Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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COLLABORATION MEETING MANAGEMENT IN A WEB-BASED
INTERACTIVE MEETING FACILITY
[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0002] A system and a method consistent with the present invention broadly
relates to
organizing real-world gatherings. More particularly, the present invention is
consistent with
providing an automated, computer-assisted system and a method for organizing a
real-world
gathering for a particular topic of interest.
Description of the Related Art:
[0003] In social networking, people are often interested in forming groups
or having
gatherings centered on common interests. In the past, groups might form or
gatherings may
be held within the confines of a social or organizational setting, such as a
school, community
center, private club, or the like. Today the Internet offers a much more
powerful tool for
social networking. However, there still lacks an Internet social networking
facility that
provides a centralized way for people to manage groups for or events of in-
person meetings
through the Internet, and as such, help maintain ongoing local interest
groups, create
meetings around events, and the like.
[0004] The Internet now is one of the most popular sources for obtaining
and sharing
information. One popular activity associated with the Internet is
communication between
people, and notably people who May be separated by vast distances. Some
familiar
technologies that facilitate communication and involve the Internet include
email, bulletin
boards, virtual chat rooms, blogs, instant message systems, Internet-based
social
communications facilities, and the like. This set of technologies, and those
that are similar, =
are characterized by being substantially solely on-line.
[0005] In other words, the foregoing set of well-known Internet related
applications
support geographically distributed communications, and do not have .as their
objective
anything more.
[0006] In spite of the increased ability to communicate on-line, however,
many people
still are interested in meeting together in person with other people who are
interested in the
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same topic, event, and the like. What is needed is a way to harness the
formidable
communications capabilities of the Internet to help support and facilitate
such in-person topic
or event related gatherings (herein, "gatherings" and "meetings" shall be
interchangeably
used, and shall unless otherwise noted refer to in-person gatherings).
[0007] The challenges of organizing real-world gatherings are much
different from those
of organizing online meetings. For example, to engage in online chat, there is
no question of
physical location, distance from home, availability of venue, or the like. All
of the foregoing
considerations and more, including intangibles such as social dynamics, make
organizing
real-world gatherings a more difficult and complex task.
[0008] Known Internet communication tools are insufficient for the task. In
particular,
email alone is inadequate because a person in one area has no organized way of
approaching
the problem of finding the identities and addresses of others in his area who
are interested in
a given topic and also interested in a topic-related meeting. Instant
messaging and chat rooms
alone are likewise inadequate for the same reasons.
[0009] Message boards and blogs are insufficient by themselves because
these tools are
not designed to allow a person to begin with a topic of interest or event,
find an associated
message board or blog that is relevant to the topic or event, and identify
participants of the
board or blog who are in a person's area and who are interested in an in-
person topic or event
related meeting.
[0010] Internet dating and introduction services are related to the idea of
in-person
meetings, but only on a one-to-one model, and all of these services are
agnostic with respect
to a particular topic of interest; instead, such services focus on
compatibility with the idea of
forming a relationship and not on meeting in a group setting to discuss a
given topic of
mutual interest. In effect, these services facilitate only one-off (non-
recurring) gatherings in
only a single geographical locale.
[0011] Internet newsgroups are topic related, but provide no support to a
person who
wants to attend a topic or event related meeting in person in his own
geographic area.
[0012] Additionally, so-called "social networking" services, such as
SixDegrees, provide
a system for users to be introduced to friends of friends via website
communication and/or
email, but again provide no support to a person who wants to attend a topic or
event-related
gathering in person in a selected geographic area.
[0013] Internet invitation services likewise are inadequate to fulfill the
above-identified
need. Such services, of which Evite is an example, allow users to enter the
email addresses of
invitees to private events. Automated invitations are sent by the service, and
each invitee
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may accept or decline the invitation. Separately, users may browse or search
the Evite
website directory of public events, but all the events are one-off, non-
recurring events, and all
the events must be submitted by individual users choosing to publicize already
existing
events. It is impossible for persons who are not already acquainted to use the
system to self-
organize into groups, and to attend topic-related in-person gatherings with
others in a given
locale. Evite thus does not provide an automated method for strangers with a
common
interest to self-organize into real-world, local groups.
[0014] General information postings, such as ads or articles in print media
and signs
posted around town, are well known. This approach starts with a meeting at a
date and time
certain, and then advertises the meeting. Posting such notices in common
locations such as a
town square or popular bulletin board is now possible online as well. One such
example of
this approach is a "craigslist" type website (see, e.g., dc.craigslist.com),
where people
wishing to advertise meetings can easily make such a posting. Such posting
approaches,
however, are limited in that they begin with a predetermined meeting location,
date, and time,
and require a group already to be formed. No self-formation of groups or
meetings takes
place, and the location of the posted meeting cannot be determined by those
interested in
attending. Furthermore, the posted events are typically one-off, non-recurring
events. Any
group continuity depends on the efforts of the person doing the posting, and
no support along
these lines is provided by the website.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] An objective of the invention, among other objectives which will
become apparent
from reading the description herein, is to provide an automated or partly
automated system to
overcome the above-mentioned problems by facilitating local in-person
gatherings of people
brought together by a common interest.
[0016] One embodiment of the invention is a fully automated system in which
the
facilitation of such meetings does not include a person being designated as a
group leader.
Another embodiment of the invention provides for a group leader. In the
description below,
the invention will be taught first according to the leaderless embodiment, and
afterward
according to an embodiment that includes the concept of a group leader.
Alternative
embodiments will be presented as part of the discussion.
[0017] The below-described illustrative, non-limiting embodiments of the
present
invention overcome the above disadvantages and problems in the prior art, and
also may
provide solutions to other disadvantages and problems that were not described
above. Also, a
system that operates according to the teachings of the present invention is
not necessarily
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required to overcome any of the particular problems or disadvantages described
above. The
appended claims should be consulted to ascertain the true scope of the
invention.
[0018] It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a system and a
method
consistent with facilitating the creation, organizing, scheduling, and joining
of in-person (also
referred to as "real-world") group gatherings of interest around a topic, -
event, or the like.
[0019] The present invention may provide for a computer system for
organizing in-
person gatherings of users of topic-related interest, comprising a web-based
meeting
management facility having a user interface accessible to a plurality of
users, wherein each of
the plurality of users may use the user interface to join at least one of a
plurality of meeting
groups based on at least one of topic-related interest and geographic locale,
where a user
becomes a member when they join the meeting group; and a server-based
progressive
announcement facility for enabling an organizer to control a time-staged
meeting
announcement release related to a meeting group based on an announcement
delivery
parameter, wherein the time-staged meeting announcement release includes a
plurality of
time-staged meeting announcements each including at least one user within the
plurality of
users.
[0020] In embodiments, the organizer of a meeting group may set the set the
meeting
group into a collaborative management mode where members .of the meeting group
may
create, collaboratively edit, and the like, meetings associated with the
meeting group. The
organizer may set the meeting group into a moderated collaboration mode, where
members of
the group may propose the creation of a meeting but where the organizer
retains approval
rights for the nieeting. The organizer may set the meeting group into an open
collaboration
mode, where a member of the meeting group is able to add or edit any meeting.
The
organizer may also set the collaboration mode to a closed collaboration mode
where members
are disabled from any features available through collaborative meeting
management
resources. In addition, the organizer may choose to make a meeting editable by
a subset of
members of the group regardless of the collaboration mode.
[0021] These and other systems, methods, objects, features, and advantages
of the present
invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following
detailed description of
the preferred embodiment and the drawings. All documents mentioned herein :
May be referred to.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] The invention and the following detailed description of certain
embodiments
thereof may be understood by reference to the following figures:
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[0023] Fig. 1 shows a specific embodiment of a highest level of a
hierarchical
arrangement of topics according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0024] Fig. 2 shows a specific example of a second-highest level of a
hierarchical
arrangement of topics according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0025] Fig. 3 shows an exemplary flow diagram for a part of the processing
according to
one embodiment of the invention.
[0026] Fig. 4 shows an exemplary flow diagram of another part of the
processing
according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0027] Fig. 5 shows a flow diagram showing how an organizer-based meeting
facility
may be implemented in an embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] Fig. 6 shows a flow diagram showing how meeting groups may be formed
through
user generated interest in an embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] Fig. 7 shows a flow diagram showing how the meeting facility may
include an
integrated financial management in an embodiment of the present invention.
[0030] Fig. 8 shows a flow diagram showing how revenue may be generated
through
sponsorship in an embodiment of the present invention.
[0031] Fig. 9 depicts an embodiment of a main profile page.
[0032] Fig. 10 depicts an embodiment of an alert list process page.
[0033] Fig. 11 depicts an embodiment of a start a meeting group tab with
customization.
[0034] Fig. 12 depicts an embodiment of a start planning meetings with new
organizer
group home page.
[0035] Fig. 13 depicts an embodiment of an organizer's checklist page.
[0036] Fig. 14 depicts an embodiment of a meeting group home page.
[0037] Fig. 15 depicts an embodiment of a calendar page.
[0038] Fig. 16 depicts an embodiment of an organizer resources page.
[0039] Fig. 17 depicts an embodiment of a city calendar page.
[0040] Fig. 18 depicts an embodiment of a creating an event page.
[0041] Fig. 19 depicts an embodiment of a printable ticket.
[0042] Fig. 20 depicts an embodiment of a payments received page with a
detailed view
of an event with payments turned on.
[0043] Fig. 21 depicts an embodiment of a find a meeting place page.
[0044] Fig. 22 depicts an embodiment of a venue details page.
[0045] Fig. 23 depicts an embodiment of a calendar implementation for an
automatic
scheduling user interface.
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[0046] Fig. 24 depicts an embodiment of an edit function for automatic
scheduling.
[0047] Fig. 25 depicts an embodiment of a statistical analytic for RSVPs
received to a
meeting group.
[0048] Fig. 26 depicts an embodiment of a voting function as provided
through a user
interface.
[0049] Fig. 27 depicts an embodiment of a container creation interface for
an event.
[0050] Fig. 28 depicts an embodiment of an event being associated with a
social
networking site such as Twitter.
[0051] Fig. 29 depicts an embodiment of a map of events.
[0052] Fig. 30 depicts an embodiment of an information page for a specific
event.
[0053] Fig. 31 depicts an embodiment of a specific event being associated
with a social
network site such as Facebook.
[0054] Fig. 32 depicts an embodiment for a user interface to allow an
individual to
become an event organizer.
[0055] Fig. 33 depicts an embodiment for a user interface for editing event
information
such as its venue.
[0056] Fig. 34 depicts an embodiment for a user interface for contacting
respondents for
an event.
[0057] Fig. 35 depicts an embodiment for a user interface for posting a
comment for an
event.
[0058] Fig. 36A-B depict embodiment flow diagrams for a progressive
announcement
facility.
[0059] Fig. 37 depicts an embodiment flow diagram for a collaborative mode
of
managing meeting groups.
[0060] While the invention has been described in connection with certain
preferred
embodiments, other embodiments would be understood by one of ordinary skill in
the art and
are encompassed herein.
[0061] All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by
reference.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0062] The present invention will now be described in detail by describing
various
illustrative, non-limiting embodiments thereof with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not
be
construed as being limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth herein.
Rather, the
embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and
complete, and will
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fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. The
claims should be
consulted to ascertain the true scope of the invention.
[0063] This illustrative, non-limiting embodiment of the present invention
is a software
application that organizes real-world group gatherings around a topic of
interest. The
software application can be delivered to the user via a web-based graphical
user interface.
The software application can also be deployed over a dedicated computer
network (e.g., a
LAN or a WAN), or via a stand-alone computer system for a particular company,
such as an
intranet installation, or by some other means. For simplicity and ease of
discussion, various
illustrative, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be
described with
reference to an Internet / world wide web-based system, with the understanding
that networks
or communications systems similar to, but not identical with the Internet, may
of course be
used.
[0064] On a practical level, the software that enables the computer system
to perform the
operations described in further detail below may be supplied on any one of a
variety of
media. Furthermore, the actual implementation of the approach and operations
of the
invention are actually statements written in a programming language. Such
programming
language statements, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to act in
accordance
with the particular content of the statements. Furthermore, the software that
enables a
computer system to act in accordance with the invention may be provided in any
number of
forms including, but not limited to, original source code, assembly code,
object code,
machine language, compressed or encrypted versions of the foregoing, and any
and all
equivalents.
[0065] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that "media", or
"computer-readable
media", as used here, may include a diskette, a tape, a compact .disc, an
integrated circuit, a
ROM, a CD, a cartridge, a remote transmission via a communications circuit, or
any other
similar medium useable by computers now known or hereafter developed. For
example, to
supply software for enabling a computer system to operate in accordance with
the invention,
the supplier might provide a diskette or might transmit the software in some
form via satellite
transmission, via a direct telephone link, or via the Internet. Thus, the
term, "computer
readable medium" is intended to include all of the foregoing and any other
medium by which
software may be provided to a computer.
[0066] Although the enabling software might be "written on" a diskette,
"stored in" an
integrated circuit, or "carried over" a communications circuit, it will be
appreciated that, for
the purposes of this application, the computer usable medium will be referred
to as
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"including" the software. Thus, the term "including" is intended to encompass
the above and
all equivalent ways in which software is associated with a computer usable
medium. For the
sake of simplicity, therefore, the term "program product" is thus used to
refer to a computer
useable medium, as defined above, which includes in any form of software to
enable a
computer system to operate according to the above-identified invention. Thus,
the invention
is also embodied in a program product including software instructions which
enable a
computer or computers to organize a real-world gathering for a particular
topic of interest
according to the invention.
[0067] In this illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, the system allows for
an automated
organization of a real-world gathering of two or more individuals around a
common topic of
interest. The gatherings are real-world, face-to-face meetings that take place
in at least one
city and small towns in various countries around the world. The gatherings can
take place at
various venues such as local cafes, restaurants, stores, bar or other
establishments.
[0068] The following terms are used throughout the specification and are
defined as
follows:
[0069] Topic: A subject or interest around which members of the system form
groups,
e.g., Pug Owners, Spanish Language, Environmental Defense, and/or have events.
[0070] Event: A gathering of individuals around a subject of interest,
where the
individuals may not be a part of a chapter, group, or even know one another.
[0071] Locale: A defined geographical location, even including definitions
such as the
area within a radius from a given zip or postal code.
[0072] Chapter: This is the intersection of a topic and a locale, e.g., Pug
Owners,
Louisville, Kentucky. In other words, it is a group of members organized
locally around a
topic of interest.
[0073] Gathering: A real-life, face-to-face meeting of a chapter. A
gathering may be a
periodic gathering, such as a monthly gathering, although other frequencies
can be used. A
gathering may be referred to as an in-person meeting, or a Meetup (Meetup is a
trademark of
Meetup, Inc.).
[0074] Organizer: Member who chooses to start and run a local chapter.
[0075] Event Container: An event container, or simply container, is a
network of
affiliated events in topic, time, and/or geography, where the container is
initiated by a
promoter. In embodiments, the container may also be implemented as including a
single
event.
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[0076] Promoter: An individual who initiates a container, where the
promoter uses the
container to create and bound certain aspects of the events, such as a
description of the
events, date of the events, time of the events, what freedoms others will have
in creating the
particulars of the event, and the like.
[0077] Coordinator: An individual who chooses to coordinate an event.
[0078] Event Location: An event location, or simply 'location' in the
context of
describing a container or event, is the city or town that an event may take
place.
[0079] Venue: This is a meeting place, which may be suggested by the
system, a
member, an organizer, a coordinator, a promoter, and the like, e.g., a
restaurant, a café, a
park, a library, a private home, etc.
[0080] A system according to this embodiment of the invention automates the
organization of real-world gatherings around a topic of interest. A visitor to
the system
(which may be referred to as a member or participant) typically provides his
or her location
via a zip code, postal code, or city, then searches or browses for a topic of
interest, e.g.,
Spanish Language. The system may return a list of local chapters that meet for
Spanish
Language conversation practice, sorted by distance from the user's location.
In addition, the
visitor can search for a topic of interest without providing a locale. That is
to say, the order of
providing locale information and topic of interest information is not critical
in this
embodiment.
[0081] The topics of interest and the locales may be organized using a
multiple-level
hierarchy. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, a set of highest level topics may
be defined, and
linked to sub-topics in a known manner. Activating the link to "Language" in
the set of
highest level topics may result in a display of sub-topics such as shown, for
example, in Fig.
2.
[0082] Fig. 2 represents an embodiment in which, regardless of the user's
locale, there is
defined a date and time certain for the topic. Thus, a user interested in the
particular topic of
"Spanish Language" can, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, be provided with
the
worldwide date and time for the in-person meeting relating to the Spanish
language,
independent of locale.
[0083] Going further with the example, assuming the user has already
provided his locale
information by indicating a relevant zip code, city name, latitude/longitude
information, or
the like, information about the next meeting or gathering of the local chapter
for the particular
topic may be provided by activating the "Spanish Language" link.
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[0084] In the situation in which no chapter existed already in the user's
locale, the user
could be presented with nearby locales having chapters for that particular
topic. In one
instance of the invention, the system will automatically instantiate a chapter
when a user
searches for a topic and a locale where no chapter currently exists.
[0085] Instead of searching through a hierarchy of topics, the system may
provide a user
with the ability to carry out a keyword-based search. It will be appreciated
that other .
variations on topic selection are possible and are within the scope of the
invention.
[0086] When the user searches for a topic of interest without the locale
being known by
the system, the user may be provided with the topic information and the
information about all
the chapters associated with this topic. Once the visitor selects and/or finds
a locale and a
topic of interest, the visitor has found a chapter (it will be recalled from
the definitions
section, above, that the chapter is an intersection of a particular topic and
a locale).
[0087] The visitor may be presented with available information about the
chapter,
including, without limitation: a number of members in the chapter, member
photos and
biographies, a chapter creation date, a brief description of the chapter, a
longer description, a
calendar of events, event photos, message boards and so on. In the embodiment
in which
there is a chapter organizer, the organizer's identity may be indicated along
with relevant
organizer information.
[0088] In addition, a local chapter may also provide information about
other chapters
worldwide. This information may include details on nearby chapters, numbers of
members
worldwide, photos of members worldwide, and links to their message boards.
[00891 The system may also provide communications tools for members to
communicate
between chapters, e.g., a topic-level message board "General Spanish Language
Board" and
web logging tools "General Spanish Language Blog." Chapter information may be
split up
into a number of logical parts, which can be easily navigated e.g., through
the use of tabs.
Those familiar with this field will understand that other variations are
possible and are within
the scope of the invention.
[0090] In this exemplary system, gatherings may be organized for one or
more types of
chapters. One type of chapter is a leaderless chapter, according to a first
embodiment of the
invention. In a leaderless chapter, the system operates completely
automatically, including
fully automatic selection of the date and the time for the gathering, and the
candidate venues
for the users. That is, a gathering is automatically scheduled by the system.
[0091] In the first embodiment of the invention, there may be provided a
system
administrator who has a manual override capability to handle special
scheduling problems,
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but a feature of the first embodiment is that there is provided a fully
automated manner of
facilitating in-person, topic-related meetings of persons, by geographic area.
For the sake of
linguistic convenience, a chapter according to this first embodiment of the
invention may be
referred to as a leaderless chapter.
[0092] According to a second embodiment of the invention, there is provided
another
type of chapter, having a person who is denominated as an organizer. It will
be understood
that "organizer" is used as a term of linguistic convenience, and is meant to
generally refer to
the idea of a person who is a contact person, and allows for situations in
which the organizer
is a group leader, a moderator, a facilitator, a secretary, or any other
similar role. It will be
understood that the automated system is performing an important and
significant amount of
the organizing itself.
[0093] A chapter according to this second embodiment of the invention,
having an
organizer, may be thought of for the sake of linguistic convenience, as a led
chapter.
