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iCalendar Venue (Draft)

Abstract

The currently existing iCalendar standard (RFC 2445) provides only a simple text field ("LOCATION" property) for specifying the location where an event (or "TODO" item) will occur. While this may be adequate for human readers, it is difficult for automated systems to make use of. With the recent advent of tools and services (event aggregators, for example) which would benefit greatly from structured location data, the need to specify detailed venue information has become apparent. This document describes a proposed method for addressing this need.

Author

C. Norris, Eventful; McCullough, UC Berkeley; August 1, 2007

Abstract

The currently existing iCalendar standard (RFC 2445) provides only a simple text field ("LOCATION" property) for specifying the location where an event (or "TODO" item) will occur. While this may be adequate for human readers, it is difficult for automated systems to make use of. With the recent advent of tools and services (event aggregators, for example) which would benefit greatly from structured location data, the need to specify detailed venue information has become apparent. This document describes a proposed method for addressing this need.

1. Introduction

This specification introduces a new iCalendar [RFC2445] component VVENUE to provide detailed venue information for an event. The currently existing iCalendar standard (RFC 2445) provides only a simple text field ("LOCATION" property) for specifying the location where an event (or "TODO" item) will occur. This is inadequate for use cases where structured location information (e.g. address, region, country, postal code) is required or preferred, and limits widespread adoption of iCalendar in those settings.

This specification is targeted at communicating detailed information about venues at which events occur; it is not intended to provide the level of location information necessary for resource scheduling.

2. An Example

To facilitate understanding the detailed descriptions below, here is an example iCalendar file including the proposed venue component. This example is for a Joe Bloggs concert occuring at The Venue in San Diego, CA.

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Eventful//Eventful 2.0//EN
VERSION:2.0
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:US/Pacific
LAST-MODIFIED:20060110T171418Z
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20051030T080000
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZNAME:MST
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20060402T020000
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZNAME:MDT
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
LOCATION;VVENUE=V0-001-000153774-0@eventful.com:The Venu
  e\n1055 Fifth Avenue\nSan Diego, CA  92101
DTSTAMP:20060110T171344Z
DTSTART;TZID=US/Pacific:20060717T200000
SUMMARY:Joe Bloggs in concert
DTEND;TZID=US/Pacific:20060717T2300000
DESCRIPTION:Joe Bloggs plays everything from the old
  Simon & Garfunkle stuff to his latest album. Not to be
  missed!
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VVENUE
UID:V0-001-000153774-0@eventful.com
NAME:The Venue
DESCRIPTION: The Venues is a home for live music and
  southern-inspired cuisine in an environment celebrating
  the Afric an American cultural contributions of blues
  music and folk art.
STREET-ADDRESS:1055 Fifth Avenue\nSuite 4
EXTENDED-ADDRESS:Stage 2
LOCALITY:San Diego
REGION;ABBREV=CA:California
COUNTRY;ABBREV=US;ABBREV=USA:United States
POSTAL-CODE:92101
TZID=US/Pacific
GEO:32.716220;-117.160156
URL;TYPE=Map:http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1055%20Fifth
  %20Avenue%2C%20San%20Diego%2C%20California%20&hl=en
URL;TYPE=Eventful Listing:http://eventful.com/venues/
  V0-001-000153774-0
URL;TYPE=Official Site:http://www.example.com/venues/clubvenues
  /sandiego/
TEL;TYPE=Box Office:619.299.2583
CATEGORIES:music concert
END:VVENUE
END:VCALENDAR

The "VVENUE" component works similarly to "VTIMEZONE". It is referenced by parameter from the "LOCATION" property of a "VEVENT".

4.1. UID Property Use Within Venue Component

The use of the UID component within VVENUE is identical to that specified in RFC 2445 (iCalendar), extended simply to VVENUE.

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