MicroFormat Showcase Application Suggestion

Everybody is talking about how there needs to be a showcase application for microformats. Something that helps people understand the power of it.

There's also all of this talk of greasemonkey and ajax. Well, here is an awesome idea for all you geeks that want to save a lot of people a lot of time...

Write a greasemonkey script (or even a javascript bookmarklet) that parses an event from one event listing, microformats it, and then prepopulates it into a form for entry on another event website (or on a blog). In english, go to a WhizSpark (or socialweb) event listing, figure out what part of the page holds what, read it using javascript, go over to myspace, upcoming.org or EVDB and prepopulate the form. Then, all the user has to do is click submit. Make it a few click process to add an event to 50 websites.

Do you know how many bands and venues enter their event/gig into 50 different websites?  Do you know how much time this would save? Do you know how many people would then understand what microformats, reblg, etc can do?  A lot.

What other real world problems could we solve immediately by applying some of this goodness?

Comments

[Boris Mann]

Or...you build that functionality directly into your application and use the open APIs of those other systems to populate their databases directly.

And you fill out one form, none of this copy paste stuff.

For which we don't need microformats.

[peter caputa]

Good point. EVDB and upcoming both have APIs. Duh!

I am sure there will be countless sites that don't do this, though. So, there is still some purpose to my idea.

[Bookers]

this definately feasible with some work. feel free to throw some money my way.

[Nancy Tubbs]

Hey Pete - I agree, cool idea. I've been doing something similar for a couple years now, posting events to sites, papers, emails. The hard part is not the technology, though, it's getting the correct, complete information: all the pieces that each site wants. That includes the correct discounts to the appropriate lists, the right length description for each place, and getting the right event to the right list. And making it look nice and sound good, so people will want to come. (Same idea as those awesome Whizspark sites!)

I handle the Boston market and would be happy to spot you some free trials so you can check it out.

Your blog provides a daily jolt of creativity - thanks very much for writing it!

Nancy

[peter caputa]

Hi Nancy!

Thanks for your comment and complements. I'd love to talk to you about fullcalendar and see if there is any way we can help each other out.

[ryan]

Peter-

Taking the example of the bands' websites, why can't the band just publish the schedule on their own website and let others' index it? That's part of the power of microformats- you can publish anywhere and it can still be consumed programmatically.

-ryan

[peter caputa]

Good point, Ryan. That is the point of stuctured blogging or microformats. They are being pushed by search/aggregation companies (technorati and pubsub).

However, there are many event directories that will not give up all of their event data to search/aggregation sites so easily. So, in the meantime, this little script would be handy.

[peter caputa]

Oh. and these directories do provide value in the meanwhile until everyone switches over to sites that are more open, like EVDB and upcoming.org or until everyone can just publish their event through their weblog in a structured way and let the rest of the web syndicate or index it.

[Nancy Tubbs]

Hey Pete, you know Ryan works at Technorati, right?

Structured text and aggregators are fine, but we're a long ways away from a perfect world, as you say, Pete.

[peter caputa]

I did not know that Ryan was from Technorati. I guess he's stuck in that 'our way is the right way', I don't really need to tell you about my allegiances, kinda 'tude. Hey Ryan?

Just kidding. I should have clicked to your blog. Your point is very valid.

Nancy's point is more valid. We are a long way from web 2.0 saturation. With events, it certainly isn't going to happen overnight. We'll need some clever things and some powerful web influencers to get events into web 2.0. It'll come, but it won't be overnight.