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Web Communications Group>
Penn Web Calendar Group
Summary of discussion at the Penn Web Calendar Group meeting on 9.18.06
The group will provide input for a proposal/business case, created in conjunction with ISC, to support funding of the calendar project. Our mission is to:
- Clarify why we want a new and/or improved calendar
- List 5-8 high-level features we would like to have in our new calendar
- Identify potential calendar products that we might like to have implemented
- Identify five universities that have calendars we like
- Conduct a survey to obtain feedback on our current calendar
Why we want a new and/or improved calendar
- To better represent Penn’s brand and image
The look and feel of the current calendar is somewhat bland/homegrown in appearance and does not represent the high level of design that is otherwise seen throughout the central Penn web. Also the layout does not adequately convey the wide variety of events occurring at Penn on a daily basis.
- To increase viewership of the calendar by both internal and external audiences
Many do not use the Penn calendar for a variety of reasons relating to content, design, and functionality.
- To increase posting of event listings to the calendar
Due to a perceived lack of use of the calendar by audiences both inside and outside of Penn many choose not to post to the calendar, also, some people find the content management tool for inputting to the calendar is cumbersome.
- To create a more dynamic, attractive and user-friendly calendar presentation
The current calendar only presents text and the layout is not terribly exciting and is even confusing to some users. We would like to improve the design to make it more appealing to the eye as well as to improve the navigation so users are better able to find the events that pertain to their specific interests.
- To ensure the Penn calendar is adaptable to a growing number of new and/or emerging technologies
Many technologies have emerged since the calendar was built and we need to ensure that the calendar is adaptable to these technologies and is also set up so as to be able to adapt to future technologies.
List 5-8 features we would like to have in our new calendar
- Expanded information on event detail pages, including the ability to post photos, graphics and lengthier event descriptions.
- The ability to put special spotlight on events that are important or bring prestige to the University
- The ability to email event listings
- The ability to download calendar event listings to personal calendar software: desktops, PDAs and other mobile devices
- Expanded set of filtering tools to enable users to refine personal calendar views
- Print event option (to print out event only rather than full content of page)
The committee will continue to refine the desired feature list, meanwhile we will create two surveys, one for viewers and another for those who post to the calendar, to obtain feedback on various constituencies’ perceptions of the current calendar and to learn what changes they might like too see in a newer version.
Also — not discussed at the meeting, but important— we still need to discuss how we would like for the calendar to integrate with the Penn Digest, a new section of the central Penn web for news and events. We have talked about the Digest in our larger Penn Web Communications Group, and there will be more discussion on this topic at our next PWCG meeting.
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