[0094] In a led chapter, local organizers are free to take part in the
larger event, and/or to
set their own day and time to meet. In one embodiment, organizers may select
from a list of
other chapters and topics to affiliate with. For example, the organizer of a
local Christian
Athletes chapter is provided by the system the ability to indicate an
affiliation with the local
Bible Study chapter as well as with other Christian Athletes chapters in
nearby towns. That
is, affiliations can be geographical and/or topical. Such affiliations may be
listed on that
organizer's local chapter home page.
[0095] Organizers, according to another embodiment, can allow the system to
create an
automatic voting ballot of two or more candidate venues (i.e., utilize a
predetermined set of
venues already in the system), but make changes prior to releasing the voting
ballot for
voting. The organizer may add extra venues, or replace venues on the system's
voting ballot.
Moreover, the organizer may nominate new venues, including private homes
(i.e., utilize a set
of venues that was not selected from the predetermined set of venues already
in the system).
[0096] In another embodiment, the organizer may simply choose a venue for
the
gathering, thereby overriding the need to vote.
[0097] Organizers may be provided with tools for managing their chapter.
They may use
the system to send notifications and messages directly to members. They may
create polls
and ballots to survey members on particular subjects, for example, choosing
activities or
agenda items. They may limit or terminate membership in the chapter, and grant
member
privileges such as the ability to choose or nominate a venue, edit messages,
edit profile
information, and so on.
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[0098] In general, the system may require a user become a member before
providing any
specific information about chapters or members. For example, the system may
require the
user to furnish a verifiable email address and a password as a precondition of
membership, or
other information as well, including a zip code or other geographic locale
indicator.
[0099] Once a member, a user may be permitted to join a local chapter of
any type. The
user may then receive a welcome message and an automated email notification of
a real-life,
face-to-face gathering. In addition, the user may set his profile for the
chapter including
nicknames (usernames), personal biographical or other information, personal
pictures, email
contact options (allowing other members of the chapter to contact them), and
other related
information. The member may set up different profiles for different chapters.
In addition, the
member may set up alerts. For example, the member may .set up an alert to
receive a
notification when a new message is posted to the message board.
[00100] The members may volunteer to be a host for an upcoming gathering. A
host is
different from an organizer, although both functions could of course be
performed by the
same person at a given time. A host is an attendee of a gathering who helps
get the meeting
started by helping attendees find each other. The host function is important
because the
people who attend a meeting may never have met, and because the venue may be
large or
noisy, making it difficult for such persons to actually connect with each
other.
[00101] A host may perform some simple tasks to facilitate the gathering, such
as printing
out a sign and putting it on a tabletop, or bringing nametags and a marker.
According to one
embodiment of the invention, the system includes functions for automatically
generating
flyers, nametags, and/or table top signs for the chapter. The message on such
promotional
materials is specific to each chapter. The host just needs to print them out
and bring them to
the gathering.
[00102] According to one embodiment of the invention, the system may
automatically
schedule a worldwide or nationwide repeating gathering day, such as an
"International
Spanish Language Day." According to this embodiment, the system may schedule
the
periodic gathering for all chapters of the "Spanish Language" particular topic
on the same
day, and optionally at the same time, all over the world. Here, "at the same
time" can mean
an identical local time, in which case the chapters in different time zones
are not meeting
contemporaneously. It can also mean an identical time regardless of time zone,
such as a
standard time for chapters to meet all across the world. In other words, for a
given topic, an
identical calendar date and optionally an identical time is used for the
automatic scheduling
of the in-person gatherings for all of the chapters associated with the topic.
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[00103] According to another embodiment, local chapters may set their own day
and time
to meet by carrying out a voting operation facilitated by the system or by a
chapter organizer
setting a day, time and recurrence using tools provided by the system.
[00104] The advantages of a worldwide or national gathering day are several.
For
example, assume the particular topic "Yoga" has a worldwide gathering day of
the first
Saturday of every month at 12 pm. A local Yoga chapter gathering at 12 pm on
the first
Saturday of the month in Washington DC knows that Yoga chapters all over the
world are
gathering at their own local time. Because of this arrangement, national media
can be used to
inform the public of such meetings, and national organizations can direct
people to the local
version of the topic, e.g., the Yoga chapters can announce that Monday, April
12th is this
month's Yoga day. By providing a single website URL, for example, interested
persons can
automatically be directed to the local chapter nearest them. Likewise, using
the system itself',
interested persons can select "Yoga" as a topic of interest, and provide their
geographic
locale information, and be directed to the nearest chapter.
[00105] Furthermore, the automatic, periodic scheduling of a gathering,
whether
worldwide or only local, constitutes a means whereby the system (which may
have
automatically formed a chapter out of a group of strangers) automatically
takes the steps
necessary to keep the group alive on an ongoing basis. The system therefore
not only
automatically helps groups emerge, but also helps sustain them.
[00106] An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with
respect to
Fig. 3, in which one example for implementing part of a system according to
the invention
will be described.
[00107] Fig. 3 shows one way to add new members to chapters. The process
begins at step
100 which assumes that the user has some means for accessing the Internet,
such as a
personal computer, web-enabled phone, web-enabled television, connected PDA,
or other
Internet capable appliance. Step 100 also assumes that the user's appliance
also has some
communication means for accessing the internet, such as a dial-up service, a
wired service, a
wireless service, or the like.
[00108] In step 110, the user accesses a web site of the system according to
the invention.
The user may be provided with a variety of information, such as the already
mentioned
capability to search topic by keyword, or hierarchical list, or the like. The
user takes
advantage of such capabilities, and browses through the topics according to
his personal
interest in step 120, eventually selecting a topic of interest. The system
thus receives a user
selection of a topic from the plurality of predefined topics.
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[00109] In step 130, the user is prompted to obtain a membership by providing,
for
example, a verifiable email address or the like, and information about the
locale in which the
user may be considered normally to exist. The information about the locale may
be thought of
as a user indication of a geographic locale. It is possible to grant
membership in any of a
variety of ways known to those familiar with this field. Once the membership
is obtained,
processing continues to step 140.
[00110] In step 140, a determination is made as to whether a chapter,
corresponding to the
geographic locale and the topic, exists. If so, processing may continue to
step 150 in which
the user is added to the chapter that corresponds to the selected topic and
the geographic
locale to which the user belongs. Another way to put this is to say the user
may be added to a
chapter selected on the basis of a topic and a locale. The adding of the user
to the chapter as a
member may be automatic or in response to a user indication. The system
provides an
indication to the user of the one chapter that was determined based on the
topic and the
geographic locale. The user may also be provided with information relating to
the respective
members of the chapter and the date and time of the next gathering. The user
may take an
action to indicate that he or should would like to become a member of the
chapter, and to
receive notification of chapter gatherings and activities, or the membership
assignment may
automatically be performed.
[00111] When no chapter exists, processing continues to step 160 in which a
user may
volunteer to create a new chapter as a volunteer organizer (according to the
second
embodiment of the invention described above) or, wait until a chapter is
formed
(automatically as in the first embodiment or otherwise). If the user
volunteers to organize a
new chapter, this indication is made by the user to the system and may be
thought of as an
organizer volunteer indication. If the user waits until a chapter is formed,
the system may
send an automatic notification of the chapter's creation to interested persons
such as the user.
[00112] Processing ends in step 170 in Fig. 3, but it will be appreciated that
the steps need
not be performed necessarily in the order just mentioned, and it will also be
appreciated that a
member may join a number of different chapters in the locale depending on the
interests of
the member.
[00113] Fig. 4 shows one manner of implementing part of a system according to
the
invention, in which the automatic scheduling of a meeting is performed. The
oxample shown
relates to the embodiment in which chapters do not have organizers, but may
understood to
apply, mutatis mutandis, to the embodiment in which chapters do have
organizers.
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[00114] Processing begins at step 200, and it is assumed that this processing
takes place at
an appropriate server, with suitable connections to the Internet. Of course,
other hardware
configurations could be used as meets the needs of the particular indications
that work that is
involved. It is also assumed that the system schedules meetings at a point in
time that is in
advance of the already-known meeting date. Thus, a database of meeting dates
can be
periodically consulted, and those meetings requiring automatic scheduling on
any given date
can easily be determined. The processing after step 200 therefore is described
with respect to
the scheduling of a given gathering or meeting, or, in other words, with
respect to
automatically scheduling an in-person gathering for the chapter at one venue
of several
associated with the locale.
[00115] To set up a gathering, the candidate venues for the gathering are
selected at step
205. The system has a database of venues for public meetings, including
information on
opening hours and suitability for various kinds of chapters. The system offers
a variety of
choices to facilitate the selection of venues for the gatherings. For example,
a crowded bar
might not be the proper venue for practicing Spanish language, and a bar of
any kind might
not be acceptable for a meeting of a Bible Study chapter. The system
automatically selects or
rejects candidate venues for the gathering. In particular, the system
evaluates the number of
members in the chapter, proximity of the venue, and suitability of the venue
for the topic,
e.g., outdoor spaces for pets. Some of the suitability criteria can be
mathematically calculated
(such as the seating capacity of a particular venue compared to the average
number of
attendees for the meeting). Some of the suitability criteria can easily be
implemented using
appropriate rules (i.e., no topics involving pets in venues that serve food
indoors, or,
alternatively, all topics involving pets requiring venues that are outdoors).
Other, more subtle
criteria can be implemented with specific rules as appropriate. It may thus be
said that the
scheduling of the in-person gathering includes selecting the venue based on a
characteristic of
the topic and/or a characteristic of the number of active members in the
chapter.
[00116] In addition, members may provide inputs to propose candidate venues.
Venues
may be organized by types. A categorization for venues may include a multi-
level
hierarchical listing similar to the one described above for topics of
interest. For example, a
particular coffee house may be categorized as follows: it is under the broad
category "public
places" and then under the narrower type of "coffee shops".
[00117] To propose candidate venues, a member can be provided with a listing
of venue
categories and the member selects the desired venue candidates for the locale.
In addition, a
member can simply browse through all venues in his locale. For any venue of
interest, the
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member may view information about the venue. The information may include, but
is not
limited to, venue ratings made by other members, venue location information,
directions to
the venue and so on.
[00118] Venues are then automatically slotted on the ballot and the members
are
automatically invited to vote at step 210. Members vote on candidate venues in
step 215, by
means of any of the many well-known techniques for obtaining votes
electronically. When
the period for voting ends, the system automatically tallies up the votes at
step 220. When too
few members voted to select the venue, then the gathering may be canceled at
step 225. The
voters (the interested members who voted) may be directed to a nearby locale
where
sufficient number of users expressed interest in a gathering or they can be
simply notified that
the event is cancelled due to a lack of interest. The members are also free to
arrange to meet
privately using the message boards. When the analysis in step 220 indicates
that enough
members voted, the system may optionally wait for additional votes for a
predetermined
period of time at step 230.
[00119] When the optional additional voting period ends, the system tallies up
the number
of votes for various candidate venues in step 235, informs the members of the
winning venue,
and invites the members to make a reservation (RSVP) for the gathering. To
prevent
gatherings growing too large for a given venue, the system can also make a
determination to
split the gathering between two or more venues, based on a configurable
threshold of votes,
when more than one venue has received a minimum number of votes. This kind of
determination may be performed using a configurable threshold for each venue,
allowing the
system automatically to split up groups exceeding the configuration. This
threshold may vary
from topic to topic, and chapter to chapter, depending on the needs of the
topic and
organizers, if any. The threshold may be thought of as a venue attendance
threshold, and this
threshold may be based on a characteristic of the topic and, in a led chapter,
may be set by the
organizer.
[00120] For example, for a political campaign topic, a gathering will may be
set to occur
for any venue on the ballot .that receives at least 25 votes. In such a case,
the system may
automatically notify members that that more than one venue has been chosen,
and request
that the RSVP be made in such a manner as to indicate a chosen venue (which
can be
different than the one they voted for). This allows a group in a given locale
to split into sub-
groups that a) are sized appropriately so that a single venue does not become
uncomfortably
crowded, and b) allow users to meet at the most convenient venue for them,
when a given
locale has enough members to support multiple gatherings. To put it another
way, when the
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number of votes from the chapter members planning to attend the gathering
exceeds a venue
attendance threshold, more than one venue for the gathering is automatically
selected and the
members are notified.
[00121] When the RSVP period ends, the system tallies up the number of members
giving
an affirmative RSVP (RSVPers) to determine if enough people are coming, at
step 240. An
affirmative RSVP may be thought of as an indication that a chapter member is
planning to
attend the in-person gathering, or as an attendance plan indication from the
member. When
less than a predetermined minimum number of members RSVPed in the affirmative,
i.e., not
enough members plan to attend the gathering, the gathering may be canceled at
step 225. The
attendance threshold may be determined on various bases, such as a minimum
number of e.g.
for all gatherings, or may be determined based on a characteristic of the
topic, such as 10
for basketball or 4 for bridge.
[00122] When the gathering is canceled, the RSVPers may be notified of the
cancellation,
for example, by email. In addition, the system may provide these RSVPers with
a list of other
chapters where sufficient interest for the topic was expressed.
[00123] As an alternative to canceling the meeting when the number of RSVPs is
below
the threshold, a special variant of a pre-event reminder mail may be sent,
alerting users that
turnout may be small so that they can make extra efforts to confirm attendance
using message
boards provided by the service.
[00124] On the other hand, if enough members RSVPed, the gathering takes place
at the
elected venue and the members who plan to attend are automatically reminded of
the
gathering, at step 245. One or more reminders may include the winning venue,
directions to
the winning venue, time and date for the gathering. Moreover, the reminders
may include
specific aspects of the particular topic to be discussed and so on. Reminders
may be sent to
only those who RSVPed, or to all chapter members.
[00125] After the gathering takes place, the system polls the RSVPers for
quantitative
and/or qualitative feedback (which includes any suggestions for the next
gathering, suitability
of the venue, whether the RSVPer attended the gathering, an estimate of the
number of
people who attended and so on), at step 250. When the user completes the poll,
the system
automatically sends a thank you message. An end to the process is shown at
step 260 for the
sake of a clear explanation, and at this step the system also archives the
past gathering. The
nature of the periodic gatherings, however, dictates that the process recur,
and at a suitable
time the processing begins again with step 200 for organizing the next
gathering.
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[00126] The messages mentioned above, including requests for RSVP, reminders,
and
requests for feedback may include appropriate advertising material, such as
coupons for
discounts at the selected venue or the like.
[00127] In a led chapter, the organizer can allow the system to organize the
event, and then
the process is as illustrated in Fig. 4. Organizers, however, may manually
override a number
of the above described steps. Organizers provide additional flexibility in
organizing the
gathering. As already mentioned, the organizer can add extra venues or replace
venues on the
system's voting ballot. The organizer can nominate new venues, including
private homes.
The organizer may simply choose a venue for the gathering, thereby overriding
the need to
vote. In addition, the organizer may select a different venue for gathering
after the system
tallies up the number of votes. The organizer can also cancel the gathering
when there are too
few members or for some other reasons. The organizer may set a threshold
number of votes
below which the gathering is automatically cancelled due to lack of interest
and so on. In
addition, the organizer may request the members to pre-vote on candidate
venues to narrow
the list of candidate venues. Moreover, the organizer may send members warning
messages
that too few members voted or RSVPed for the event, inviting other members to
vote or to
make an RSVP.
[00128] A determination may be made as to whether a chapter for the topic of
interest
exists in a locale convenient for the user. Such a determination may be
performed in a variety
of ways, including a calculation showing whether the chapter is within a
predetermined
radius such as one hundred miles, or a calculation utilizing latitude /
longitude related
information. When the chapter for the topic of interest does not exist in a
locale convenient
for the user, the user may automatically be invited a) to join a chapter for
this topic of interest
at a distant locale that is closest to the locale of the user, b) start his
own chapter as an
organizer, c) presented with a list of nearby chapters in related topics,
selection of which is
automatically calculated based on cross-membership information (e.g., "Members
who
signed up for Spanish Language chapters also signed up for Spanish Expat
chapters") or d)
add his name to a waiting list users who want to be informed when other
chapters start
nearby. The system can automatically detect when a predetermined number of
users have
indicated interest in a topic within a locale, and automatically determine to
start a new
chapter, electronically notifying the interested persons of the establishment
of the chapter,
and automatically schedule a first meeting.
[00129] In the illustrative, non-limiting embodiments mentioned above,
gatherings are
facilitated by allowing internet users all over the world to search for a
topic of interest and
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find a real-world, local group that meets on that topic nearby. In addition,
these exemplary
systems allow users to form local groups around a common interest, and
associate those local
interest groups with similar groups around the world.
[00130] =The present invention is a web-based, user interactive meeting
facility for
enabling groups of users to interact and organize in-person meetings
associated with any
topic of user interest to help maintain ongoing local interest groups, such as
including topics
relating to cooking, books, writing, pets, politics, social activism, small
business,
professional, education, envirornn.entai, science, community, investment, art,
crafts, town
meetings, sports, games, entertainment, music, religious, travel, personal,
and the like. The
meeting facility may allow a user to express an interest for a new group in a
geographic area,
form new groups based on the expressed interest of others, run and organize a
group,
organize in-person meetings, join an existing group, manage meetings, merge or
coordinate
with other groups, and the like. in addition, the meeting facility may provide
for monetary .
management of meetings, provide sponsorship for meetings; generate financial
benefits
though group targeted advertisements, and the like. In embodiments, the web-
based
interactive meeting facility may provide an improved way for users to connect
and meet with
other geographically proximate users who share similar interests, as well as
providing a way
for groups around the world to coordinate activities.
[00131] For instance, an individual may have an interest in joining a group as
a member,
where the group shares an interest with the individual and has meetings within
a local area
accessible to the individual. The individual may go to a website associated
with the meeting
facility and search for a group, such as based on an interest topic, on a
geographic region,
from a list of top interests, and the like. In embodiments, the individual may
also come to the
meeting facility through an association with other social networking sites or
from other
individuals, where the individual may receive an invitation from a member of
an existing
group, from the organizer of a group, from another individual considering
becoming a
member of a group, through an Internet search, and the like. Social networking
sites, such as
TM TM
. Facebook and MySpace, may connect users of the social networking site to
their meeting
group, and vice versa, such as through an API of the social network site or
the meeting
facility. In embodiments, users may also be introduced to a meeting group
through a
TM TM Tivj
plurality of on-line communications facilities, such as SMS, Twitter, Yelp,
and the like,
where the meeting facility may continue to facilitate communications = between
meeting
facility members, and non-members, through these communications facilities and
social
networking sites. For example, meeting group events may be formed on-line, in
a mobile
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CA 02823256 2015-07-21
ad-hoc manner, such as through user's texting or 'tweeting' each other, and
forming
impromptu meetings. In embodiments, the individual may also come to the
meeting facility
through a search engine, such as provided by the meeting facility or through a
third-party
TM TM
search engine (e.g. Goo& or Yahoo). When the individual views one of the
meeting group
websites associated with the meeting facility for the first time they may view
the site as a
non-member. In embodiments, there may be different views of the website
available based
on whether the individual is a member, a non-member, a group organizer,- and
the like. In
embodiments, the meeting facility may enable international participation, such
as through the
availability of multiple languages, currency, national restrictions, and the
like.
