster]

You may have more luck with this link instead:

http://www.leroc-in-bristol.co.uk/Events_Details.asp#CLR_Dance

Sorry! 

[philsmove]

John

Rather than copying or scanning event information

Why not put a simple link to organisers web site

This means the responsibly for any up date?s remains with the organisers

For example I think the information here might be out of date

http://www.leroc-in-bristol.co.uk/Classes_Mon_LeRoc2000.asp

The last time I Mentioned this you correctly pointed out that some classes and events did not have web site, but I think this is no longer the case

[John Gimber: Webmaster]

Well I'm still going to keep the class pages, but I will reduce the amount of info on them significantly - removing any "advertising chuff" and just having the basics in summary form (times, prices, location, links, etc.).

That'll mean a lot less to update. 

I'm having a bit of a site-shrink to keep it a bit easier to maintain and read.

The scanning of the event leaflets is a bit of a two-edged sword.  It does take a few minutes (unless I'm supplied with the electronic copy by the organisers - in which case it takes just seconds), but does have a few advantages:

• In the past I've been accused of putting on incorrect information onto the site, when in fact I've advertised as requested by the organisers.  With the scans, people can see for themselves exactly what the organiser is proposing for each event, and these usually have more info on than the organiser's online ads.
• People can print them off and take them away if required - giving a larger distribution for the ads.
• I think it's a nice "selling point" of the site - not many sites do this.

One of the problems of just pointing to everyone elses sites is that this site would be quite pointless without any info on it, so I think the info is one of the main uses of it - everything in one place.  That's one of the reasons I created this site in the first place to coordinate the info to avoid clashes etc.

On the event calendar one thing I do have is a link for each event to take the reader straight to the organiser's site, so the choice is there to either use my copy of the info, or go straight-to-source and see what the organiser has to say instead.

There is one other benefit to my event write-ups - some organisers just put a list of dates up for their dances, whereas I try to provide the prices, times, maps, links to reviews of the previous dances and to the upcoming event, etc.  Usually it's a fair bit more than what is on the organiser sites.

I'm always open to suggestions though, and will keep reviewing it from time to time.

John.

[philsmove]

" and just having the basics in summary form (times, prices, location, links, etc.).

John.

It would be good if there was a quick comparison, as  some sites miss (or hide)   vital information, such as prices

Are you going to pubish the advetised times or the times the classes actually start ( and Finish) 

[John Gimber: Webmaster]

A quick-comparison chart - that's an idea I like.  I'll probably pop that onto the main Classes page.

Published start vs. actual start times - challenge.  I think the best way to handle that issue is to provide a link from each class page to the class review board on the forum, then people can zoom straight in onto what the dancers think of the class.

Hmmm, food for thought.  Karma for that.

John.

[Nick M]

One of the problems of just pointing to everyone elses sites is that this site would be quite pointless without any info on it, so I think the info is one of the main uses of it - everything in one place.  That's one of the reasons I created this site in the first place to coordinate the info to avoid clashes etc.

I disagree here. The advantage of the web is that linking is so easy, and that information need only be in once place. The role of sites such as yours can be the coordination of links from a set of disparate sources, not neccessarily the duplication of a lot of information. Everything would still be in one place -  the web.

[philsmove]

The layout used by UK Jive seems a good compromise

The calendar provides a link to a summery page for each organiser, with a link   for more details

The summery page is necessary for SEO

Its main down side is, it only shows a calander for the week ahead

Although you can search for a particular date

[John Gimber: Webmaster]

I have a fair amount of that already though:

On the calendar page, each event is broken down as follows:

- Date

- Location

- Summary

• Link to the class summary page on this site.
• Link to the venue and map details for the event.

- Full Event Into (takes you straight to the write-up of the event, whether this is in the Event Details page, on the Forum, or on the organiser's own site).

- View Venue Map (takes you straight to the map page for the event).

- View Class Page (takes you straight to the class summary page for the organisers).

- View Web Site (takes you straight to the organiser's own website for further info).

On the Events Details page itself, you get significantly more info per event:

- Info Links

• Link to the summary page for the class / organiser on this site.
• Link to the website of the organiser directly.

- Venue Map (takes you straight to the map / venue details on this site).

- View Leaflet

• Link to a scanned picture of the flyer as distributed by the organiser
• Link to a PDF version of the flyer, for printing.

- Telephone details (direct call details to the organiser).

- Show All Events (displays the calendar page, filtered only to show events for this organiser).

- Chat On The Forum

• Link to a review of the last event like this, hosted by the organiser.  i.e. what was it like last time?
• Link to the advert for this event on the forum - see what is happening, and see what people are thinking about it.

On top of that, the full details (usually) of the event in summary form.

Usually there's more there than on the organisers' sites themselves, e.g. maps, venue info, full leaflet scan, etc.

The events calendar drives all this though - for each event, you can choose whether to hunt for the info on the organiser's own site, or use the local copy which provides the extra info.

Search-wise, the calendar page allows you to search for...

• Everything from a particular date onwards.
• Everything between 2 dates.
• Everything up to a particular date.
• Every dance by a particular organiser (or all organisers).
• Every dance of a particular type, or all dance types.
• Any combination of the above together, e.g. everything between 01/09/2007 and 20/09/2007, which is a dance, and is held by Clifton LeRoc).  By default it shows everything from today onwards though.

I always ensure that any information has a link back to the organiser though, giving the user the choice.