Help me help you!! I am working with a couple groups right now to help either coordinate or promote different types of events. MNSubaru is one of those groups. **Note I am not the event coordinator for MNS, I just have a couple types of events I put together for MNS or cross promote with other groups. I think there will be an announcement about the new coordinator relatively soon. Anyway... I'd like to know how you keep track of your personal calendars. When events are coming up, how do you stay on top of them? Do you like "push" notifications where we actively send you updates? Examples would include email/text/facebook event notifications/etc. Do you like "pull" notifications like an RSS/news feed? Do you use .ica or other "portable" event formats? Do you like "event" sites like meetup.com? How do you prefer to be reminded and/or how do you like event info to be made available?
For me personally, if i recieved a PC(private conversation) notice on this forum, it would help me out. Maybe if we could set up a "subscribe" function that people that are interested in events could click on? It could PC everyone on the list about an upcoming event?
There is a "watch" feature baked in to the forums already, notification settings are configurable. What is it about PC notifications that you like? The email that gets pushed out? Is there an advantage for you to PC notification over a thread notification? Received differently maybe?
Well, when i log onto the forum the first thing that i personally notice is the "message/likes/alerts" section on the top right. I then look at my private messages, then my alert/likes, then directly to "What's new?". So the first thing is PC's. If i got notices for "all events", it would be helpful. I think that it would be too ambitious to try to PC specifically on "RallyX, AutoX, Dine and Drives...etc." But to just have a notification for all calender events would be decent IMO. I could sift through them easy enough on my own as related to my personnal interests.
Yup. I'm talking in more general terms. I'm involved with 4-5 organizations that plan events. Different demographics/event types/etc. The common thread I'm seeing in the feedback is events are not popping at people they way they want. I'm trying to get a good feel for how people track things in general so I can get them event info as intuitively and effortlessly as possible.
Hmmm. Well my free time lately has been pretty minimal, and i haven't even been able to make the MnSubaru events. So needless to say, i would just want the info for the events that are going on involved with MnSubaru. I am a different case i'm sure than others. I don't do any Facebookin/tweeterin/MySpacin...just MnSubaru. I'm a "one forum" kind of guy. lol
Facebook, as much as I hate it, the group and event systems on there are pretty well done. I know we have an MNSubaru group on there. You can create an event and invite members. If members say they will attend, it will message them whenever anyone posts in the event area. It's been pretty handy for some events I've run. But it's on Facebook, which for some, is a no-go. I agree with them, it sucks. Another option would be Google Calendar, but that would work more like an old email mailing list. It's great for people with Android phones though, as you can subscribe to the group calendar and it will alert you on your phone and on your task calendar (if you use it) when events are happening.
My schedule, I never forget and will be there early/first one there, I don't need any reminders. Mnsubaru events, its fine the way it is, here but it'll be nice if there was mnsubaru facebook account and be reminded there again too. I'm sure at least half of the members here have a facebook account
I ussually make a "list" on paper that i leave next to my calendar or on my desk as well as using my outlook calendar at work. I guess if I got fancy I could do an excel spreadsheet too lol.
For "car related" events: I typically compile a listing of all of my local SCCA Events as well as Sioux Falls and Minneapolis(webpages have info), BIR track days, the MAP Events(B4B, and PG), NHRA Nationals, MN Subaru events, C&C, and any other car shows, or stuff like that I think would be cool to include. I basically look at everything within 300 miles of Fargo, that way I know whats going on around the region to plan my "day trips" so I can plan parts hauling trips around other events since I am a bit further away from the rest of the group. Then I also put my personal, family, and other obligations in there to make sure they don't conflict. I originally started with a typical calendar, but some days got very congested.
If I see an event I want to go to I put it on the Google Calendar I have set up to share with my wife. If it doesn't get onto that calender there is basically zero chance I'll go.
I use the MNS google calendar and hope like hell that we (mods) get the events dumped into the calendar. I have about 6 different calendars that I follow, so I am using that feature the most. And for those that do not know, Calendar http://mnsubaru.com/pages/calendar/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MNSubaru Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/109855252449938377855/109855252449938377855/posts Russ
I would be an except to this as well as I know my Motorsport schedule a year in advance. And I would have already made arrangements in December before the start of the new season. There are two types of events I'm involved with, non competive where I'm part of the organization planning and host these events. I get an email notification a month in advance prior to the event going down line by line on what tasks needs to be done prior to the event. Then the competitive events, I would have put a +4-12 month step by step plan in place leading up to the event. I use Google Calender my primary reminder and also receive emails from Motorsportreg.com, as for MNSubaru events once I'm committed it will be in my calender and will have a 2 week reminder leading up to the event. What I'd like to see is an integrated MNSubaru Monthly Events Calender of all the events in one view, then you can select the different types of events by tab to help make it easier to follow. The pop up reminders on the forum would be nice as it would help bring more awareness to the members of upcoming events. I know just how difficult it is to host an event and even more to keep it around for the following years. If we can help stimulate more interests our community will have a healthy event community base.