1001321 In searching for a meeting group the individual may search by topic,
by area, by
viewing lists of top interests, by viewing the lists of top cities, and the
like. When an
individual finds a meeting group that they may be interested in joining, they
may be able to
view the group's homepage, which may include a description of the meeting
group, activities,
ongoing discussions, member profiles, photo galleries, fees for the meeting
group, and the
like. In embodiments, some meeting groups may be private, and their homepage
may be
viewed by only the organizer, members, or individuals that have been invited
to view the site
or to become a member by the organizer of the group. In this regard, the
meeting group's
organizer may have several options, such as to make the meeting group public,
make the
meeting group accessible by approval only, make the meeting group available to
members
who have an invitation or invitation code, close the meeting group to new
members, and the
like,
[00133] The non-member coining to the meeting facility website for the first
time, without
an invitation or the like, may find a public meeting group that they wish to
join, In this
instance, the non-member may enter, such as from an event page, but may need
to join the
meeting group. before they are allowed to sign up for an event, For example,
the individual
may not be allowed to RSVP for an event before becoming a member, where RSVP
may be
one of a plurality of ways a user may indicate their interest in attending a
meeting group
event. The non-member who wishes to join the meeting group may be required to
supply
personal information, such as their name, nickname, email address, reason for
joining,
address, age, photo, caption for their photo, current activity level in other
meeting groups, the
current activity level within the interests of the group they are joining, and
the like. In
addition, the non-member applicant may be required to choose a password for
access to the
meeting group's homepage as a member. In embodiments, once the individual
becomes a.
member, they may have additional access in association with the meeting
group's homepage,
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
such .as being able to RSVP to events of the groups, participate in
discussions associated with
the group, provide photos from events, rate events, setup a way to pay meeting
group fees
associated with events and/or membership, view fee payment history, invite
guests, print
tickets to an event (e.g., with a map and location for the event, event
description, and bar
code) and the like. The member may be able to exchange money with the
organizer and other
TM TM
members, such as though .PayPal, Amazon FPS, and the like. In embodiments, the
member
may also be provided refund-options, a list ofpaynients made, and the like. In
addition, the
member may be able to provide support to the group's organizer, such as to be
approved by
the organizer to have access. to certain organizer privileges. In embodiments,
once the
individual is a member they may more fully participate in events, receive
emails concerning
upcoming events, and the like.
[001341 Alternately, an individual searching for a group to participate in may
not find a
group, such as not finding a group matching the interest of the individual,
not finding-a group
matching the interest of the individual in the individual's local area, not
find a group
matching the interest of the individual that is accepting new members, and the
like. In this
case, the meeting facility may provide a way for the individual to express
their desire to be
part of a group that currently does not exist, such as to fill out a web form
to that effect,
specify a topic and locale, and the like. In embodiments, the individual may
be required to =
provide certain information associated with their desire to be a part of the
new group, such as
their name, photo, address, general location, distance radius of interest from
a location, a
statement expressing what kind of group they want to be a part of, the type or
category of the
new group, the geographic region for the new group, and the like. In addition,
the individual
may provide a pledge to the new group should the new group ever form, such as
to come to
the first meeting, to bring supplies, to pay a fee, to provide transportation,
to provide a
meeting location, to assist the organizer, and the like. In embodiments, the
individual may be
able to view other individual's information associated with their desire to
also have a new
group, such as by location, type or topic of interest, age, number of
individuals interested in a
given topic, and the like. In embodiment, the individual may express that they
may be
interested in becoming the organizer of a group, such as when there is a
minimum number of
individuals in a geographic region that are interested in =a certain .group
topic. In
embodiments, the. individual may receive communications, such as emails,
associated with
their expressed desire to be a part a group not yet formed. In embodiments,
user interest in a
new group may be stored with the meeting facility, such as in a database, and
be made
available to users that may potentially want to become organizers of a new
group. In this
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way, the meeting facility may be able to provide the potential user with the
level of user
interest to help the potential organizer to decide, what pledges are
available, provide
automatic services to form the group once the individual makes the decision to
form the new
group (such as sending out bulk emails to users that recorded an interest,
setting up the web
page, setting a date for the start of the new group, setting up an account in
an integrated
financial management facility associated with the meeting facility, providing
sponsorship),
and the like.
[00135] For example, the individual may be interested in becoming an organizer
and
forming a biking group in the vicinity of the New Jersey shore area, and they
note that there
are six other individuals near the shore that are also interested in being a
part of a biking
group. In addition, some of these individuals may have declared pledges for
the first meeting
of the group. The individual may then decide to start up the new group in
association with
the meeting facility. In embodiments, the individual may start the new group
in association
with the meeting facility, where the meeting facility helps the organizer set
up the new group,
such as by providing a homepage for the group, giving startup advice for
starting a new
group, providing a help-checklist for starting the group, providing an email
announcement for
the new group to the other individuals that expressed a desire to be a part of
the new group,
provide an announcement in association with the website of the meeting
facility for all
members and non-members to view, and the like.
[00136] In embodiments, in creating the new meeting group, the organizer may
be able to
create tags that will associate the group with the topics, interests, locale,
and the like, of the
new group. In this way, the group may then be identified through the tags to
other groups,
members in other groups, users looking for a group, external group and
applications (e.g.
social networking groups, news groups, city pages, regional events vvebsites),
and the like. In
embodiments, the use of tags may lead to the formation of new groups, such as
through a
tagging facility for group organization and visualization, where tags may be
used for
matching users with similar interests, visualizing (such as through a mapping
tool) the
location of groups tagged with a given interest, visualizing groups indicated
with a
predetermined tag for the purpose of organizing events. For example, a tag may
be created to
correspond to a national grass-roots event, such as the anniversary of the
Boston Tea Party,
and groups that choose to have a tea party event may temporarily tag their
meeting group to
indicate that their meeting group is participating with a tea party event, and
where the
organizer's meeting group may now show up on a visualization map of all groups
with that
tag. In this way, other users, meeting groups, outside groups, may be able to
see all the
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CA 02823256 2015-07-21
locations where meeting groups are holding an event. In embodiments, tags may
be a way
for meeting groups to be identified to the users and applications across the
Internet, where
tags may change as the interests of the group Change, where interests of the
group temporarily
align with interests outside the group, where the group would like to get its
members
involved in a new interest direction, and the like.
[00137] In embodiments, the individual wishing to become an organizer of a new
group
may need to be approved- by the meeting facility; such as to provide
information associated
with the new group, to provide personal information, to provide financial
information for
group management fees, to provide sponsorship information, location of the new
group,
reason for wanting to start the new group, and the like. The individual that
starts a new group
may be referred to as the group's organizer.
[00138] In embodiments, an organizer may be provided additional privileges,
control,
and/or facilities in association with running the group, such as a group
homepage, fee
options, control of wiki shared access with members or co-organizers, member
listing,
attendance control, last meniber contact information and = email lists, member
restrictions
(e.g., public, private, restricted, and the like); creating a new meeting,
facility for selecting a
venue for a meeting; provide payment options, provide international access,
capability to be
associated with other groups in a collaborative manner, accept sponsorship to
the 'group
through advertisements on the web page, accept sponsorship by an organization
to pay group
fees, provided with access to a financial management facility for managing the
financial
matters associated with the group, and the like. The group's homepage may
include a
plurality of components, such as a group description, member information,
discussions,
calendar of events, links to products and group materials, a photo-board for
events, ratings for
events, attendance, hyperlinks to associated web pages, feeds, jobs, blogs,
and the like. The
components available to the organizer's homepage may be flexible in their
selection and
placement; such as in the use of meeting facility specific gadgets or third-
party gadgets (e.g.
TM
Google gadgets). The organizer may also be provided with payment management
resources,
meeting management facilities, attendance control, fees control, and the like.
In
embodiments, the organizer may choose to share their organizer privileges with
members of
the group, such as. though wild aspects associated with the homepage.
[00139] Once the organizer has set up the new group, they may create a meeting
event,
such as selecting a date, time, venue, .fees, payment options, sending out
mails, listing the
event on the group homepage, and the like. For instance, in a first meeting of
the group the
organizer may utilize any pledges that other individuals may have previously
offered, specify
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WO 2012/094469 PCT/US2012/020292
fees associated with the group and/or meetings, specify needs for the meeting,
specify any
desire for shared responsibility for the group and/or the meeting, and the
like. In
embodiments, the meeting facility may provide for a plurality of homepage
related functions
to the organizer to make meeting creation and management easier and more
efficient. For
example, in creating a new meeting the organizer may be provided drop-down
menus or the
like for location of the meeting, such as a new venue, chosen from a list of
past group venues
for the group, chosen from a list of past group venues for all groups, and the
like.
[00140] In embodiments, the organizer may provide information associated with
the
venue, such as location information, whether the venue is in a private or
shared setting, a
rating for the venue as provided from the group's past experience or from all
group's past
experience, a detail page with address and organizer specific descriptions or
tags, a map such
as through an annotated graphical user interface associated with the meeting
facility, and the
like. The organizer may select a venue based on these parameters, as well as
being able to
search for a venue based on location, street address, near a point of
interest, near another
venue, and sort by distance, alphabetical, popularity, and the like. The
organizer may also
examine reviews of venues from other groups, and filter the choices based on
member and/or
group attributes, view upcoming events at the venue, obtain additional
information about the
venue, such as whether the venue has parking, is kid friendly, and the like.
The organizer
may have access to a venue map facility as part of the meeting facility,
where, for instance,
the organizer may be able to bring up a map of an area, and where venues are
indicated as the
organizer moves across the map, and provided with all the available venue
information by
clicking on the indication (e.g. a pin or bubble, with an annotation of the
venue's name, label,
tag, and the like). The organizer may be able to choose between the meeting
being public,
private, limited member participation, by invitation only, and the like. The
organizer may set
RSVP settings and deadlines in association with a meeting, such as in
connection with
payment of fees for the meeting. The organizer may be able to contact members,
such as
based on their meeting activity, and set criteria for sorting and selection of
members to be
emailed, such as by the last time the member attended a meeting event.
[00141] The meeting of a group may entail a plurality of activities associated
with the
particular interests of the group, as well as activities that are associated
with the management
of the meeting, such as taking attendance, taking photos for the homepage, and
the like. Post-
meeting activities may include updating the homepage, scheduling new
meetings/events,
adding photos to the homepage, recording attendance, managing fees, posting
received event
ratings, and the like. In embodiments, some post-meeting activities may be
organizer
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WO 2012/094469 PCT/US2012/020292
controlled, group controlled, co-organizer controlled, controlled by the
meeting facility, and
the like, as may be determined by the organizer.
[00142] In embodiments, the meeting facility may provide for a way for meeting
groups to
interact and associate with other groups, such as to form an alliance of
groups. The purpose
of the alliance may be to increase the access of membership to a larger
geographic region, to
help in achieving the goals of the groups, to combine forces for a movement,
to allow groups
to grow beyond their original geographic limits, and the like. In embodiments,
the control
and management of an alliance of groups may include many of the same meeting
facility
functions described herein (e.g., homepage, discussions, venue selection,
membership,
joining options, approval process, activity, wiki co-organizer functions, and
the like), where
rather than there being a group organizer, there is an alliance organizer. For
instance, there
would be group membership and group joining rather than individual membership
and
individual joining, and the like. Further, the alliance organizer may also be
determined in a
similar way, where they may be selected based on a first group organizer
expressing an
interest in forming an alliance, a first group organizer from a list of group
organizers (that
have expressed an interest in forming an alliance) expressing an interest in
forming an
alliance, and the like. Again, similar to groups, alliances may also be
searched on and
viewed, but in addition, due to the potentially national or global
distribution of groups
included in an alliance, a mapping facility may be provided to show the groups
participating
in the alliance. Groups may then search for alliances to join, and
alternately, alliances may
search for groups to invite into the alliance.
[00143] In embodiments, both groups and alliances may be required to pay
management
fees in association with the meeting facility. These fees may be required from
the organizer
of the group or alliance, or the fees may be paid by some sponsoring
organization, such as an
educational organization, governmental organization, company, and the like.
For instance, a
high school may sponsor a club site in association with the meeting facility,
where the school
rather than the organizer (e.g., a teacher or student) pays certain fees, such
as a monthly
maintenance fee. In another example, local political groups may be sponsored
into a national
alliance by a political organization, where the political organization pays
certain fees.
[00144] In embodiments, advertisements may be utilized in association with
groups or
alliances, such as the placement of advertisements on their homepage, in
discussion forums,
communications, and the like. Advertisements may be coordinated, provided, or
offered to
groups and alliances through the meeting facility. Groups and alliances may
choose to accept
or to opt-out of advertisements, such as declining an offer supplied in an
email, clicking on a
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
decline button associated with the advertisement as placed on the hoinepage,
specifying that
the group and/or alliance is or is not interested in all advertisements, and
the like. In
embodiments, sponsored advertisements may help defer the costs of management
fees, the
cost of meeting events, provide products to members of the group, provide
benefits to
members of the group, and the like. In embodiments, groups and alliances may
choose to
opt-out of advertisements at any time. In embodiments, sponsorship may be
provided to the
organizer through the meeting facility, obtained by the organizer, he related
to meeting
groups using a venue associated with the sponsor, .and the like.
[001451 In embodiments, the meeting facility functionality, such as non-member
searching
and viewing, member group activities, alliance participation, organizer
management
resources, financial management facility, member RSVPing, meeting check-in,
connecting to
social media through the meeting facility, and the like, such as described
herein, may be
accessed through a plurality of computer related facilities, such as a
personal computer, a
mobile computing device, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a navigation device, a
FDA, a game,
a mobile game device,' through the intemet, through a local area network,
through aebrowser,
through email, through instant messenger, through text messenger, and the
like. In
embodiments, the meeting facility may provide for social networking, group
social
networking, a governmental and/or community meeting resource, for social
activism,
governmental activism, environmental activism, a political organizational
resource, an
entertainment venue resource, international networking, personal networking,
an enterprise
meeting tool, an educational meeting resource, an entrepreneurial group
resource, an
professional group resource, and the like. In embodiments, the meeting
facility may be
incorporated into third party applications, such as other social networking
sites, news groups,
city events calendars, mobile device applications (e.g. i-phone applications,
blackberry
applications, and the like), third-party websites, search engines, and the
like.
[001461 In embodiments the meeting facility may provide a financial management
facility
to the organizer for managing the financial aspects of the meeting group,
including financial
accounting, member payments, sponsor payments, refunds, batch refunds, dues,
payments to
vendors, payments for venues, payments for group activities, organizer
payments to the
meeting facility, and the like. In embodiments, the financial management
facility may enable
the organizer to export and/or import from third-party financial Management
applications,
TM TM TM TM TM
such as Quicken, Microsoft Money, Moneydance, FirstOffice, Lawson Software, =
SAP
TM
Business One, and the like. In embodiments, the financial management facility
may enable
the organizer to export and/or import from third-party spreadsheet
applications, such as
26
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
TM TM TM TM TM
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Works, Lotus 1-2-3, Appleworks, Wordperfect Quattro
Pro,
TM TM
Google spreadsheets, Openoffice, and the like. In embodiments, the present
invention may
provide organizers and members with accounting utilities that ease the
financial burdens
associated with organizing in-person meetings amongst a disparate group of
individuals,
including facilities that provide a transparent accounting for users not
accustomed to
accounting software, more sophisticated accounting options for those
individuals accustomed
to third-party applications, charts and graphs to show status of payments,
reminders and
checklists, and the like.
[001471 Referring to Fig. 5, in embodiments the present invention may provide
for an
organizer-based meeting facility. For instance, a new user may locate a
meeting group
website managed by an organizer through meeting management facilities provided
by a
meeting facility, where the user may locate the meeting group website by
entering meeting
group criteria into a search interface (such as entering a zip code and/or
topic into the search
interface), entering general information related to an interest into the
search interface, and the
like, where the user may utilize intermediate search results, subsequent
questions, and the
like, to help locate the meeting group website. The user may then be provided
information
about the meeting group through the meeting group website, and be provided an
opportunity
to join the meeting group, wherein the organizer may have the ability to
determine what
information is available/visible to the user, and whether the user is allowed
to join (such as
through questions provided to the user through a joining interface provided
through the
website). After being allowed to join, the user may be provided meeting group
resources
managed by the organizer through meeting management facilities provided by the
meeting
facility, where the meeting group may be made up of the organizer and a
plurality of users.
Alternately, a user may not find a meeting group they want to join, where the
meeting facility
provides that user with a way to specify criteria for a meeting group they
would like to be a
part of, such as though an alert list, waiting list, and the like. That is, a
user may utilize the
meeting facility to help find a group in the future that matches their
interests and locale. In
turn, the meeting facility may use the interests provided by a plurality of
such users to help
form new meeting groups, such as through an organizer that is looking to form
a new meeting
group with a specified set of criteria. For example, a number of users may be
looking for a
hiking group near Albany NY, and seeing that there is currently no such group,
may sign up
with the meeting facility to be alerted when such a. group forms. The user may
also specify
other interests, locations, and the like, for other meeting groups that
currently don't exist.
Continuing with the .example, the meeting facility may provide a user with
access to what
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interests currently exist for groups =not yet formed, for instance, for a
hiking group near
Albany NY. In this case, the user may be provided with the interest level,
such as how many
users are on the alert list for hiking groups near Albany NY, and upon seeing
such interest,
may utilize the meeting facility to form a new meeting group, as described
herein. In this
way, an individual may be a user of the meeting facility without being a
member of a meeting
group.
[00148] In embodiments, a computer program product embodied in a computer
readable
medium that, when executing on one or more computers, may help organize an in-
person
gathering of users of topic-related interest to help maintain ongoing local
interest groups 500
by performing the steps of: at a step one 502 providing meeting management
resources
through a meeting facility, wherein the meeting management resources may
enable a meeting
group organizer to manage a meeting group; at a step two 504 receiving meeting
group
criteria from a user; at a step three 508 providing to the user an indication
of at least one
meeting group of a plurality of meeting groups based on the user's received
meeting group
criteria, wherein the meeting groups have respective members; at a group four
510 receiving
from the user a selection of a meeting group to join; and at a step five 512
enabling the
organizer to accept the user as a new member to the meeting group and to
manage meeting
group user resources available to the user through a web-based graphical
interface provided
by the meeting facility. In embodiments, the received meeting group criteria
may be input
through a search interface, where the search interface may be provided through
the meeting
facility, through a third-party, a search engine, and the like. In
embodiments, the meeting
group criteria may include a geographic locale of the user, where the
geographic locale may
be provided by a zip code input by the user, determined through a computing
facility (e.g. a
mobile computing device, service provider) being utilized by the user, and the
like. In
embodiments, the meeting group criteria may include a topic, where the topic
may be input
by the user, selected by the user from a predetermined list of topics,
selected by the user from
a list provided by the search interface, and the like. In embodiments, at
least one of the
meeting management resources may be a calendar of meetings, where the calendar
of
meetings may specify a location for a meeting, a date and time for a meeting,
and the like.
The user may select to join one of a plurality of meetings included in the
calendar of
meetings, where joining may be through an RSVP facility, and the like. In
embodiments, at
least one of the meeting management resources may be access to at least one of
the respective
members of the meeting group the user joined, where access may be through
email, instant
messaging, to the organizer, and the like. In embodiments, the organizer may
be able to share
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access to meeting management resources with select members of the meeting
group. In
embodiments, a meeting group may be referred to as a chapter. In embodiments,
a user may
find a group by searching, browsing, and the like. Meetup groups may have one
or more
topics, tags, and the like (where the words topics and tags are used
interchangeably)
associated with it. The tag may be pre-existing, or created by a user if the
tag does not yet
exist, such as in a database of the meeting facility. Once created, this new
tag may be used
by additional, new, or existing users.
[00149] In embodiments, a computer program product embodied in a computer
readable
medium that, when executing on one or more computers, may help organize an in-
person
gathering of users of topic-related interest to help maintain ongoing local
interest groups by
performing the steps of: providing a web-based meeting facility to a plurality
of users, where
each of the plurality of users choose to join at least one of a plurality of
meeting groups based
on topic-related interest and geographic locale; enabling at least one user-
organizer to
maintain control of organizing meetings with the at least one of the plurality
of meeting
groups, wherein the one of the plurality of meeting groups is made up of a
subset of the
plurality of users ; and providing organizational facilities to the user-
organizer through the
web-based meeting facility for creating and facilitating activities of the at
least one of the
plurality of meeting groups, where one of the organizational facilities may be
scheduling
meetings. In embodiments, a user may 'join' the meeting facility simply by
entering their
email address and creating a password, and may not be required to join a
group. They may
simply select an interest (or no interests) and select to be notified when a
group about any
interest that they have selected starts near them. In embodiments, it may be
possible for a
meeting group to exist in a leaderless state, such as if an organizer steps
down and removes
themselves from that position. For instance, the group may remain leaderless
for a period of
a couple of weeks while a new leader emerges and steps up. In embodiments, if
no new
organizer steps up, the group may be disbanded.
