6) One-button click test
6) One-button click test
This is where your phone's calendar sync makes managing a local event list 10x easier.
Within your community there's a number of 'channels' local organizers post about events to get the word out locally.
Some post flyers on local bulletin boards and coffee shop windows, some create events on Facebook, some post on NextDoor, some post on IG, EventBrite, MeetUp, etc. The list goes on.
The cool part for you is that most digital places where folks post local events have built-in 'Add to Calendar' buttons that sync with your phone's calendar.
Instead of transcribing event info, just use this one-button shortcut.
All you have to do as the aggregator of community events is tap the 'Add to Calendar' button anytime you see a local event. Add it to your calendar and it will instantly show up on that event list page you made for everyone to see.
Let's do a test run!
Easy one-button click test
One of the most common places for adding events to your calendar in one click is Facebook. We'll use them to show the feature in action now.
Open the Facebook app on your phone.
Look along the bottom for an 'events tab' (1). If you don't see it then click on your profile picture/menu in bottom right to open up more options (2) and tap the 'Events' option.
You'll then see a page with a bunch of events FB 'thinks' you might be interested in, but if you look closely some of these could be over two hours away!
Use the tabs at the top (local/this week) to sort & find an upcoming event happening in YOUR COMMUNITY. Pick one event to use for this test.
It can be any kind of event, just make sure it's occurring in your town.
Tap the event and verify it's happening in your town/community. I'm in Fairfield so I can tell this Avatar event is in town and should be added to my website's community event list page.
As shown in the pic above, tap the 3 little dots to see more options.
Tap 'Add to Calendar'.
Choose the community calendar/account you added to your phone earlier (not your personal calendar).
Re-open FB and repeat the steps above. Hopefully your calendars will appear now after clicking the 3 little dots again.
After selecting your event calendar you should see a little popup that says 'Added to calendar'.
Take note of the event date.
Now let's go check that it all worked!
Back out of FB to your phone's home screen.
Open the default calendar app on your phone (if on Android you may have to select the community calendar to see it).
Does the event show up on the correct date?
- If yes, great, keep going!
- If no event appears at all, check your phone's calendar settings to ensure that all the appropriate calendars you want shown are marked as visible. If still running into an issue just reach out: vb@villageboom.org
Next, assuming the event appears on your phone's calendar, open up your website's event list page (the public facing live URL) and refresh the page as shown in second image above.
Scroll until you find the proper event date.
Does the event show up?
- If yes, perfect, keep going!
- If no, something went wrong and we should investigate together. Send me an email: vb@villageboom.org
Assuming this works for you, which it should, you're golden.
Instead of having to manually transcribe event info, those 'Add to Calendar' buttons are like a hyper-speed shortcut to fill out your event list website, so always keep an eye out for those buttons when hunting for events.
Test out how fast it is by pulling up FB on your phone again and adding another upcoming local event. It should only take seconds now that you know how to do it.
In a coming module I'll tell you about all the different sources that publish local events so you can start aggregating them for your community (and be known as a local leader).
Go ahead and start the next step.