Re: [UG-ADMINS] Re: PHP User Group Directory

On 7/13/12 11:53 AM, Ben Ramsey wrote:
> I'm not doing anything behind the scenes, but these things do come up 
> from time to time. Corey and I recently discussed off-list the idea of 
> having a Google Calendar that we give everyone on this list the 
> permission to edit so we can at least be kept aware of all the UG 
> events going on around the world. We haven't really done anything with 
> it yet, though.

I maintained a Google calendar in the 2008->2009 timeframe. IIrc, Cal, 
Naramore, and a half dozen others had access. I can't find it now.

The problem we regularly run into on this list is *not* lack of 
motivation.. it's lack of time. The UG leaders are generally the busiest 
as we represent our local communities, our companies, our projects, and 
probably organize other things. This is definitely not criticism, the 
community could not be what it is without this dedication.

But therefore, we need something that *just works* with minimal effort 
from the UG leaders.

Towards that goal, I've worked with Ross Karchner from DC on Event 
Grinder - https://github.com/caseysoftware/eventgrinder
which can be used to roll out sites like - http://www.dctechevents.com/

Is it beautiful? No.. but it's automatically driven by the iCal feeds 
you give it. Therefore, it's self-updating for any group that's already 
on Meetup, Upcoming, or using almost any CMS's calendaring.

Sure, it's Python, but it works. And personally, I'd rather spend my 
time loading a system with good data as opposed to building yet another 
calendar.

My 0.02,
kc