[00150] Referring to Fig. 6, in embodiments the present invention may provide
for
meeting group formation though user generated interest. For instance, a
potential organizer
may monitor interest presented by users in at least one of a topic and locale
and decide to
initiate the formation of a new meeting group using the resources of the
meeting facility. In
embodiments, a computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium
that,
when executing on one or more computers, may help organize an in-person
gathering of users
of topic-related interest to help maintain ongoing local interest groups 600
by performing the
steps of: at a step one 602 providing meeting management resources through a
meeting
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WO 2012/094469 PCT/US2012/020292
facility, where the meeting management resources may enable a meeting group
organizer to
manage a meeting group; at a step two 604 receiving meeting group criteria
from a user; at a
step three 608 providing an indication to the user that no current match to
the received
meeting group criteria exists; at a step four 610 recording the received
meeting group criteria
as a user interest for a future group in an interest database, where the
interest database may
contain previously received user interest from other users; at a step five 612
receiving an
organizer query as to the interest for a future group for a given topic and
geographic locale; at
a step six 614 providing the organizer with an indication of user interest
that match the
organizer query, where the indication may be derived from the contents of the
interest
database; and at a step seven 618 forming a new group by the organizer based
on the
indication of interest. In embodiments the forming of the new group may be
automatically
formed once the organizer chooses to form the new group based on the
indication of user
interest, where the automatic formation may include emails to users with
recorded interest
matching the organizer query, meeting management resources made accessible to
the
organizer, and the like. In embodiments, meeting group criteria may exist, but
the user may
ignore that group and choose to sign up for an alert list anyway. In
embodiments, an
organizer may have to pay and provide information to the meeting facility
before the group is
formed, and in this way the group may not be formed in a completely automatic
way. In
embodiments, the meeting facility may provide time to a new organizer to set
the meeting
group up before emailing those in the local area who have signed up to be
notified when a
relevant meeting group starts near them, such as based on their pre-selected
topics. In
embodiments, users signed up through an alert list may be notified of the
formation of a new
meeting group and choose to join, choose to not join, choose to remain on the
alert list until
another meeting group is formed, and the like. In embodiments, if an existing
meeting group
is disbanded, the members of that group may be placed back on an alert list
for the topics that
were assigned to the meeting group that they had been a member of. In such a
case, when a
new group is formed matching their topics or tags, they may be re-alerted
through the process
of the alert list as described herein. In embodiments, users that are on an
alert list may also
receive regularly scheduled targeted system email newsletters highlighting
meeting groups
and group events relevant to their interests (i.e. topics or tags) that they
may have missed.
[00151] In embodiments, the present invention may provide for a computer-
implemented
method of receiving an indication of interest from a user in participating in
a meeting group,
where the indication of interest may be indicative of a user preference for a
type of meeting
group; accumulating indications of interest for a plurality of users; and upon
accumulation of
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
sufficient interest in a type of meeting group, facilitating communication to
users that have .,
indicated interest in that group suggesting the forming of a meeting group.
= [00152] Referring to Fig. 7, in embodiments the present invention may
provide for a
meeting facility with integrated financial management, where an organizer may
be able to
manage the financial obligations of at least one of the meeting group and
individual meetings,
through an integrated financial management system provided by the meeting
facility. In
embodiments, a computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium
that,
when executing on one or more computers, may help organize an in-person
gathering of users
of topic-related interest to help maintain ongoing local interest groups 700
by performing the
steps of: in a step one 702 providing a web-based meeting facility to a
plurality of users,
where each of the plurality of users may choose to join at least one of a
plurality of meeting
groups based on at least one of topic-related interest and geographic locale;
in a step two 704
enabling an organizer to maintain control of organizing meetings with the at
least one of the
plurality of meeting groups, where the one of the plurality of meeting groups
may be made up
of a subset of the plurality of users ; and in a step three 708 providing an
integrated financial
management facility to the organizer in order to manage financial aspects of
the meeting
group. In embodiments, the integrated financial management facility provides
an integrated
centralized accounting facility for the finances of the meeting group. In
embodiments, the
financial aspect may be a financial obligation by a user, a payment to the
organizer (e.g, the
payment is from a user, from a user for payment of dues), from the meeting
facility, a refund,
a batch refund to users, for an event expense, for expenses associated with
the running of the
meeting group, and the like. In embodiments, the integrated financial
management facility
may utilize financial resources provided from a third-party application, such
as a financial
TM TM
enterprise application (e.g. Amazon, PayPal), a financial management
application (e.g.
TM TM
Quicken), a spreadsheet application (e.g. = Microsoft Excel), and the like. In
embodiments, a
user may 'join' the meeting facility simply by entering their email address
and creating a
password, and may not be required to join a group. They may simply select an
interest (or no
interests) and select to be notified when a group about any interest that they
have selected
starts near them, In embodiments, the financial aspectmay be a payment from
the member to
the organizer, for dues, for fee S for specific events, and the like. All of
these payments may
be transacted either offline in cash -(and simply recorded in the financial
management facility)
TM TM
or transacted online, such as via PayPal or Amazon payments, who are third
party systems
that integrate in varying degrees with the meeting facility functionality. In
embodiments,
once a member has paid the organizer, that member may get a refund, such as
initiated by the
=
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CA 02823256 2015-07-21
TM TM
organizer (e.g. via a financial payment facility such as Amazon payments or
PayPal). If the
payments have been received for an event where the organizer is using a
financial payment
facility, the organizer may initiate a batch refund of all payments related to
that event. In
embodiments, there financial scenarios of payments between members and
organizers may
not necessitate the meeting facility being involved in the transaction, but
merely provides the
software facilitation. In .embodiments, group revenue generated through
sponsorships
generated by the meeting facility may also be included in the financial
management tools -
and integrated with the financial payment facility.
[00153} Referring to Fig. 8, in embodiments the present invention may provide
revenue
generation though sponsorship, where a user may create a meeting group and
generate
revenue through commercial sponsorship of the meeting facility site and/or
specific meetings.
In embodiments, a computer program product embodied in a computer readable
medium, a
computer implemented method, and the like, that helps Organize an in-person
gathering of
users of topic-related interest to help maintain ongoing local interest groups
800 by
performing the steps of: in a step one 802 providing a web-based meeting
facility to a
plurality of users, where each of the plurality of users may choose to join at
least one of a.
plurality of meeting groups based on at least one of topic-related interest
and geographic
locale; in a step two 804 enabling at least one organizer to maintain control
of organizing
meetings with the at least one of the plurality of meeting groups, where the
one of the
plurality of meeting groups may be made up of a subset of the plurality of
users; and in a step
three 808 providing the organizer with a revenue generation facility where the
organizer may
generate revenue through commercial sponsorship of at leak one of the meeting
group and
specific meetings. In embodiments, the commercial sponsorship may be provided
by a
sponsor through =the meeting facility, by the organizer, and the like. The
commercial
sponsorship may include an advertisement placed on a meeting group website
provided
through the meeting facility. The commercial sponsorship may be the sponsor
providing
revenue to at least one of the organizer and the meeting facility for use of
the sponsor's
venue. In embodiments, a sponsor which has been recruited by the meeting
facility may have
their ad placed on a meeting group if the sponsor selects that group to be
sponsored, and the
group accepts the sponsorship, where this may be referred to as an opt-in
sponsorship. In this
situation, the sponsor may provide revenue to the meeting group via the
meeting facility,
utilizing the financial management tools described herein and a third party
financial payment
TM TM '-µ,
facility (e.g. Amazon and PayPal). In embodiments, a sponsor which has been
recruited by
the organizer may have their ad placed on a meeting group by working out the
arrangement
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directly with the organizer, and where the meeting facility may not handle the
placement of
the ad created on the group website or compensation to the group by the
sponsor. The
organizer may however record receipt of revenue from the sponsor in the
financial
management tools manually. In embodiments, the organizer may reorder the
placement of
the ad units for sponsors that they recruit on their webpage, and hide ad
units of their
sponsors which they do not want to display. Ad units which are sourced by
meeting facility
may not be moved or hidden by organizers, but may be removed at any time,
which may end
their participation in the sponsorship and payments from sponsor to organizer
(made via the
meeting facility) will cease.
[00154] Now that the overall system has been described, we turn towards a set
of web-
based embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that the
following
embodiments are meant to be illustrative of how the present invention may be
implemented,
such as implemented through an Internet website hosted on server and made
available to
users across the internet on computing facilities as described herein, and are
not meant to be
limiting in any way.
[00155] In embodiments, the present invention may include a register or sign
in page,
where the page may have links to public pages on the site; the Organizer
Center, the main
Discuss Meetup.com Message Boards, the Home page, and the like. The page may
have a
plurality of tabs, such as meetings by topic, meetings by city, start a
meeting, 'what's a
meeting', and the like. The page may have a register or sign-in prompt.
Features and
functionality may include a register for a new meeting account or sign in.
Also included may
be a 'forgot your password' prompt, to request verification link to reset a
password. In
addition, a user may sign in using a secure server option.
[00156] In embodiments, the present invention may include a member account
page,
detailing a view of information requested during an account creation process.
Included may
be account information, personal and payment information, personal
information, name, user
ID, email address, password, location, birthday, Skype name, and the like. In
addition there
may be features and functionality associated with what a member may change and
how a
member may toggle between a personal and payment information tab, and a
membership and
communications tab, and the like. Meeting group memberships may be listed in
alphabetical
order with mailing list options. The page may itemize other communication
options,
including meetings in the Making (list profiles and messages), message boards
(updates),
general preferences (member to member email and greetings), email from the
meeting facility
options, a global unsubscribe option, and the like. From this page, a member
may leave a
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WO 2012/094469 PCT/US2012/020292
meeting group, adjust their mailing list settings, add or edit a profile
photo, cancel message
board subscriptions, edit a meetings in the making profile, picture and
settings, subscribe or
unsubscribe to email from meetings, unsubscribe from the meeting facility
service, and the
like.
[00157] Fig. 9 depicts an embodiment of a main profile page 900, showing a
number of
tabs including the main profile page, meetings, photos, friends and greetings,
and the like.
The header may include personal information, such as member's user name, and
basic
membership content (e.g. hometown, location, statistics, meeting memberships,
and the like.)
In addition, features and functionality may include how a member may privatize
selected
information, including meeting group memberships and meetings in making list
subscriptions, change links, statistics, editing greetings, and the like. A
photos tab may
display photos uploaded to the site by a member. In embodiments, a member may
choose to
show or hide photos, manage photos, and the like. A friends tab may be
included, such as
showing both mutual and members who have added the user as a friend, including
popular
topics among friends in a list format, and the like. A member may post a
greeting to a
friend's profile, remove a friend, block a friend from linking to their
profile, and the like. A
greetings page may be included, where greetings may be shown next to each
member profile
who posted the text. A member may be able to send a greeting back by clicking
on the link
associated with the greeting, delete a greeting, save a greeting, and the
like.
[001581 In embodiments, the present invention may include a meeting-by-topic
page,
where a member may search for a meeting by topic, such under categories,
popular topics,
growing topics, using the topic search box, and the like. In embodiments,
clicking on a
category may bring you to a category page, with a list of category-specific
topics, clicking on
the popular topics or growing topics sections may bring you to a topic page,
where you may
search for a meeting by area, zip code, and the like.
[001591 Fig. 10 depicts an embodiment of an alert list process page 1000. When
there are
no Meeting Groups in a given topic and locale, members may be directed to the
alert list sign
up page, which may be alternately referred to has a waiting list, a meeting in
the making list,
and the like. The alert list may include a plurality of users who have
registered with the
meeting facility, but for which there is no current match. In this way, a user
may be included
as a user of the meeting facility but not be a member of any group, that is,
they may be users
of the meeting facility in that the meeting facility provides a vehicle for
the user to be alerted
to groups that match the criteria they provide to the meeting facility that
specifies the types of
meeting groups they would like to be involved with. In embodiments, the topic
home page
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may include links to worldwide topic relevant pages on the site; 'Welcome'
page (topic
home), Worldwide (topic specific) Message Boards, and the like. A member may
add
interests, add introduction copy, add or change profile photo, add pledges,
and the like.
[00160] In embodiments, the present invention may include a city page, which
may allow
a member to sign up for a weekly city email newsletter, or view popular
topics, newest
meetings in the area, and the like. In embodiments, a member may be able to
add an RSS
subscription for a feed of all new meetings, receive weekly calendar of
upcoming meetings
via email, select a popular topic, subscribe to different formats, such as
Atom, iCal, Outlook,
and the like.
[00161] In embodiments, the present invention may include a meeting home page,
which
may link public pages, an organizer center, a discussion message board, home
page, and the
like. The page may include a plurality of tabs, including meetings by topic,
meetings by city,
start a meeting group, and the like. There may be a way for an individual to
introduce
themselves to the meeting facility community, such as with a photo and a
caption. The
individual may also be able to subscribe to a free weekly newsletter for local
meetings, be
provided with a list of other meeting groups that the individual might like,
and the like.
[00162] In embodiments, the present invention may include a meeting group sign
up page,
where the individual may sign-up, where an individual may submit a profile to
join a meeting
group, create a meeting account, submit a profile to join a meeting group, and
the like.
[00163] Fig. 11 depicts an embodiment of a start a meeting group page 1100,
which may
include a search interface or search facility for finding a topic that the
individual will create
the new meeting group in, and in which the meeting group may be customized.
Customizing
may include specifying the location of the group, name of the group, a photo
of the organizer,
a description of what the group is about, when meetings are, whether the group
and/or
meetings are private or public, communications options, RSVP options,
scheduling options,
enable/disable message board and/or mailing list, purchase options, coupon
options for
sponsorship programs or check payments, money back options, secure
transactions options,
payment options, and the like. In embodiments, after the meeting group has
been created, a
notification to those individuals who have signed up may be sent, such as
within a period of
time after creating the meeting group. Fig. 12 depicts an embodiment of a new
organizer
group home page 1200 with start planning meetings options, including
congratulations text
and organizer checklist banner, notification that meeting groups in the making
list
announcement and invitations will be sent within 72 hours, organizer help and
tools, email
the meeting group and the organizer's checklist, group pages such as
'welcome', 'about us',
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'calendar (default page to plan a meeting), 'members', 'photos', 'messages',
'polls', 'files'
and 'promote', organizer profile, 'schedule meeting' button to add meeting to
the calendar,
and the like. Features and functionality may include click through to
organizer checklist
options 'create a descriptive title', 'write an agenda' and 'pick a date and
time', edit your
meeting group options to edit title, date, enter a location, and customize
general meeting
details, add a photo, set RSVP options and 'schedule meeting' button, and the
like.
[00164] In embodiments, the present invention may include an organizer account
page,
including information requested during account creation and subscription. The
member may
change the various information, such as their name, userID, email address,
password,
location, birthday, Skype name, and the like. The 'your subscription' section
may allow an
Organizer to change the subscription renewal option, see full payment history,
opt to start
receiving payment receipts, change/update credit card information and cancel
subscription
(renewal). A contact billing support link may allow organizers to use a
contact form through
the site to contact meeting facility support. An organizer, co-organizer,
assistant organizer,
and the like, may step down from that position in a meeting group. As a
member, an
Organizer may also leave a meeting group, and edit their mailing list
settings. In addition,
there may be the option to subscribe/unsubscribe to meetings in the making
lists or adjust
settings, cancel message board subscriptions, adjust general email preferences
(who can
contact member), unsubscribe from the meeting service completely, and the
like.
[00165] In embodiments, the present invention may include an organizer help
and tools
page, with subject tabs including news, settings, meetings and locations,
communicate, grow,
help, and the like. Various help facilities for helping an organizer set up
the group may be
provided, such as for the meeting name, meeting location, a description of the
group, other
topics that may suit the meeting group, when meetings are held, what are
members called,
writing a message to new members, adding a photo for the homepage, private vs.
public
settings, invitation settings, messaging settings such as for email and
message board, update
feeds, profile questions, new or leaving member emails, fee settings, Wiki
sharing settings,
manage the meetings button that may lead to a calendar page, create a new
meeting button,
manage the locations button, create a location button, communications
broadcast settings,
create and view polls, add profile questions, personalize the 'about' page,
and the like. In
addition, there may be an organizers' forum, which may link to a maim discuss
meetings
forums, such as the organizer forum, an organizer center, which may link to
how-to articles
posted to the organizer resource center, a facility for 'finding an organizer
meeting near you'
that may link to an organizer topic homepage, map and search option, list of
largest and
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newest Organizer Meetings, and the like. There may be provided a frequently
asked
questions (FAQ) section that may link to an organizer FAQ from the help
section. There may
also be a contact for linking directly to a home page. There may be help
provided to an
organizer to help grow the group, such as adding information into the group's
blog or into
social networking sites, create customized products, create a social network
application, how
to invite others to the group, create flyers and business cards, create logos,
and the like.
[00166] In embodiments, the present invention may include an organizer email
page for
various communications options, including using the message board, using
mailing lists,
archived mailing lists, mailing an individual, using an email form, and the
like. Using the
email form may allow the organizer to click to 'see more options' and send
messages to
subsets of members; including mailing list members, all members, inactive
members,
members associated with specific meetings, and the like. The page may also
allow the
organizer to post messages to the message board, preview, provide
correspondence through
the site, and the like.
[00167] Fig. 13 depicts an embodiment of an organizer's checklist, such as to
provide
suggested tips an organizer may complete in order to run a more successful
meeting group.
Each option may summarize functionality or offer a tip. Tips may have links to
settings,
functions, organizer center articles for more details, and the like. In
addition, the organizer
checklist may be disabled from the settings tab.
[00168] In embodiments, the present invention may include various meeting
group
resource pages, including the member home, meeting group home, about us,
calendar, photos,
group settings, organizer resources, promote, find a meeting group, city
calendar, and the
like. Fig. 14 depicts a member home page 1400 that may be what the member sees
when they
login, and may allow the member to list all upcoming meetings for the member,
such as
sorted by date, and the like. The meeting group home may provide pages about a
specific
group, and may include a feeds for what is new to the group, a main header for
the group,
mailing lists, message boards, schedules, and the like. The about us page may
provide the
group's own wiki or mini-web site. Both the organizer and the members (with
the organizer's
permissions) may create as many pages as they like. The meeting group's
calendar page
1500, as depicted in Fig. 15, may provide a place to post notes associated
with group
activities and meetings. The photo page may be provide to each group, and may
be organized
as albums around activities and meetings, where photos may provide links to
further
information. The group setting page may be a central place for all settings
that may be used
in the management of the group. The organizer resources page 1600, as depicted
in Fig. 16,
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may be a central place for all organizer resources, including an organizer's
checklist,
organizer resource center, organizer message board, promote your meeting
group, frequently
asked questions, contact meeting group support, find an organizer meeting
group near you,
payments you've collected, and the like. The promote page may provide a
centralized page
for all resources associated with the promotion and growth of the group. The
'find a
meeting' page may be the central location provided to search for groups within
the meeting
facility. In addition, the city calendar 1700, as depicted in Fig. 17,may
provide for a city,
regional, area, summary of all the meetings occurring for a given area
[00169] Fig. 18 depicts an embodiment of a portion of a 'creating an event'
page 1800,
where organizers have the option to charge members and how to implement
payments, such
as choosing the payments option (e.g. Amazon Payments, PayPal). For instance,
the
organizer may calculate how much to charge based on what they want their
members to pay
OR what they want to pocket (user can edit either the "Attendees pay"...or the
"You will
receive"). There may be an option to require payment to be linked to an RSVP,
such as
checking a box to indicate that members must pay via Payments when they RSVP,
or not
checking indicating members can RSVP, and pay however they want (e.g. via
Amazon, with
cash, etc). Using Payments may also mean the organizer may have to enter a
refund policy
that members read and accept when they RSVP. In embodiments, there may be an
RSVP
response page,
[00170] Fig. 19 depicts an embodiment of a printable ticket 1900, which may
include the
name of the event, date and time of the event, fees, a map showing the
location of the event, a
unique bar code for the event, and the like.