This. All of it. I use my phone to pull from a variety of sources and give me a single calendar. I have a bunch of events with dates now that are ready to push, but I don't want to push to channels nobody is actually going to use. Again, these are mostly events that will be posted on MNSubaru, but there are a number of other groups that will see these as well. Ultimately I'm trying to nail down 4-5 channels that people unconsciously use every day so they don't even have to think about it once they've "opted in" to a channel. What's the word with Twitter? Are people using that for event-y stuff?
Where does that information come from? Only forums/websites for all of that? Yeah, google calendar has nice sync options for most platforms and it doesn't suck too bad on its own. I'm likely going to use that for all the stuff I have now. MotorsportReg.com isn't seeing the adoption rate we were hoping for with the local LOL/SCCA road rallies. It takes care of a healthy chunk of people but leaves out too many. It is pretty nice for dealing with fees/daily memberships/etc from what I hear. Most of the events I want to put out there right now are winter/spring TSD rallies. I need a system.
For our BMW community base we send out 2 news blast to all club members informing them of the next two events, the first a month in advance and the second two weeks prior to event unless the event is sold out. How about putting a banner or news flash on the top of the site with this info.
Maybe I'm just not busy enough but If something is important enough I just "remember" what is coming up. These fancy applications seem to be a useful way to notify people that may be otherwise unaware of something, but in our personal lives I really think people like to make their super busy schedules out to be bigger deals than they are.
I think that alot of it has to do with the fact that, as event planners we spend alot of leg time putting stuff together, and only to see a fairly 'weak' turnout. Some of the events are easy to put together when it's just show up at Old Chicago or Firestone/HarMar, but others are months of planning. If we all can chip in our 2 cents to nail down a way to get more people out to enjoy a day with their Subaru family, we all have an even better event! I'm also not saying that we haven't had "good" turnouts, just think that we could do better. LaXCruise obviously comes to mind for me. 6 years running and have always had "decent" turnouts, but i always imagined something like 100 Subarus marching down the highway rattling windows. It's only once a year. It is as cheap as we can make it. I know it's a decently long trip, but we are car nuts that love a good drive. So ultimately i wonder, is it the drive, the money, or that people simply don't remember/just don't have the organizational skills to actually make it? Either way, i do agree that if someone is into something enough that they'll make sure to remember and not miss the event.
It's because I really enjoy the sport and the community that despite my close friends not coming I'd still make the trip had I been informed with enough advance notice. There's soo much fun and cool stuff to do and learn about at these events that even without prizes I still make an appearance just to have a chance to ask my own questions and see what the experience is like outside of the Online Shop Talk. I still think the best form of advertisement or notification is "word of mouth" that enthusiam speaks wonders. I've been to many different club events and imo the most important thing that we always work on is making sure everyone feels welcome and having fun.
That gets into a huge conversation about whether or not people SHOULD rely on a given external system for organization. However one feels about it, it is now the norm and I have to recognize that if I want to ensure high exposure while promoting events. That's just how it is. OTOH, regular old mail is the preferred method for some folks I work with. No mailer means no show for that particular group. I know that's how they work and I HAVE to use mail if I want to ensure those folks include info in their personal planning. It's not always a question of fancy pants mobile technology. That's why I'm more interested in how people do things in general vs one specific platform.
Well, you can use the calendar link I posted above (or the tab in the header) to get to our google calendar. What I have done in the past and will continue to do (as time permits) is add as many events to it as I have info about. I have different colors/labels for each groups events to make them look a bit different in the calendar. The MNS calendar is followable so anyone can follow along. As I update our calendar, it will also be added to your calendar. Adding as many local events as I can to our calendar also helps us (MNS) plan events that will not fall on other events. I can also try to start making site wide notifications for events as they get closer. A lot of it comes down to time for everyone. Time for us (MNS) to advertise the events on the site, in the calendar, on facebook, on google+ and maybe event throw out a few tweets about it. If the members are not following any of those items, it is up to the member to go above and beyond what they are doing. I also want to really start using more of our social media outlets, but at this time, I don't have any (time). As my schedule frees up or I can find someone interested in really pushing social media side (hint hint), it will be a "as we get to it" kinda thing. Russ
Thanks Russ, I'd be happy to help add the Events I'm involved with if I had access to make entries on the calender.
