This last entry reminded me of one of the great unfilled gaps in technology – universal calendar feeds. By that I mean the ability to automatically receive and process date-specific events from any given organization.  Ideally, every organization that produced regular events could offer a standardized feed (XML seems perfectly suited to this) that I could subscribe to through an aggregating client (which would then offer me the option to export selected events (e.g., to my Outlook/Google/iCal calendar)).
I really don’t understand why this hasn’t been done. Upcoming.org provides a somewhat serviceable approximation of what I’m looking for, but it relies on the initiative of individuals to 1) promote an event and 2) get the information right. You’d think that organizations would want to make it easy for their members/constituents/interested public to reliably follow their offerings. It isn’t easy, though.
As it stands, I take at least an hour or so every month to search the calendars of my favorite music venues, local think tanks, professional associations, alma matter, cycling clubs, and cultural venues to find events I might be interested in. It’s not the most exciting way to spend my time, and I often get annoyed with it and decide to quit before I’ve actually made my way through all of these calendars. And, of course, I then miss events I’d really like to make.
Why?