[00171] Fig. 20 depicts an embodiment of a payments received page 2000, which
may
provide a list of all the events an organizer has set up for which they're
charging their
members, such as by using Amazon Payments or PayPal. Details of each event may
be
viewed, including refund management, printing of tickets, communication with
members, and
the like. Event details may also be viewed, where the organizer may see the
payment status
of each of their members.
[00172] In embodiments, the present invention may include other options
introduced into
the event creation process, including the ability for organizers to set an
RSVP deadline for
their members (i.e. the event is on Friday but the organizer needs to know by
Wednesday
how many people are definitely coming). In addition, organizers may ask their
members
questions when members RSVP (e.g. email info, emergency contact, and the
like).
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[00173] Figs. 21 and 22 depict embodiments for how an organizer may choose the
venue
(i.e. the location or place) for a meeting of the group, including pages for
'your places' for
venues the organizer has used before, find a meeting place 2100 for locating a
new place to
meet, venue details 2200, editing venue details, adding a new place, posting
an event/venue
survey, and the like. The organizer may save information detailing venues that
the group has
used before, and may choose to share this information with other groups, which
may also
include a review of the venue. The organizer may search for a new venue, as
from venues
that have been shared by other organizers. Searches may sort based on
location, address,
being near a point of interest, and the like. The search may provide a map
detailing all
venues within an area of interest. The organizer may be able to view venue
details, including
reviews, ratings, directions, a description of the setting, schedule of other
meetings at the
venue, revision history, changes to the venue, whether the venue public or
private, loud, kid
friendly, and the like. In embodiments, the organizer may be able to sort
reviews based on
the user type, location, member, and the like. The organizer may also be able
to add a new
venue, such as by adding information and their experience with the group at
the site. A group
may provide a post event survey that includes a review of the venue.
[00174] In embodiments, the present invention may include a member titles
page.
Organizers and assistant organizers may give their members "titles.", such as
for organizers
assigning roles to their members (e.g. venue scout, chief cookie bringer,
etc.). However, the
organizer may also use member titles for other purposes, such as for humorous
reasons,
tracking attendance, for an event experience, money owed, and the like. These
member titles
may be added, edited, deleted, made public, kept private, and the like, and
may show up
whenever the member is referenced or displayed in association with the meeting
group.
[00175] In embodiments, the present invention may include an organizer's
checklist,
where the meeting facility helps new organizers get their groups off the
ground, such as
identifying techniques that could help them succeed, and pushed them to the
organizers as
"tips." These tips may be checked off when completed, and show as checked off
on all
associated pages. As tips are checked off there may be a completion indicator
updated, such
as a sliding banner bar, a percent complete, and the like. FAQ articles may
also be linked to
tips and advice,
[00176] In embodiments, the present invention may include a pre/post event
discussion
page, where members may post comment about the event, including posting
comments from
the post event survey, comments in a chat box, and the like. Comments may be
edited or
deleted by the organizer.
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[00177] In embodiments, the present invention may include an attendance taking
widget.
After an event occurs, an organizer may edit attendance to accurately
determine who attended
and who was absent. The organizer may change the RSVP of a person after the
event occurs.
For instance, if someone RSVP'd "Yes" but did not attend, the organizer may
click the
"Mark as absent" button and they are moved to the absent side. Or, if the
person is marked
absent but actually attended, the organizer may edit the entry.
1001781 In embodiments, the present invention may include facilities for
meetings in the
making, the process by which an individual may express their desire to be a
part of a group
that doesn't yet exist within the geographic region that the individual has
access to. In an
example of a local topic page, one of these pages may exist for each
intersection of a topic
and a locale. In embodiments, individuals may come to these pages after doing
on-line
searches, such as a Google search. For example, if an individual searched
"Taoism group
New York", they might end up on a site. If there are no meeting groups in the
topic/location
that an individual is looking for, or if they don't want to join the available
groups for some
reason, they may sign up to be notified if new Meeting Groups start. Listed
below any
meeting groups (if any), may be a list of people who have signed up for
through this process
of "Meetings in the Making", which may display each person's name, a short
intro they write,
their photo, location, date, and the like. And for example, if someone were to
start a new
Taoism Meeting Group near New York, each of these people would receive an
email inviting
them to join. Upon signing up, an individual may introduce themselves and add
a photo,
choose other related topics, change location-radius, opt-in to a weekly
update, and the like.
Upon first signing up, the individual may receive a welcome email. The email
may
recommend other meeting groups related to the topics they've signed up for.
From then on,
whenever anyone starts a new meeting group in the topics you've chosen, the
individual may
be invited to join with a "New Meeting Group" email. The "New Meeting Group"
email may
be generated by the meeting facility a few days after someone starts a new
meeting group. An
organizer may use this time period to get their group ready for its
announcement. Members
of meetings in the making may also opt-in to a weekly update email. This may
repeat any
new meeting groups that formed that week. It also may show a sample of one
person from
each topic list an individual has signed up to hear about, with a count of how
many people are
on each list. The weekly update email may also include some reconunended
meeting groups
and a short version of the weekly calendar of meetings near the individual.
This way,
individuals with no new meeting groups in one week may see a mixture of other
new content.
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[00179] In addition, upon signing up for meetings in the making, the
individual may also
make a pledge. These may be promises to help out in some way if a new meeting
group
starts. An individual may check off as many pledges as they like, or write in
their own.
Seeing that other people have offered their help encourages potential
organizers to step up
and start a new meeting group. In embodiments, if an individual may be
reminded of their
pledge when they hear about new meeting groups via the new meeting group
email. If an
individual joins a meeting group, that group's organizer may be notified that
you pledged,
and prompted to follow up with you about it. In addition, an individual's
pledges may show
up on their profile, but may be only visible to themselves and their meeting
groups'
organizers. In embodiments, organizers may be encouraged to return to local
topic pages
from time to time, such as to recruit new members to their meeting group. They
may be
especially encouraged to recruit people who have pledged, since this is a sign
that these
people are very interested and are more likely to be active members. If an
organizer is logged
in, they may use envelope icons that may be next to each name to send that
person an email
invitation to their meeting group.
[00180] In embodiments, the present invention may include a greetings page,
also referred
to as a shout. Greetings may be messages posted on the site, sent from a
single Meeting
member to another. Individuals may be prompted to post greetings in several
places on the
site, and may be most centrally on each person's profile. The individual may
write a greeting
on the overview profile page or the greetings tab page. The overview page may
have a
truncated list the individual's greetings, where the greetings tab page may
list them all, and
may be sorted based on date, meeting group, a friends listing, and the like.
[00181] In embodiments, the present invention may include a mailing list page,
which may
be a distribution list that allows everyone in the group to email everyone
else. Organizers
may control whether the group gets a mailing list. Members may be able to
control how
often they receive messages, where they may email by using a unique email
address, or from
a form on the site. In addition, the user may have the option to automatically
post all mailing
list emails to the message boards. Members may be able to email organizers,
other members,
and the like, such as through a facility on the individual's profile page, in
a directory of
member contacts, in a mailing list page, by searching for the member through a
search
facility provided through the group meeting facility, and the like. The email
may contain
information about the sender, such as their name, their affiliation with the
meeting group (e.g.
organizer, assistant organizer, member), other meeting groups the sender is a
member, and
the like. In the case of other meeting groups, the email may contain links to
the other
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meeting groups. In this way, emails from a member may increase the exposure of
the
associated meeting groups through the member's activity on in the system.
[00182] In embodiments, the present invention may include :how the meeting
facility may
TM TM TM TM TM
be associated with a social network site, such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo,
1i5, Orkut, and
the like. Social network sites may be accessed through the meeting facility,
such as through a
meeting group promote page, which may link the member directly to the social
network page.
The member may sign-in to add to add a meeting group to a social network
profile, link to the
search tool for finding meeting groups, link to register with the meeting
facility, bloCk
meeting group links, and the like. In embodiments, the individual may search
for meeting
groups without adding the social network application to their profile. From
the social
network an individual may display a meeting group's welcome message, link to
join a
meeting group, link to a group's page, link to a start a meeting page, link to
a search for
= meetings, and the like. After a user agrees to add the social network,
the application may -
.appear on the user's profile page, such as displaying meeting groups the user
organizes or is a
member of; event name links to an event page, list all meeting groups that
member is part of,
link to refresh the list of meeting groups, link to edit the list of meeting
groups, and the like.
In embodiments, there may be a group information page, which may include the
group's
welcome message, a next event listing, a listing of members also available in
the social
network site, a link to view user's list of meeting groups, a link to a view a
list of meeting
groups that friends are in, a link to find meeting groups, a link to the site
associated with the
meeting facility, and the like. A member may be linked to RSVP functionality
in association
with the social networking site, such as displaying an event description,
options for RSVP,
displaying photo and links to list of meeting groups, display RSVP responses,
link back to
group page, and the like. In embodiments, there may be a way to view all the
meeting groups =
that -friends are a part of, including their names and photo, the group names,
and the like. In
embodiments, this may be available to those friends who also have the meeting
facility
application installed, and for those who do not, they may be invited to add
the meeting
facility application.
[00183] In embodiments, the present invention may provide for an automatic
scheduler for
=scheduling a series of repeating meetings or events. In embodiments, the
automatic scheduler
may be presented as a function through a calendar, such as described herein.
The automatic
scheduler function may be turned on for individual meetings or events, and so
may enable
multiple series of meetings or events at once. The automatic scheduler may
provide for
selectable settings, such as for a repeat period (e.g. weekly, monthly,
yearly, bi-weekly,
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multiple days per week, and the like), reminder settings, stop date for when
the repeat series
will end, setting rolling dates for when RSVPs are open or closed, who is
invited, who is
organizing, and the like. Individual repeating meetings or events may be
customized, the
settings may be applied throughout the series, there may be default settings,
and the like. The
automatic scheduler may apply settings to be common throughout the series. In
embodiments, the automatic scheduler may enable time savings for users,
improve
attendance, grow the community, and the like. Fig. 23 provides an example
automatic
scheduler user interface 2300, showing how a user may schedule a meeting to be
automatic,
such as repeating on some time basis, and being displayed through a calendar
interface 2302.
Additionally, Fig. 24 shows how a user may be provided with a meeting edit
function 2400
for editing the meeting schedule, including editing the repeat of a particular
meeting 2402,
editing the repeat of all the following meetings 2404, and the like.
[00184] In embodiments, an organizer or co-organizer may put the organization
of a
meeting group on 'automatic pilot', such as in an instance when the organizer
was going to
be away, when the organizer doesn't have time to attend to the management of
the group, and
the like. In this instance the automatic scheduler may be turned on, setting
up recurring
events based on an event the organizer had set up; automatically picking the
date, time, and
possibly location, based on what the system thinks is best for it's topic and
location, based on
trends that are known, such as from other groups, and the like. Trending may
be provided
through the meeting facility, such as through software algorithms, through
third party
facilities, provided manually by individuals, and the like. In embodiments,
the automatic
pilot mode may also pick topics for events, or suggest topics to members for
members to
select through voting for an event. In embodiments, optional or individual
features may either
be disabled or on automatic as well. For example, only public groups may be on
automatic
pilot; or if the group is "approval only", all members will be auto approved.
[00185] In embodiments, the present invention may provide for a computer
system for
organizing in-person gatherings of users of topic-related interest, such with
a web-based
meeting management facility having a user interface accessible to a plurality
of users,
wherein each of the plurality of users may use the user interface to join at
least one of a
plurality of meeting groups based on at least one of topic-related interest
and geographic
locale; a server-based automatic control facility for enabling at least one
organizer to
automatically control the organization of meetings of a meeting group without
intervention of
the organizer, and the like. Automatic control may enable an automatic
scheduler for a
meeting, event, and the like, of the meeting group, such as presented to the
users. The
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automatic scheduler may provide for a selectable setting, such as a meeting
repeat period, a
reminder setting, a rolling date for RSVPs, who is enabled to be invited, a
fee that is set to be
free or set to a certain amount, and the like. Automatic control may
automatically pick a
meeting criteria, an event criteria, and the like, such as a time, a date, a
location, a leader, a
topic, and the like. Automatic control may automatically pick a meeting
criteria, an event
criteria, and the like, based on trends from past activities of the group,
such as trends of the
organizer's group, trends of another group, trends of another like group (e.g.
one hiking
group setting automatic features based on another hiking group's trends), and
the like.
Automatic control may provide a voting mechanism for choosing criteria for a
meeting
through voting amongst users, for taking inputs from users and creating a
meeting, event, and
the like.
[00186] In embodiments, the meeting facility may provide for a "collaboration
mode",
where the collaboration mode may allow for members of a meeting group to
create and
collaboratively edit mcetings associated with the meeting group, such as where
the organizer
enables members to schedule and plan meetings. Organizers may choose to enable
members
to: propose meetings, build on other's suggestions, help find places for
meetings and commit
to attend meetings while they're still 'in the making', and the like.
Organizers of a meeting
group may have the ability to enable or disable this new collaboration feature
in one of
several sub-modes, such as in a closed mode, a moderated mode, an open mode,
and the like.
For instance, an organizer may select "closed" mode, which may disable this
feature entirely.
In the closed mode the ability to create and edit meetings may be limited to
the group
leadership team, as described herein. Organizers may alternatively choose a
"moderated"
mode where any member of the group may propose a meeting but where the
organizer retains
approval rights and must approve any meeting before it is confirmed as an
official group
meeting. Meetings created in moderated mode may be visible to all members in
the group, a
select set of members, and the like, and members may have the ability to vote
for the meeting
to be approved. For instance, after a certain number of members vote to have
the meeting, the
organizer may be notified and choose to approve the meeting. An organizer may
also choose
an "open" mode where any member of the Meetup group may add or edit any
meeting. In
addition, organizers may choose to make an individual meeting editable by all
or a subset of
members of the group regardless of the collaboration mode the group is running
in. For
example, this may allow an organizer to select "closed" mode but nonetheless
allow members
of that group to edit certain aspects of that specific meeting, such as
time/date, location, or
other details of the meeting.
44
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
[00187] In embodiments, a computer system for organizing in-person gatherings
of users
of topic-related interest may include a web-based meeting management facility
having a user
interface accessible to a plurality of users, wherein each of the plurality of
users may use the
user interface to join at least one of a plurality of meeting groups managed
by an organizer
and based on at least one of topic-related interest and geographic locale,
where a user
becomes a member when they join the meeting group, and wherein the meeting
management
facility includes collaborative meeting management resources to allow the
organizer to set the
meeting group into a collaborative mode where the collaboration mode allows
for members
.of the meeting group to at least one of create and collaboratively edit
meetings associated
with the meeting group.
[00188] Referring to Fig. 37, in a first step 3700, an organizer may set the
meeting group
into a collaborative management mode, enabling members to create and/or
collaboratively
edit meetings. Optionally, as shown in step 3702A, the organizer may select a
moderated
collaborative mode where members of the group may propose the creation of a
meeting. but
where the organizer retains approval rights to the meeting, which may .also
include a
notification of members of the group of the proposed meeting, where members
have the
ability to vote for the meeting to be approved, where only a subset of members
may be able
to vote for a meeting to take place, where after a certain number of members
vote to have the
meeting the organizer is notified, and the like. Optionally, as shown in step
3702B, the
organizer may select an open collaboration mode, where a member of the meeting
group is
able to add or edit any meeting. The collaboration mode may be set to a closed
collaboration
mode where menibers are disabled fiom any features available through
collaborative meeting
management resources. Although this collaboration mode has been described in
terms of an
organizer and a meeting group, the collaboration mode may also be applied to a
promoter and
an event as described herein, where the various sub-modes (e.g, open,
moderated, closed)
may be controlled by a promoter or coordinator with regard to collaboration
with event
participants. In embodiments, the organizer may choose to make a meeting
editable by a
subset of members of the group regardless of the collaboration mode, such as
where the
editable features that members are able to edit include the time, date,
location, and the like, of
the meeting.
1001891 In embodiments, meeting groups may share and/or promote activities
with
TM TM TM TM
external facilities, such as with a social network, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr,
LinkedIn,
TM nvi
Tumbh-, FOursqure, a blog, a web site, and the like, For instance a meeting
group for. traveling
may want to tweet their travels as they go, and the present invention may
provide a facility to
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
TM
link the meeting group's .activity through Twitter. In embodiments, this may
enable: a =
meeting group to connect with other popular sites across the web. For
instance, a user of the
TM
present invention may be -able to post to Facebook or other website, such as
posting to their
TM
Facebook Wall and/or their friend's news feeds when they RSVP for a meeting or
event,
schedule a meeting or event, join a meeting group .or event, and the like. In
an example, after
a person joins a group, they may be taken to a profile question page, where
they can check
off, "Tell your .Facebook friends that you've joined this Meeting Group", Or
the like, Then
TM
they may be prompted to log in to Facebook. in another exatuple, afror a
person RSVPs for a.
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
TM
link the meeting group's .activity through Twitter. In embodiments, this may
enable: a =
meeting group to connect with other popular sites across the web. For
instance, a user of the
TM
present invention may be -able to post to Facebook or other website, such as
posting to their
TM
Facebook Wall and/or their friend's news feeds when they RSVP for a meeting or
event,
schedule a meeting or event, join a meeting group .or event, and the like. In
an example, after
a person joins a group, they may be taken to a profile question page, where
they can check
off, "Tell your .Facebook friends that you've joined this Meeting Group", Or
the like, Then
TM
they may be prompted to log in to Facebook. in another exatuple, afror a
person RSVPs for a.
meeting or event, the member may be.presented with a link to invite friends to
ioin them. For
instance, a lirik may include links for connecting to friends through
Facebookyrwitter, and
other like social media. In embodiments, the link may appear on the RSVP
tblifirination,.writ
to the member after they RSVP. Once the connection is made to the social
media, a more
= direct connection to friends may be 'enabled, such as invite-linked names-
and/or photos of
your friends listed in the confirmation correspondence so the person may
easily click on the
friends they want to invite to join them at the meeting, In addition, there
may be .a search
facility for finding friend in the social media to 'connect, to invite, and
the like. When a
person invites a friend, the friend may receive an invitation to attend the
meeting. such as
TM
shown on the webpage of the friend's social media facility (e.g. on the
friend's Facebook
wall), though email, throng-13AM, and the like. The invitation may include
information- about
themeeting, such as the name of the meeting, location, date and time, photo,
map, comment
link, and the like. In embodiments, individuals may share groups, events,
photos, and the like
with these external facilities. For example, sharing group information may
include an
organizer, member, non-member, and the like, sharing a group to their newsfeed
on FacebookTM
TM =
= or Twitter through the user interface. In this instance, the group name
with a link back to the
group may be shared. In another example, sharing event information may include
an
organizer, member, non-member, and the like, sharing group events with a link
back to the
group, and event details shared, In another example, members may. share RSVPs,
such as
TM
posting their RSVP to their Facebook newsfeed through the user interface,
where group
and/or event information ma,y be posted, with a link back. In another example,
an organizer,
TM TM
'member, non-member, and the like, may share photos, such as to their
Faceboolcot Twitter
account. In embodiments, an .organizing may link an external facilitY,-1Such
as described
herein, to their meeting group.
[00190] In embodiments, recommendations regarding meeting groups, events,
=members,
and the like, may be made to members or non-members based on activity through
the web- .
46
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
- =
based meeting facility (e.g. a member's activity through a website user
interface provided by
the web-based meeting facility), activity on a social networking site
frequented by a member
or non-member, social networking information associated with the member or non-
member,
and the like. Information derived from the at least one of these sources may
then be used to
make recommendations, such as recommending meeting groups, events, and the
like that they
TM
might enjoy based on their interests. For example, Facebook's connect feature
allows
TM TM
Facebook users to connect their Facebook accounts to third-party services,
inchidiug their
photos, friends list data, basic public information, and the like. In an
embodiment, once a
user accepts Facebook'sTM connect feature, the system could take the user's
stated interests
M
(such as in the "interests" field of FacebookT; profile) and utilize that list
in determining a
user's "alert list topics," If there is a meeting group with a tag that
matches the user's
TM = TM
Facebook interests, the system may notify them of that group. For instance, if
on Facebook
the user says 'I'm into vintage cars', but did not list vintage cars in their
meeting alert liSt as a
topic they're interested in, the system may send them Meeting groups about
vintage cars via
TM
email; highlight these groups as recommended when they search on Facebook, and
the like. =
In embodiments, recommendations may also be made based on a social graph,
recoMmending
.groups, events, and the like, based on groups your social network friends are
in. For example,
TM
if a user is friends with you on Facebook, and they are searching for groups
or events through
the meeting facility, the user may get a message (e.g. via some UI indicator)
saying, "your
friend Bill Jones is attending this meeting group" or "Your friend Bill Jones
is a member of
TM
this group," Although Facebook is depicted in the preceding examples, it will
be appreciated
by one skilled in the art that 'recommendations may be based on user
information derived
from any social networking sites where such information is available.. In
embodiments,
recommendations may be provided to a user based on their activity on the web-
based meeting
facility. For instance, a user that has joined a meeting .group about a
certain topic, attended
events about a certain activity, and the like, may be recommended to other
meeting groups,
events, and the like with similar or related topics or activities. For
example, a user may
=currently be a member of several outdoor and travel meeting groups, but has
recently
attended a meeting group for photography. This user may never have listed
photography as
an interest before, so they may have not previously receiVed recommendations
to new groups,
events, and like for photography. The system, having recorded the user's
recent activity in a
photography group now may provide the user with recommendations related to
photography.
In embodiments, the user may also be asked if they would like to receive these
new
recommendations associated with photography, be enabled to opt out of the new
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recommendations, and the like, where the user may be able to maintain control
of the
recommendation topics for which they receive reminders. In another example, a
non-member
user may attend a meeting group as a guest. The system may then store the
guest user's
personal information and topic of the meeting group, and send the guest user
recommendations based on their guest participation in the meeting group, such
as in a
introductory recommendations list to the web-based meeting facility groups,
events,
members, and the like. Further, if personal information was provided, the
guest user may be
provided recommendations based on their interests as derived from third-party
sites, such as
social media sites, and the like.
[00191] In embodiments, the present invention may implement a computer
implemented
method for providing recommendations for an in-person meeting group,
comprising
collecting user information (e.g. user information from a member user's
activity on the web-
based meeting facility, user information from a non-member user as a guest to
a meeting
group, user information from a user derived from a social network site, and
the like), where
the user information provides information related to topical interests and
location information
for at least one of a plurality of users; comparing the user information with
a topical listing of
in-person meeting groups in the same geographical region as the at least one
user, wherein
the in-person meeting group is formed and maintained through a web-based
meeting facility;
and providing an in-person meeting group recommendation to the at least one
user based on
the comparison. In embodiments, the user information may be gathered from a
user database
maintained through the web-based meeting facility. The user information may be
associated
with at least one other user in the user database with whom the user shares
group
membership. The user information may be associated with at least one other
user in the user
database with whom the user has shared a previous in-person meeting, where
sharing may be
indicated through the user and the other user RSVP'ing to the same meeting,
through the user
and the other user checking-in to the same meeting, and the like. The user
information may
be from user-provided information to the web-based meeting facility, from a
friends list, from
a friends list maintained through the web-based meeting facility, a friends
list provided by the
user. The user information may be gathered from a third-party social
networking facility,
such as provided by the user to the social networking facility, provided by
the user through
permission to gather the user information from the social networking facility.
The user
information from the social networking facility may be contained in a social
network
diagram, such as relating to social interactions within the web-based meeting
facility, within
or between third-party web facilities such as social network sites. The
location information
48
CA 02823256 2015-07-21
may be at least one of the city, ZIP Code, region, and the like. The
recommendation may be
for an in-person meeting group, for a meeting of an in-person meeting group,
for an event,
and the like. The recommendation may be emailed to the user, provided to the
user though
the user interface of the web-based meeting facility, provided to a third-
party social
networking site, and the like. In embodiments, the recommendation may be based
on a
collaborative filtering algorithm that is based on analyzing similarities
between interests of a
user and interests of a member of a group.
TUU19Z] In embodiments, meeting groups or event participants may upload photos
directly
from their mobile communications faoility, such as a cell phone, to the
meeting facility. For
TM TM TM
instance, photos may be uploaded from an iPhone, Droid, blackberry, and the
like, through
TM
the Snapup application. In an example, a user may open up a meeting or event
from their
phone, indicate they want to add a photo, snap the photo, add a caption, and
upload the photo,
where the photo may now he available for viewing as the meeting or event is
happening. In
embodiments, meeting groups and event activities may be available through a
user's mobile
communications facility, such as future and past meetings and events,. RSVPs
to upcoming
meetings and events, get directions, View RSVP lists, have discussions, search
for a group .or
event, view meeting group information, view event information, join a meeting
group, join an
event, and the like. In addition, live streaming of video may be utilized to
support a meeting
TM TM TM
or event, such as though tStream, Livestream, Slideshare, and the like. In
embodiments,
through the ability to upload photos and viaeo as a meeting or event is
occurring, anyone may
potentially share in the real-time event, even if they couldn't get there
themselves.
[00193] In embodiments, analytics and statistics may he applied and viewed for
a meeting
TM
group or event through third-party sites, such as through Google's analytics
platform.
Through these sites an organizer or promoter may be able to learn how many
page views are
being received, what locations visitors are from, what pages they're looking
at, when they
visit, and the like. An organizer may be able to see which events get the most
traffic, or if
emails send a lot of people to the site, see what words people search for to
get to the group of
event page. This may help in the writing of a compelling group description and
tag the
meeting group more effectively. Statistics may be available through the
meeting group or
event page. For example, a `Stats' menu item . on the user interface may
provide statistics,
such as through reports and the like, including group joins, RSVPs, total
members, active
members, and the like, where reports may contain charts and graphs with
selectable time
resolution and extent. In embodiments, analytics may also he applied to the
activity of
finding or forming new groups, such as displaying trending information on
fastest growing
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topics, most popular topics, fastest growing cities, and the like, or other
interesting trends that
help people find meeting groups while profiling as many meeting groups as
possible. Fig. 25
shows an example RSVP analytic representation 2500 showing the total number of
RSVPs
received for a representative group.
[00194] In embodiments, an organizer may create a new meeting with an RSVP
window
for responding, such as a setting when RSVPs may be first provided and the
last date and
time for RSVPs. For instance, an organizer may say, "automatically open RSVPs
10 days
before the meeting and close them an hour before the meeting." This may
provide the
benefit of controlling and adjusting for the needs of the particular meeting.
For example, an
organizer may plan a meeting and want members to know about the meeting, but
doesn't want
to track RSVPs yet. Or, an organizer has an event with limited seating: the
organizer can
announce "tickets go on sale next Monday". In embodiments, meetings may
include RSVPs,
not include RSVPs, include RSVPs with close date and/or time, open date and/or
time, or
both. RSVPs may provide the organizer with a way to control the number of
people
attending the in-person gathering.
[00195] In embodiments, the present invention may provide for meeting
announcements,
new group announcements, event announcements, and the like, in a progressive
process,
where the announcements are not provided to all individuals at once, but are
provided at
certain times based on one or more parameters. The progressive process of
announcement
delivery may provide organizers with greater control in the delivery of an
announcement,
where progressive time-wise stages of announcements may be employed in the
control of the
RSVP availability for meetings and/or events, joining availability for new
meeting group or
new event announcements, and the like. For example, and referring to Fig. 36A,
an organizer
of an existing meeting group may announce a new meeting through utilization of
a
progressive announcement facility 3600A, where the organizer sets up a staged
release for the
meeting announcement by assignment of individuals to each of a plurality of
time-staged
meeting announcements 3602A, where the assignment may be manually,
automatically, and
the like, as described herein. Then, a plurality of staged meeting
announcements may be
released, such as a first time-staged meeting announcement to a first
invitation list 3604A, a
second time-staged meeting announcement to a second invitation list 3608A, and
the like. In
another example, and referring to Fig. 36B, an organizer of a new meeting
group may
announce the formation of the new meeting group through utilization of a
progressive
announcement facility 3600B, where the organizer sets up a staged release for
the meeting
group formation announcement by assignment of individuals to each of a
plurality of time-
CA 02823256 2013-06-27
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staged meeting group formation announcements 3602B, where the assignment may
be
manually, automatically, and the like, as described herein. Then, a plurality
of staged
meeting announcements may be released, such as a first time-staged meeting
announcement
to a first invitation list 3604B, a second time-staged meeting announcement to
a second
invitation list 3608B, and the like. In each case, the time-staged meeting
announcement may
allow the organizer, for example, to address various contingencies between the
time-staged
announcements. For example, the organizer could establish the availability of
a key group of
meeting participants (such as the officers or managers of an organization,
individuals who
will make a presentation, or the like) before announcing to a broader group.
As another
example, the organizer could determine the rate of response from an initial
group to help
estimate whether the capacity of a meeting venue is likely to be exceeded,
releasing the
second announcement if and when it appears that capacity will be sufficient to
accommodate
participants among the recipients of the second announcement. Similarly, new
participants
might be invited to a meeting after past participants, allowing new members to
see a number
of RSVP responses prior to responding themselves. Additional examples and
embodiments
are provided throughout this disclosure.
[00196] In embodiments, the announcement delivery parameter may be based on
how
active a member is in the meeting group, the last time a member attended a
meeting, a
member being a co-organizer, a member being a new member, the member being
included on
a preferred list, the member being included on a 'VIP' list, the member's
history with
attending meetings for which they have provided an RSVP, a shared connection
(e.g. a friend,
a social media friend, a professional connection), a user previously
expressing an interest in a
new group, and the like. As such, the progressive process may provide for a
method of
providing an announcement preferably to at least one individual over a
plurality of other
individuals.
[00197] For example, an organizer may want to send a meeting announcement to
friends (a
'shared connection') first because their friends are more likely to RSVP than
others. Then,
once some number of friends has signed up for the meeting, other individuals
may be more
inclined to sign up. Further, the organizer may then release a second stage of
the meeting
announcements, that is, after their friends but before release to everyone.
For instance, the
first stage may be friends and other shared connections, and the second stage
may be other
preferred members, such as those members that are regular attendees in
meetings (i.e. RSVP
often). In this way, the organizer has initially 'seeded' the meeting
participation with shared
connections, and then further seeded the meeting participation with other
regularly attending
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members. Now when the final all-inclusive meeting announcement is sent,
individuals that
may ordinarily have been hesitant to RSVP to a meeting with few or no current
RSVPs listed,
may see a number of people already signed up, and feel more inclined to RSVP.
Although
the description of the progressive process of announcement delivery is
described with respect
to an organizer, in embodiments a co-organizer, a host member, and the like
may implement
the process as described herein.
[00198] For instance, the progressive process may provide a meeting
announcement in a
stepped time-wise pattern where a member, group of members, groups of members,
are
progressively informed of a meeting based on the parameters. For example, an
organizer
may wish to reward certain members by providing them with an announcement
first so they
have the opportunity to RSVP before other members of the group. This may be
necessary
because certain 'regular members' have less access to computer resources
necessary to RSVP
than other members, and have in the past been closed out of meetings before
the maximum
attendance is reached. In another example, the progressive process of
providing
announcements may encourage certain members to RSVP to an announcement because
they
see other members have already signed up. That is, certain members may
ordinarily be
hesitant to RSVP to a meeting that has none or few members already signed up
to attend. But
with the progressive process, the regular members may be given an: earlier
opportunity to
RSVP such that by the time the newer members are provided the announcement,
the regulars
have already RSVP'ed and are listed as attending, and the newer member may
then feel less
hesitant to RSVP into a meeting with an established participant list.
[00199] In another instance, the organizer of a new meeting group may use the
progressive
process to provide a new meeting group announcement in a stepped time-wise
pattern, where
users that have previously expressed an interest in the new group, friends,
social media
connections, and the like, are provided a new group announcement prior to
other users. In
this way, new users that have no previous connection with the new group
organizer may be
more inclined to join the group when they receive their announcement, because
by the time
they get their announcement there are already group members listed.
[00200] In embodiments, the organizer, through the meeting facility, may be
able to select
individuals for inclusion in different stages of providing an announcement,
such as by
specifying the individuals(s) to be included in a date/time for a first stage
of the
announcement release, a date/time for a second stage of the announcement
release, and so on.
The organizer may be able to compile lists of individuals into progressive
announcement lists
that may make it easier for the organizer to create announcements with staged
release of the
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announcement. For instance, an organizer may want to create a small sub-group
list for
certain gatherings of select members, but willing to include others in the
announcement if too
few of the initial select members RSVP. In this example, the organizer may
then select a
subset of the meeting group membership for a first stage of announcement
delivery, and a
second subsequent stage of announcement delivery for an extended group to
participate. In
embodiments, organizers may be provided the option of having progressive
announcements
utilized through the selection of an automatic progressive announcement
function, such as
provided as a selection button in association with the organizer's user
interface. This
automatic function may implement a specific assignment of individuals to
various stages has
previously set up by the organizer, implement an automatic assignment based on
preferences
previously or currently selected by the organizer, implement an automatic
assignment by the
meeting facility based on an algorithm (e.g. as based on past behavior of the
meeting group or
other meeting groups, or other parameters as described herein), and the like.
An automatic
selection may also be selected, deselected, or provided as a default for the
announcement of a
new meeting group, as a part of the process of announcing a new group.
[00201] In embodiments, a computer system for organizing in-person gatherings
of users
of topic-related interest may comprise a web-based meeting management facility
having a
user interface accessible to a plurality of users, wherein each of the
plurality of users may use
the user interface to join at least one of a plurality of meeting groups based
on at least one of
topic-related interest and geographic locale, where a user becomes a member
when they join
the meeting group; and a server-based progressive announcement facility for
enabling at least
one organizer to control a time specific and individual selection specific
staging of a meeting
announcement release related to a meeting group based on an announcement
delivery
parameter.
[00202] In embodiments, the announcement may be a meeting announcement for an
existing meeting group, a new meeting group announcement, and the like. The
staging may
have at least a first stage announcement at a date and time for at least a
first individual, and a
second stage meeting announcement at a subsequent date and time for at least a
second
individual. The staging may have at least a first stage meeting announcement
at a date and
time for a preselected group of individuals, and a second stage meeting
announcement at a
subsequent date and time for at least a second preselected group of
individuals. The
preselected group may be determined by at least one of the organizer, co-
organizer, and host
organizer. The parameter may be related to an individual's status, such as
being a co-
organizer, a new member, and the like. The status may be being an active
member of an
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existing meeting group, where active is determined by meeting attendance over
a period of
time as selected by the organizer. The parameter may be related to an
individual being
included on a list maintained by the organizer. The list may be a very
important person (VIP)
list, a preferred members list, and the like.
[00203] In embodiments, the organizer may implement an assignment of
individuals to
each staging of the meeting announcement through an automatic function of the
meeting
management facility, such as where the assignment has been previously
determined by the
organizer. The assignment may be generated through an algorithm executed by
the meeting
management facility. The algorithm may be based on assignment preferences
specified by the
organizer. At least one of the stages of an announcement release may be
restricted to a subset
of members of a meeting group, to a subset of users signed up for a new
meeting group, to
the first announcement stage may be associated with a notification of a
meeting as a meeting
of interest to other individuals as a result of the meeting achieving a
predetermined number of
RSVPs at the time of an announcement release, and the like. An announcement
release
subsequent to the first announcement stage may be associated with a
notification of a new
meeting group as a meeting group of interest to other individuals as a result
of the meeting
group achieving a predetermined number of sign-ups at the time of an
announcement release.
[00204] In embodiments, the organizer may utilize the progressive meeting
announcement
facility in setting up a process to automatically schedule meetings. The
organizer may utilize
the progressive meeting announcement facility in setting up a process to
automatically
manage the meeting group. An announcement release subsequent to the first
announcement
stage may be associated with a notification of interest on an external social
media site, such
as Facebook, Twitter, and the like. The organizer may utilize a statistical
analysis tool to
evaluate the effectiveness of the progressive announcement facility in
improving a meeting
attendance parameter. The parameter may be increased meeting attendance, an
increase in
new members to the meeting group, and the like. The user interface may be
through a mobile
computing platform, where individuals may be able to respond to the
announcement through
the mobile computing platform, smart phone, PDA, laptop computer, electronic
pad, and the
like. The announcement may be a meeting announcement that includes attendance
information. The attendance information may include members that have already
signed up
for the meeting. The attendance information may include member status
information
associated with the members that have already signed up for the meeting. The
status
information may be the duration the member has been part of the meeting group.
The status
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information may be associated with the activity of the member in attending
meetings. The
status information may be associated with the other meeting groups a user is a
member.
[00205] In embodiments, the announcement may include a calendar indication for
when a
meeting group meeting is to occur. The meeting management facility may present
a
graphical user interface to the organizer for use of the progressive
announcement facility.
The organizer, through a progressive announcement facility interface, may be
able to utilize a
member database maintained by the meeting management facility for creating
member lists
associated with the staged announcement releases. The organizer may utilize a
friends list to
create an attendance list for at least one stage of the meeting announcement.
The friends list
maybe from a social media site. An attendance list for the staging may be
generated in
association with member interrelationships as determined through a social
network diagram.
[00206] In embodiments, the user interface for meeting groups may include
group
navigation, organizer group tools, a group information box, a module manager,
latest activity
feed, meeting group module, recent photos module, video module, and the like.
The user
interface may include the use of functional modules, where these functional
modules may be
managed with a module manager, including the ability to add/remove modules
from a
meeting group homepage. Functional modules may include a recent photo module,
a video
module, new meeting module, and the like, where an organizer may be able to
more easily
modify the look and function of the home page. For instance, the latest
activity feed may let
members know more easily what's happening with the meeting group, where the
organizer
may be able to customize what appears in the feed, showing all of the activity
of the group,
and the like.
[00207] In embodiments, organizers, co-organizers, and the like may organize
meeting
groups, and limited organization and execution of meeting group activities may
be through
assistant organizers and one-time event hosts. For instance, co-organizers may
share the
control of group organizational functions and features of the present
invention as described
herein, but assistant organizers, one-time meeting hosts, and the like, may
have a sub-set of
privileges, such as specified by the organizer(s) of the group, provided by
default, and the
like. In this way, organization and execution of the activities of the group
may be shared
and/or distributed across a number of individuals. In an example, a one-time
meeting host
may be a member who has stepped up and volunteered to organize a meeting,
planed the
whole thing on the meeting group site as well as host the actual, in-person
meeting event, but
the organizer(s) don't want to make them an Assistant Organizer. In this
instance, the
organizer may be able to make that member a meeting host, which will give them
the ability
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to organize a single, or limited number or series of, meetings. But once the
meeting takes
place their access goes away.
[00208] In embodiments, a member may provide ideas for meetings to organizers
and to
the group, and other members may be able to vote on whether they think it's a
good idea or
not. For instance, ideas that members suggest may be made public (unless, of
course, it's in a
private group), and organizers may receive emails when an idea is posted.
Group members
may vote on the ideas they like and the votes tallied, such as for all to see.
Organizers and
assistant organizers may turn any idea into a real meeting with the click of a
button. Fig. 26
shows an example of a voting user interface 2600 where two ideas 2602, 2604
have been put
forth to a group membership for voting. In the first idea, 'Ride to Governor's
Island' 2602
the member the interface 2600 is being presented to has indicated that they
like the idea 2608,
and so they would be added to the list or representation 2610A of those who
like this idea
2602. Similarly, for the second idea presented 2604, the user can see a list
or representation
2610B of who likes the second idea.
[00209] In embodiments, group members may be able to identify people in posted
photos
and "tag" them. This means that when a group member views a group photo with
people in it,
they may be able to identify the people in the photo and put names to faces
through tagging.
Due to the present invention's application to real world face-to-face
interaction, this
functionality may better allow individuals to find out who goes to the
meetings and to tie
together the online and offline experience of the meeting group. For example,
a member may
find this tagging feature by looking at any photo in their photos section of
the user interface,
and clicking on the "Tag this photo" link next to the photos. This feature may
be limited to
group members. Those tagged may also receive an email notification telling
them they have
been tagged. And of course, they may also be able to un-tag themselves if they
desire.
[00210] In embodiments, the present invention may provide for a revenue
generation
facility to aid in associating sponsors with meeting groups, including sponsor
group search,
automatic searching, auction functionality, group sponsorship aggregation,
sponsor
placement in emails, sponsor accounts, sponsor offer directory, sponsor offer
matching,
sponsor offer recommendations, sponsor page, and the like. A sponsor group
search may
allow a sponsor to discover groups that are looking for a sponsor, where a
sponsor may
search by topic and/or location among a pool of groups that have stated they
are looking for
sponsors. In embodiments, the revenue generation facility may facilitate
discovery, search,
and matching of sponsor and groups by automatic matching and/or auction
functionality. For
instance the matching feature may provide system alerts automatically when
there are
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sponsors or groups that meet certain parameters. An auction feature may allow
sponsors and
groups to be matched through a bidding model. In this way, sponsorship
matching to
meeting groups and/or members may be executed dynamically, where sponsors and
groups
are being match continuously. Sponsor placement may place sponsor details in a
communication, such as in an event reminder email to members, which may
include sponsor
information, such as the sponsor's name, the sponsor's URL, a sponsor's
product and/or
service, and the like. Sponsor accounts may be kept in a database of
registered sponsors. In
addition, sponsors may be tagged and identified, such as by business name,
address, phone
number, URL, email address, and the like. There may also be links to sponsors,
such as
through twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp, and the like. A sponsor offer
directory may be
provided that organizers use to search for a sponsor for their group, receive
automated
recommendations, and the like. Results from the search may contain information
submitted
in a sponsor account, what the sponsor is willing to offer, and the like. The
sponsor offer
directory may provide a "self-serve" system where groups and sponsors can find
and contact
each other. The sponsor page may be a public web page that provides
information about a
sponsor, such as what meeting groups the sponsor supports, information from
the sponsor
account, offers available to groups, and the like. In embodiments, the revenue
generation
facility may allow organizers or members of groups to aggregate purchasing, or
allow
sponsors to offer group discounts to multiple groups and/or members. For
example, the
revenue generation facility may facilitate sponsored offers to members, such
as to all
members of a group, all members of a type of group, to all groups, and the
like. For instance,
if a certain number of members sign up for the offer, then the deal may become
available to
all, if the predetermined minimum is not met, no one may get the deal. In this
way, sponsors
may be able to offer quantity discounts to members, while reducing their risk.
[00211] In embodiments, the meeting facility may enable businesses and *other
organizations (a "Perk Sponsor") to communicate with organizers of meeting
groups
regarding sponsorships, offers, discounts and other benefits ("Perks") that
the business
desires to extend to members of the organizer's meeting group. Meeting Perks
make it
simpler for Meeting Groups to get ongoing discounts, deals and other
membership benefits
from relevant businesses and organizations. Upon acceptance of this proposal
by the
organizer, the meeting facility may deliver the offer to the members of the
meeting group.
The Perk Sponsor may then be able to send their Perk to a collection of
meeting groups, such
as based on specifying geography, topics, keywords, and the like chosen by the
Perk Sponsor.
Organizers of active meeting groups that match the topic and location criteria
for the perk
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may be notified, such as up to once a day, once a week, and the like, of new
perks available
for their meeting group(s). The Perks Sponsor may also set a maximum number of
groups to
sponsor. In embodiments, the Perk Sponsor may be billed upon acceptance of the
sponsorship by the group organizer and upon renewal of the sponsorship, such
as at a fixed
rate per meeting group sponsored per month. The meeting facility may deliver
Perk
proposals to meeting organizers of the groups selected by the Perk Sponsor,
such as by using
the group selection tool. Acceptance of the Perk may be first come first
served up to the
number of groups that the Perk Sponsor indicated. For instance, if demand for
the Perk
exceeds the maximum number of groups specified by the Perk Sponsor then
organizers may
be able to add themselves to a waiting list for a specific Perk offer, such as
in the event the
Sponsor increases their budget, spots open up due to termination of a Perk
relationship by
either the Perk Sponsor or the organizer of the group that had previously
accepted the Perk,
and the like. In embodiments, organizers of meeting groups may be provided
functionality
that enables them to view and manage Sponsors and the available Perks. Members
may also
be able to view all of the Perks available to them through their meeting
groups. Perk
Sponsors may have a new home page, such as being publicly viewable, where it
may show
available Perk offers as well as a list of all meeting groups currently being
sponsored by that
Perk Sponsor.
[00212] In embodiments, the present invention may provide a facility for
presenting users
with a list of meeting events in their geographic area that are popular, such
as indicated
through RSVP counts. In embodiments, the list may be generated through an
algorithm that
creates the list to provide the user with what is 'hot' in the area, such as
through highest
RSVP counts, the highest total number of RSVPs, the highest percentage of
RSVPs, and the
like. For example, the algorithm may include the two highest RSVP count events
where
there is a topic match between the recipient's topics and group's topics, the
top RSVP count
event that is not a topic match, top RSVP count events in the geographic area,
and the like.
In embodiments, RSVP counts may be based on actual counts of 'Yes', of 'Yes'
and
'Maybe's', of a combination of these and/or other positive indicators that a
member may join
the meeting, and the like.
[00213] In embodiments, the present invention may provide for a service where
members
can 'check-in' to a meeting or event, that is, when a member gets to the
location of a meeting
or event they could indicate they've arrived, such as through a smart phone
and the like. A
member may also be able to check-in other members that have arrived, and view
what other
members have checked-in. Member check-ins may be represented and viewed
through a
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website associated with the present invention, on a third-party website, on a
social network
website, a smart phone (e.g. iPhone, Droid, Blackberry), and the like. For
instance, a
member may use a mobile-optimized version of the website, an application for a
mobile
device, a laptop, and the like, to "check in" to a meeting or event. This may
tell the system
that they are at the event and then the website or the application tells other
people who are
looking at the event page that the member is at the event. Check-in may also
be used for
attendance purposes, to create an alert (such as to other members that they've
arrived). In
embodiments, the check-in feature may be integrated into a third-party, such
as Foursquare,
Twitter, Facebook, and the like. For example, a member may check-in, where the
check-in
updates their Facebook status and sends a tweet. In embodiments, the check-in
feature may
be used independent of a meeting or event, where members check in to a
location and then if
there are a predetermined number of members in similar topics, a meeting or
event could be
spontaneously generated.
[00214] In embodiments, the present invention may provide for a 'buddy'
feature, where
one user or member may be matched with another member or user so that the
matched
members or users have a person of contact in a group or at an event. This
matching would
create a relationship (e.g., an interpersonal association or connection)
between users or
members in a group or meetings where there otherwise would not be a
connection. A user,
organizer, assistant organizer, the system, and the like may do the matching.
The matching
may be done on the basis of activity, interests, connections, and the like,
whether on a site of
the present invention, or on other third party sites, such as social
networking sites. For
example, a new member of a meeting group may want to sign up for a meeting or
event, but
the idea of showing up in an unfamiliar place to meet with a group of people
they have never
met in person before may be intimidating or otherwise not desirable. With the
buddy
function, the new person may be connected up with (e.g., virtually introduced
to) someone to
connect with when they arrive for the meeting. In this way, the buddy function
acts as a
personal connection for the new person when they arrive, and better enable
introductions, and
generally feeling more a part of the group. As a result, the buddy feature may
provide a new
member with a more secure or otherwise desirable feeling associated with
attending a first
meeting with a group, and thereby help promote that new member to join
meetings, meeting
groups, events, and the like.
[00215] In embodiments, the present invention may include how the meeting
facility may
associate groups together into an alliance, where an alliance may be a self-
organized coalition
of groups working together for a common purpose, a group of groups, and the
like. In
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embodiments the alliance may be open to any group with a web presence,
including groups
on other platforms such as other social network sites, Facebook, MySpace,
Yahoo, Google,
and the like, where the alliance may help groups share knowledge and resources
amongst
each other. In embodiments, anyone may be able to start an alliance, and
anyone group may
join an alliance (which may be subject to approval by the alliance organizer).
In
embodiments, a user may register a member account with an alliance site (or
use an existing
account). Alliances created with a new member account may not be activated
until the
account email address is verified (by means of a confirmation email). Next, an
Alliance may
customize a "short name" (based on the full name by default), that may be used
in the
Alliance's web site URL and as the address of the Alliance's email mailing
list. Alliances may
then be categorized by free form keywords or tags by which the organizer
identifies the
Alliance's areas of interest or activity. Once complete, the alliance
organizer may be shown a
success message and directed to the new Alliance's home page.
[00216] In embodiments, the present invention may include an alliance home
page, which
may include a customizable header, description of the alliance purpose, logo,
navigation links
to available alliance content (e.g., settings, discussions, resources, and the
like), organizer
tools (e.g., links to contextually available actions, such as to invite groups
to join, view
pending groups who have requested to join, add new gadgets to the home page,
enter a text
message to display, and the like. In embodiments, gadgets may allow a
customized selection
of what types of tools and content are displayed on the page, along with
placement and size,
and the like. Features and functions associated with the home page may include
a listing of
groups associated with the alliance, view of the latest actions occurring
within the member
groups, links to communications tool, links to discussions, links to wiki-
style collaborative
pages, and the like.
[00217] In embodiments, the present invention may include how groups may be
invited to
join an alliance, where an alliance organizer and group contact members may
invite other
groups to join the alliance, such as by email, clicking on an invite link on
the home page, and
the like. Upon receiving an invitation, recipients may receive a customized
message with a
link back to the join page for the alliance. When invited by the alliance
organizer, groups
joining through the invitation link may be automatically "approved" and
included in the
Alliance. In embodiments, for invitations sent by alliance members, groups
joining through
the invitation link may be subject to approval by the alliance organizer.
[002181 In embodiments, the present invention may include how groups may join
an
alliance. When joining an alliance, the group contact may be prompted to enter
the group's
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information, including name, location, website URL, description, and the like.
Existing
members may select a previously entered group or create a new one. Requests to
join an
Alliance may be subject to approval by the alliance organizer. Depending on
context, the
group's membership may be left in various states, such as if the group joined
in response to an
invitation by the alliance organizer the group may be automatically approved
and active in
the alliance, if the request is from an existing or verified member the
request may be pending
and is submitted to the Alliance Organizer for approval, if the user created a
new member
account during the join request the group may be left in a not verified state
and only moved to
pending when the member's email address is verified, and the like. In
embodiments, when a
group's request to join an Alliance enters a pending state, notification
messages may be sent,
such as a confirmation to the applying group contact detailing the join
request and the
alliance information, a pending group notification to the alliance organizer
containing the
group details (e.g., member information, group name, URL, description, reason
to join, and
the like) and a link to enable immediate approval or denial of the join
request, and the like.
In addition, the alliance organizer may see a prompt in the organizer tools
selection of the of
the alliance home page when there are pending join requests. In addition, the
alliance
organizer may be able to remove any previously approved group from the
Alliance via a link
in the group listing.
[002191 In embodiments, the present invention may include how a home page may
be
customized, such as the layout and content displayed on the alliance home page
being
modified by the alliance organizer to suit the alliance's needs. In
embodiments, content may
be bundled into gadgets, such as based on the Google Gadgets, Google
OpenSocial
specification, and the like. Gadgets may provide a modular form for
information and
functionality to be included on the page. In embodiments, the alliance site
may implement an
OpenSocial gadget container, which will ultimately allow standard compliant
3rd party
applications to be included in the site. Gadgets may be moved to a new
location on the page,
removed from the page, have individual settings customized, added to the page
from a list of
available options, and the like. For instance, the alliance organizer may
select from an
expandable list of available gadgets to add to the page, where added gadgets
may appear
immediately on the page below. Individual gadgets may be able to declare
whether or not
more than one instance is allowed per Alliance. Gadgets may be moved by
clicking on the
title bar and dragging the gadget to the new location. As the gadget is moved,
the page layout
may automatically adjust to show the new droppable location for the gadget.
The alliance
organizer may be able to remove any gadget instance from the page by clicking
on the
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appropriate icon. In embodiments, a gadget that has been removed may be re-
added if
desired. Gadgets may define a list of editable settings. For example, a feed
reader gadget
may include a setting for the feed URL to display and the number of feed
entries to be shown.
In addition, any gadget may be embedded on any other HTML page by copying and
pasting a
short snippet of HTML code.
[00220] In embodiments, the present invention may include how groups may be
displayed,
where a list of groups in an Alliance may be displayed through a group's
gadget. Groups
may be searched by location to find the nearest group, such as sorted by
distance from the
entered location. Each group may also have a detail view available with
additional group
information, such as including a group description, a history of group
information that has
been automatically updated by the alliance system, and the like. For supported
group
platform sites, the alliance system may be periodically updated with
information for all of the
member groups, such as the number of members in the group, the date of the
group's next
event, other platform specific information, and the like. The group detail
view may show the
most recently applied updates. In embodiments, history may only be visible to
the group
contact and the Alliance Organizer.
[00221] In embodiments, the present invention may include alliance discussion,
which
may provide a combined online message forum and mailing list for each
Alliance. Members
of the Alliance may be able to post messages online through the site, send an
email message
to the Alliance mailing list, and the like. Members may opt to receive all
messages by email,
to receive only responses within a given thread by email, to view all messages
on the web
site, and the like. Individual threads of discussion may be flagged as private
(e.g., only
visible to members of the Alliance), as public (e.g., viewable by everyone),
and the like. In
addition, messages posted since a member last viewed the discussion may be
flagged as new
and highlighted on the next visit.
[00222] In embodiments, the present invention may include a discussion thread,
where
replies to a new discussion message may be collected into a single
conversation thread. In
addition, messages in a conversion thread may be displayed in context, such as
below the
message that was replied to, ordered chronologically within other replies to
the same parent
message, and the like. When a member re-visits a previously viewed thread, the
previously
viewed messages may be automatically collapsed, while any new messages may be
expanded, such as for easy highlighting. The alliance organizer may change the
visibility
setting (e.g., public, private) for any discussion thread, delete the
discussion thread, edit the
text of any individual message, and the like.
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[00223] In embodiments, the present invention may include alliance resources,
where each
alliance may have the ability to create and publish wiki-style web resource
pages as part of
their Alliance site. These pages may be collaboratively created and edited by
all members of
the Alliance, though the Alliance Organizer may have final approval on what
pages and
changes are publicly visible outside of the Alliance members. Like alliance
discussions, each
resource page may be flagged as public (e.g., viewable by all site visitors)
or private (e.g.,
only visible to Alliance members). Each set of changes to an individual page
may be stored
as a separate revision of the page content. The Alliance Organizer may select
the specific
revision of a page that may be made public. Members may edit pages that have
been publicly
published, but their revisions may be pending to the page (not visible) until
approved by the
Alliance Organizer. Public pages may appear for all site visitors, while
private pages may
only appear for logged in alliance members. When a new alliance is created, it
may be
populated with a set of resource page templates for commonly provided
information. In
embodiments, the alliance organizer may have the option of deleting any pages
that are not
relevant. Each resource page may be accessible via a unique URL based on the
page name.
This may make it easy to link to the page from other web sites. The page URLs
may be
subject to the public/private constraint set for the page. In addition, access
to a private page
URL by a non-Alliance member may result in a "not authorized" error message,
with a
prompt to login to continue.
[00224] In embodiments, the present invention may provide a user with the
ability to
create an in-person meeting event, independent of an established meeting group
or chapter,
through a meeting event facility, such as in connection with and including at
least one of the
features of the meeting facility as described herein. For instance, a user may
want to initiate
and promote an event, or network of affiliated events around some point of
interest, such as a
holiday, a political candidate, a social issue, entertainment, personal
interest, and the like, but
for which they may or may not have an existing membership list from which to
make contact.
For example, Oprah may want to promote an event, and may be able to utilize
her existing
contacts as a celebrity, but the ordinary individual may not have any
contacts, beyond their
friends and family, to draw upon for promotion of an event. The meeting event
facility may
provide for management resources to create a meeting event to which others may
join as
attendees, where the attendees may not have any previous direct affiliation
with the promoter.
Further, the meeting event facility may enable the promoter to create a
'container' of
networked affiliated events, where the promoter may create the container with
certain bounds
and parameters that help to define the events. In an example, the promoter may
be a person
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with a national presence, such as a TV, movie, political, artistic, and the
like personality,
where they want to have a national day of protest, celebration, and the like,
around some
issue. For instance, an author or celebrity may want to stage a national book
reading, a U.S.
senator may want to initiate a state wide rally around some bill currently in
congress, the
singer Sting may want to create an international fund raising event day around
a natural
disaster, and the like. Promoters may not have access to contact lists to
rally people to the
event(s), but through their public presence (e.g. through TV, a website, a
community board,
word-of-mouth, and the like) may be able to rally individuals to participate,
where the
promoter is able to initiate and coordinate aspects of the event(s) through
the creation of an
event container. It should be understood that these are only a few examples of
how the
meeting event facility may be utilized by promoters, and that anyone may use
the meeting
event facility to initiate events. Figs. 22A-J provide embodiments of a user
interface
presentation, features, and functions of the meeting event facility, and are
not meant to be
limiting in any way.
[00225] In embodiments, a promoter may create a container so that individuals
are allowed
to show interest in creating or signing up to be attendees at event locations,
such as locations
created by the promoter or by attendees, and as more individuals create or
sign up for more
event locations, the scope and extent of the network of events spreads. The
meeting event
facility may enable these affiliated event locations to be networked together,
such as with
communications facilities, payment facilities, management facilities,
organizational facilities,
scheduling facilities, and the like, or any other function or feature as
described herein, such as
those provided to meeting groups as described herein. In a non-limiting
example, the
promoter may be a celebrity that wishes to promote a national fund raising
event through the
use of the meeting event facility. In this example, the celebrity may select a
set of parameters
to create the container such that other individuals may create their own fund
raising event
under the limitations and description of the container as created by the
promoter. The
promoter may maintain aspects of control over these affiliated events through
the container
specified parameters, such as when the event occurs, where events are allowed
to occur,
communications amongst the various parties, and the like. In embodiments, an
attendee may
become a coordinator of that event they've signed up for, where certain
aspects of the
management of the event may be maintained by the promoter and others by the
coordinator,
as described herein.
(002261 Referring to Fig. 27, the promoter may create a set of parameters for
the container,
such as through a container creation interface 2700, including what the
container of events is
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about, links to or from the container (e.g. connecting with a website,
Facebook, Twitter, and
the like), who can select a location or schedule an event (e.g. only the
promoter, anyone),
when an event can occur (e.g. anytime, all together, on one day, on different
days), and the
like. For example, a promoter may create a container where any individual can
create an
event. In embodiments, an individual may express interest in the event through
a user
interface of the meeting event facility, and become an attendee, where the
location of the
event may be determined automatically through the container, provided by the
individual,
determined automatically and then modified by the individual, taken from an
existing
member profile as a part of the meeting facility, and the like. In this
instance, the attendee
may have aspects of control associated with the event, such as what additional
individuals of
a plurality of attendees may attend, the time of the event, communications
with or amongst
the plurality of attendees for the location, and the like. In embodiments, the
promoter may
determine the extent to which attendees may have coordinating control of such
aspects as
scheduling an event, communications amongst the attendees, whether events all
happen at the
same time or at any time, and the like. In embodiments, the promoter may limit
at least some
of these controls to only themselves, such as limiting only themselves as
having control of
scheduling event locations.
[00227] In embodiments, individuals may express an interest in an established
location or
in a new location. In embodiments, the container may be created in a way that
an individual
may express an interest in the event and become an attendee, and as such the
attendee may
have the option to become a coordinator of the event location and have some
influence over
the particulars of the event at that location. In this way the initiated event
container may
spawn events as individuals express an interest, where participation in the
events grows
through the efforts of attendees within the bounds of the criteria set up by
the promoter
through the container, but without the need for direct involvement of the
promoter. For
example, the meeting event facility may enable a grass-roots growth of a
nation-wide
network of affiliated events as set up by a promoter through the container,
where events are
spawned through attendees at an ever growing number of locations and venues as
the word
spreads.
[00228] Referring to Fig. 28, one of the ways the word may spread may be
though tying
the event to a social communications facility, such as Twitter, Facebook, an
RSS feed, and
the like. The user may be able to push content into one or more social
communications
facilities, such as through a social networking user interface 2800. For
example, content may
be pushed into a Twitter stream. The user may open a new account on the social
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communications facility, or tie to an existing account. For example, if the
promoter chooses
to tie their container to a Twitter account, people may then be able to follow
the build-up of
events, follow the events unfold, follow reaction to the events (e.g. before,
during, and after
the events). In embodiments, participating individuals may be able to tie the
events at their
locations and/or venue to separate accounts.
[00229] Referring to Fig. 29, the meeting event facility may include a user
interface for
depicting a map of event locations 2900, and may include one or both of a
graphical and
listing means for an individual to select a location to show interest. For
instance, an
individual may bring up a map and click on one of the locations to show
interest, such as
clicking on a location pin on the map. In embodiments, the map interface may
allow a
promoter to create default locations for the container, such as in all major
cities in a region,
several selected locations, one specific location, and the like, allowing new
individuals to
simply click on existing location indicators on the map. The interface may
also allow new
individuals to click on a point on the map that does not currently have an
event location
indicator, and so create a new location for an event. An individual may bring
up the listing
and click on one of the locations to show interest, such as clicking on some
portion of the
location listing to RSVP to participate at that location. An individual may
enter a new
location for an event. In embodiments, the participating individual may be the
first attendee
for that event at that location, and as such be afforded some aspects of
control or management
for that event, such as the attendees who may participate, time of the event,
resources being
provided and/or shared for the event, and the like, such as within the
criteria set up by the
promoter.
[00230] In embodiments, the promoter may be able to auto-generate event
locations, such
as a part of the creation of the container. These auto-generated event
locations may then be
available to receive interest from individuals. The auto-generate feature may
make it clearer
to interested individuals that the event is meant to be held across the
geographical region(s)
indicated by the selected locations. Individuals may then select the event of
their choice and
show interest in that event, as well as optionally becoming a coordinator for
that event. In
embodiments, an interested individual may be able to select a location that is
not indicated as
a result of the auto-generate function. That is, the auto-generate function
for event locations
may provide an effective means of 'seeding' the region of interest by the
promoter, but may
not limit the selection of additional event locations by interested
individuals. In
embodiments, the promoter may have the option to maintain different levels of
control over
different events.
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[00231] Referring to Fig. 30, the meeting event facility may provide for a
user interface
presentation for an individual event 3000, such as including the name of the
event, a link to
the main page of the container, a map of all locations for the container, a
map of the location
for this specific event, location information (e.g. when, where), listing of
attendees, a
comment entry, a running comment stream for the event, links to social
communications
sites, a means to RSVP to the event, other locations nearby, and the like. As
shown in Fig.
31, the individual that shows interest, such as clicking on the RSVP, may be
listed on the site
as an attendee, and provide an opportunity to invite others, such as through a
user interface
3100 through Facebook, email, IM, and the like. As shown in Fig. 32, an
attendee may be
provided the opportunity to become the coordinator of the location when they
RSVP, such as
when the individual is the first to show interest in that location, when they
may be presented
with a user interface 3200 for becoming the event coordinator for the
location. In
embodiments, the coordinator may only have aspects of control over their
associated event,
where the promoter maintains the overall level of control for the container.
As shown in Fig.
33, the promoter of an event may have the ability to edit organizational
content for their
event, such as though a user interface 3300, including the date, time, place,
and the like, plus
other ancillary content such as notes to the attendees.
[00232] In embodiments, the meeting event facility may provide for
communications
amongst the promoter, coordinators, and the attendees, such as through email,
IM, directly
through the meeting event facility, and the like. For example, Fig. 34 shows a
message box
3400 for a coordinator to contact an attendee, such as an attendee that is
signed up for the
event of the coordinator. Fig. 35 shows a comment box 3500 for communicating
between
attendees, such as generated by the coordinator, attendee, or promoter, and
visible to
everyone signed up for the associated event.
[00233] In embodiments, the meeting event facility may enable multiple local
events that
are related to be grouped into a 'community' of events, such as a community of
events that
are a local subset of events in a promoter's container, a community of events
that are created
by separate promoters but related both topically and geographically, and the
like. The concept
of a community of events may help aggregate smaller events so that if one
person starts an
event in one part of town and someone else starts one in another part of town,
they may now
both be aggregated into the same "community."
[00234] In embodiments, the meeting event facility may enable for 'worldwide
event days'
for their communities, which may allow organizations to initiate an event
theme and date in
the container page, so that it is easier for them to mobilize fans to start
events on the same
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day. Once the worldwide event day is created by the account owner, it may show
up on each
community's page as an event.
[00235] In embodiments, the meeting event facility functionality, as described
herein, may
be accessed through a plurality of computer related facilities, such as a
personal computer, a
mobile computing device, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a navigation device, a
PDA, a game,
a mobile game device, through the intemet, through a local area network,
through a browser,
through email, through instant messenger, through text messenger, and the
like. In
embodiments, the meeting event facility may provide for social networking,
group social
networking, a governmental and/or community meeting resource, for social
activism,
governmental activism, enviromnental activism, a political organizational
resource, an
entertainment venue resource, international networking, personal networking,
an enterprise
meeting tool, an educational meeting resource, an entrepreneurial group
resource, an
professional group resource, and the like. In embodiments, the meeting event
facility may be
incorporated into third party applications, such as other social networking
sites, news groups,
city events calendars, mobile device applications (e.g. iPhone applications,
blackberry
applications, and the like), third-party websites, search engines, and the
like.
[00236] In embodiments, the present invention may take the form of a computer
program
product embodied in a computer readable medium that, when executing on one or
more
computers, helps organize an in-person gathering of users of event-related
interest by
performing the steps of: (1) providing meeting management resources through a
meeting
event facility, wherein the meeting management resources enable a promoter to
initiate in-
person gatherings as a plurality of events through a meeting event container,
wherein the
meeting event container provides management resources for the plurality of
events as a
network of affiliated events; (2) receiving meeting event container criteria
from the promoter;
(3) receiving a plurality of attendees for one of the plurality of events,
including a first
attendee, interested in attending the event; (4) providing to the plurality of
attendees a
location indication of the based on the promoter's received meeting event
criteria; and (5)
enabling at least one of the promoter and the first attendee to accept the
plurality of attendees
for the event, and to manage meeting event resources through a web-based
graphical interface
provided by the meeting event facility.
[00237] In embodiments, the present invention may provide a computer
implemented
method for organizing a network of affiliated live events, the method
comprising: providing
an event management resource to a promoter through a web-based meeting event
facility,
wherein the event management resource enables the promoter to initiate and
manage a
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grouping of a plurality of affiliated in-person gatherings as live events in
an event container
controlled by the promoter, and where at least one such live event is allowed
to be controlled
at least in part by a leader associated with such live event in the event
container subject to
event criteria set by the promoter. In embodiments, the present invention may
receive
meeting event criteria from the promoter for at least one such event,
receiving an indication
of interest from at least one individual for at least one event, providing to
the individual at
least a location indication of the event based on the event criteria, and
enabling the promoter
to accept the individual to attend the event and to manage the event
management resources
for the event through the web-based meeting event facility. The individual may
become the
leader for the event. The leader may be enabled to alter at least one of the
venue, date, and
time of the event subject to the event criteria set by the promoter. The
individual may request
to become the leader for the event. The indication of interest and information
about the
individual may be received from a social networking site through which the
individual signed
up for the event. The event management resources may enable the promotion of
the event
across web-based social media. The event management resources may include a
graphical
user interface for managing the plurality of affiliated events. The graphical
user interface
presents information about the plurality of affiliated events may include a
graphical map
resource, location of the event, listing of individuals intending to attend
events, listing of past
events, a guide for initiating a new event, time of each event, date of each
event, and the like.
The graphical map resource may depict information about each event. The
graphical map
resource may provide links to individual event pages. The event management
resources may
provide a facility that allows third party websites to embed a graphical map
resource on their
site. The embedded graphical map resource may include active links to an event
page
managed by the promoter through the web-based meeting event facility. The
meeting event
resources may include a webpage for each event depicting infon-nation about
and resources
for the event. The resources for the event may include communications
resources for the
event. The communications resources may include at least one of email, SMS,
chat, and
micro-blogging communication services for communicating amongst individuals
signed up to
be attendees of the event. The communications resources may include email
contact
resources for communications between the leader and the promoter. The
communication
resources may include the ability to share communications through social
networking sites.
The resources for the event may include locations of other affiliated events
within a specified
distance of the event. The resources for the event may include a link to the
main webpage for
the network of affiliated events. The leader may be provided at least some
control over the
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webpage for the event they lead. The meeting event criteria may be at least
one of a location,
a date, and a time for at least one of the plurality of events.
[00238] The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or in
whole
through a machine that executes computer software, program codes, and/or
instructions on a
processor. The present invention may be implemented as a method on the
machine, as a
system or apparatus as part of or in relation to the machine, or as a computer
program product
embodied in a computer readable medium executing on one or more of the
machines. The
processor may be part of a server, client, network infrastructure, mobile
computing platform,
stationary computing platform, or other computing platform. A processor may be
any kind of
computational or processing device capable of executing program instructions,
codes, binary
instructions and the like. The processor may be or include a signal processor,
digital
processor, embedded processor, microprocessor or any variant such as a co-
processor (math
co-processor, graphic co-processor, communication co-processor and the like)
and the like
that may directly or indirectly facilitate execution of program code or
program instructions
stored thereon. In addition, the processor may enable execution of multiple
programs,
threads, and codes. The threads may be executed simultaneously to enhance the
performance
of the processor and to facilitate simultaneous operations of the application.
By way of
implementation, methods, program codes, program instructions and the like
described herein
may be implemented in one or more thread. The thread may spawn other threads
that may
have assigned priorities associated with them; the processor may execute these
threads based
on priority or any other order based on instructions provided in the program
code. The
processor may include memory that stores methods, codes, instructions and
programs as
described herein and elsewhere. The processor may access a storage medium
through an
interface that may store methods, codes, and instructions as described herein
and elsewhere.
The storage medium associated with the processor for storing methods,
programs, codes,
program instructions or other type of instructions capable of being executed
by the computing
or processing device may include but may not be limited to one or more of a CD-
ROM,
DVD, memory, hard disk, flash drive, RAM, ROM, cache and the like.
[00239] A processor may include one or more cores that may enhance speed and
performance of a multiprocessor. In embodiments, the process may be a dual
core processor,
quad core processors, other chip-level multiprocessor and the like that
combine two or more
independent cores (called a die).
[00240] The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or in
whole
through a machine that executes computer software on a server, client,
firewall, gateway,
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hub, router, or other such computer and/or networking hardware. The software
program may
be associated with a server that may include a file server, print server,
domain server, internet
server, intranet server and other variants such as secondary server, host
server, distributed
server and the like. The server may include one or more of memories,
processors, computer
readable media, storage media, ports (physical and virtual), communication
devices, and
interfaces capable of accessing other servers, clients, machines, and devices
through a wired
or a wireless medium, and the like. The methods, programs or codes as
described herein and
elsewhere may be executed by the server. In addition, other devices required
for execution of
methods as described in this application may be considered as a part of the
infrastructure
associated with the server.
[00241] The server may provide an interface to other devices including,
without limitation,
clients, other servers, printers, database servers, print servers, file
servers, communication
servers, distributed servers and the like. Additionally, this coupling and/or
connection may
facilitate remote execution of program across the network. The networking of
some or all of
these devices may facilitate parallel processing of a program or method at one
or more
location without deviating from the scope of the invention. In addition, any
of the devices
attached to the server through an interface may include at least one storage
medium capable
of storing methods, programs, code and/or instructions. A central repository
may provide
program instructions to be executed on different devices. In this
implementation, the remote
repository may act as a storage medium for program code, instructions, and
programs.
[00242] The software program may be associated with a client that may include
a file
client, print client, domain client, intemet client, intranet client and other
variants such as
secondary client, host client, distributed client and the like. The client may
include one or
more of memories, processors, computer readable media, storage media, ports
(physical and
virtual), communication devices, and interfaces capable of accessing other
clients, servers,
machines, and devices through a wired or a wireless medium, and the like. The
methods,
programs or codes as described herein and elsewhere may be executed by the
client. In
addition, other devices required for execution of methods as described in this
application may
be considered as a part of the infrastructure associated with the client.
[00243] The client may provide an interface to other devices including,
without limitation,
servers, other clients, printers, database servers, print servers, file
servers, communication
servers, distributed servers and the like. Additionally, this coupling and/or
connection may
facilitate remote execution of program across the network. The networking of
some or all of
these devices may facilitate parallel processing of a program or method at one
or more
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location without deviating from the scope of the invention. In addition, any
of the devices
attached to the client through an interface may include at least one storage
medium capable of
storing methods, programs, applications, code and/or instructions. A central
repository may
provide program instructions to be executed on different devices. In this
implementation, the
remote repository may act as a storage medium for program code, instructions,
and programs.
[00244] The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or in
whole
through network infrastructures. The network infrastructure may include
elements such as
computing devices, servers, routers, hubs, firewalls, clients, personal
computers,
communication devices, routing devices and other active and passive devices,
modules and/or
components as known in the art. The computing and/or non-computing device(s)
associated
with the network infrastructure may include, apart from other components, a
storage medium
such as flash memory, buffer, stack, RAM, ROM and the like. The processes,
methods,
program codes, instructions described herein and elsewhere may be executed by
one or more
of the network infrastructural elements.
[00245] The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein and
elsewhere
may be implemented on a cellular network having multiple cells. The cellular
network may
either be frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network or code division
multiple
access (CDMA) network. The cellular network may include mobile devices, cell
sites, base
stations, repeaters, antennas, towers, and the like. The cell network may be a
GSM, GPRS,
30, EVDO, mesh, or other networks types.
[00246] The methods, programs codes, and instructions described herein and
elsewhere
may be implemented on or through mobile devices. The mobile devices may
include
navigation devices, cell phones, mobile phones, mobile personal digital
assistants, laptops,
palmtops, netbooks, pagers, electronic books readers, music players and the
like. These
devices may include, apart from other components, a storage medium such as a
flash
memory, buffer, RAM, ROM and one or more computing devices. The computing
devices
associated with mobile devices may be enabled to execute program codes,
methods, and
instructions stored thereon. Alternatively, the mobile devices may be
configured to execute
instructions in collaboration with other devices. The mobile devices may
communicate with
base stations interfaced with servers and configured to execute program codes.
The mobile
devices may communicate on a peer to peer network, mesh network, or other
communications network. The program code may be stored on the storage medhun
associated
with the server and executed by a computing device embedded within the server.
The base
station may include a computing device and a storage medium. The storage
device may store
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program codes and instructions executed by the computing devices associated
with the base
station.
[00247] The computer software, program codes, and/or instructions may be
stored and/or
accessed on machine readable media that may include: computer components,
devices, and
recording media that retain digital data used for computing for some interval
of time;
semiconductor storage known as random access memory (RAM); mass storage
typically for
more permanent storage, such as optical discs, forms of magnetic storage like
hard disks,
tapes, drums, cards and other types; processor registers, cache memory,
volatile memory,
non-volatile memory; optical storage such as CD, DVD; removable media such as
flash
memory (e.g. IJSB sticks or keys), floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape,
punch cards,
standalone RAM disks, Zip drives, removable mass storage, off-line, and the
like; other
computer memory such as dynamic memory, static memory, read/write storage,
mutable
storage, read only, random access, sequential access, location addressable,
file addressable,
content addressable, network attached storage, storage area network, bar
codes, magnetic ink,
and the like.
[00248] The methods and systems described herein may transform physical and/or
or
intangible items from one state to another. The methods and systems described
herein may
also transform data representing physical and/or intangible items from one
state to another.
[00249] The elements described and depicted herein, including in flow charts
and block
diagrams throughout the figures, imply logical boundaries between the
elements. However,
according to software or hardware engineering practices, the depicted elements
and the
functions thereof may be implemented on machines through computer executable
media
having a processor capable of executing program instructions stored thereon as
a monolithic
software structure, as standalone software modules, or as modules that employ
external
routines, code, services, and so forth, or any combination of these, and all
such
implementations may be within the scope of the present disclosure. Examples of
such
machines may include, but may not be limited to, personal digital assistants,
laptops, personal
computers, mobile phones, other handheld computing devices, medical equipment,
wired or
wireless communication devices, transducers, chips, calculators, satellites,
tablet PCs,
electronic books, gadgets, electronic devices, devices having artificial
intelligence,
computing devices, networking equipments, servers, routers and the like.
Furthermore, the
elements depicted in the flow chart and block diagrams or any other logical
component may
be implemented on a machine capable of executing program instructions. Thus,
while the
foregoing drawings and descriptions set forth functional aspects of the
disclosed systems, no
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particular arrangement of software for implementing these functional aspects
should be
inferred from these descriptions unless explicitly stated or otherwise clear
from the context.
Similarly, it will be appreciated that the various steps identified and
described above may be
varied, and that the order of steps may be adapted to particular applications
of the techniques
disclosed herein. All such variations and modifications are intended to fall
within the scope
of this disclosure. As such, the depiction and/or description of an order for
various steps
should not be understood to require a particular order of execution for those
steps, unless
required by a particular application, or explicitly stated or otherwise clear
from the context.
[00250] The methods and/or processes described above, and steps thereof, may
be realized
in hardware, software or any combination of hardware and software suitable for
a particular
application. The hardware may include a general purpose computer and/or
dedicated
computing device or specific computing device or particular aspect or
component of a
specific computing device. The processes may be realized in one or more
microprocessors,
microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers, programmable digital signal
processors or
other programmable device, along with internal and/or external memory. The
processes may
also, or instead, be embodied in an application specific integrated circuit, a
programmable
gate affay, programmable array logic, or any other device or combination of
devices that may
be configured to process electronic signals. It will further be appreciated
that one or more of
the processes may be realized as a computer executable code capable of being
executed on a
machine readable medium.
[00251] The computer executable code may be created using a structured
programming
language such as C, an object oriented programming language such as C++, or
any other
high-level or low-level programming language (including assembly languages,
hardware
description languages, and database programming languages and technologies)
that may be
stored, compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well as
heterogeneous
combinations of processors, processor architectures, or combinations of
different hardware
and software, or any other machine capable of executing program instructions.
[00252] Thus, in one aspect, each method described above and combinations
thereof may
be embodied in computer executable code that, when executing on one or more
computing
devices, performs the steps thereof. In another aspect, the methods may be
embodied in
systems that perform the steps thereof, and may be distributed across devices
in a number of
ways, or all of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated,
standalone device or other
hardware. In another aspect, the means for performing the steps associated
with the processes
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described above may include any of the hardware and/or software described
above. All such
. .
permutations and combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the
present disclosure.
[00253] While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the
preferred .
embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and
improvements
thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly,
the spirit and
scope of the present invention is not to be limited by the foregoing examples,
but is to be
understood in the broadest sense allowable by law. All documents referenced
herein
may be referred to.
õ.
