Systems and methods to plan events at different locations
View Patent ↗Systems and methods are provided to specify a location of a planned event via a selection of a listing that has location information. For example, in response to a search request a listing may show a business entity at a geographic location; and the user may select the listing as a way to specify the location of a new event or an existing event. In some embodiments, one event can have multiple listings specifying multiple locations.
1. A computer implemented method comprising:
transmitting, by a server system, a listing having location information for presentation via an end user device;
responsive to a selection of a user interface element, adding, via the server system, to an event a reference to the listing to represent a first location of the event;
associating a scheduled time period with the first location represented by the reference to the listing;
maintaining, via the server system, statistics of user interactions with a set of listings for a subset of persons based on a common attribute of the persons;
computing a respective point score for each listing of the set of listings based at least in part on the statistics of user interactions to determine a respective indication of a respective level of user interest in each listing of the set of listings;
responsive to an end user search request, selecting a subset of the set of listings based at least in part on the subset of the set of listings corresponding to one or more locations near the first location and a ranking of respective point scores corresponding to at least the subset of the set of listings;
transmitting the subset of the set the listings in a list for presentation in an order based at least in part on the ranking;
responsive to a second selection of a user interface element, adding, via the server system, to the event a second reference to a second listing to represent a second location of the event, wherein the second listing is from the subset of the set the listings; and
associating a second scheduled time period with the second location represented by the second reference to the second listing, the second scheduled time period being adjacent in time to the first scheduled time period.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving user input describing a further location of the event.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface element and the listing having location information are presented to a second user in a message from a first user associated with the end user device; wherein the message includes a reference to the listing.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface element and the listing having location information are presented in a list of bookmarked listings.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving the end user search request at a web server, wherein the listing having location information is presented on the end user device in response to the end user search request, the reference to the listing including a reference to the web server.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the listing having location information provides contact information of a business entity.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the listing having location information comprises a telephone directory listing of the business entity.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the presenting of the user interface element and the listing having location information comprises presenting the list identified in response to the end user search request, the list including the listing having location information.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the user interface element is associated with the listing having location information in the list.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining whether the listing having location information includes information specifying a geographic location; and providing the user interface element with the listing having location information in response to a determination that the listing having location information includes information specifying a geographic location.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting a list of events, wherein the reference to the listing is added to the event in response to a selection of the event from the list of events.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the event has the first location prior to the reference to the listing being added to the event.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the reference to the listing is added to the event as a second location of the event in addition to the first location.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a message using the listing to provide information about the location of the event represented by the reference to the listing; and
transmitting the message to at least one communication contact associated with the event.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the message comprises one of an electronic mail message, a short text message, a voice mail message, an instant message, or a fax message.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the message comprises a link to the listing hosted on a web server.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the user interface element is presented on a mobile communication device; and the message is generated on a server remote to the mobile communication device.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the message further includes a note provided by a user in scheduling the event.
19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the user interface element is presented on a mobile communication device; and the message is generated on the mobile communication device.
20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
providing a user interface to select the at least one communication contact from an address book; and
associating the at least one communication contact with the event.
21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
creating the event in a calendar in response to the selection.
22. A tangible non-transitory computer storage medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which when executed on a computer cause the computer to perform a method comprising:
transmitting a listing having location information for presentation via an end user device;
responsive to a selection of a user interface element, adding to an event a reference to the listing to represent a location of the event;
associating a scheduled time period with the first location represented by the reference to the listing;
maintaining statistics of user interactions with a set of listings for a subset of persons based on a common attribute of the persons;
computing a respective point score for each listing of the set of listings based at least in part on the statistics of user interactions to determine a respective indication of a respective level of user interest in each listing of the set of listings;
responsive to an end user search request, selecting a subset of the set of listings based at least in part on the subset of the set of listings corresponding to one or more locations near the first location and a ranking of respective point scores corresponding to at least the subset of the set of listings;
transmitting the subset of the set the listings for presentation in an order based at least in part on the ranking;
responsive to a second selection of a user interface element, adding to the event a second reference to a second listing to represent a second location of the event, wherein the second listing is from the subset of the set the listings; and
associating a second scheduled time period with the second location represented by the second reference to the second listing, the second scheduled time period being adjacent in time to the first scheduled time period.
23. A data processing system, comprising:
one or more processors coupled to one or more network interfaces facilitating access to a network, and one or more non-transitory storage media to retain instructions, the one or more processors to execute the instructions to:
transmit a listing having location information for presentation via an end user device;
add to an event a reference to the listing to represent a location of the event, responsive to a selection of a user interface element;
associate a scheduled time period with the first location represented by the reference to the listing;
maintain statistics of user interactions with a set of listings for a subset of persons based on a common attribute of the persons;
compute a respective point score for each listing of the set of listings based at least in part on the statistics of user interactions to determine a respective indication of a respective level of user interest in each listing of the set of listings;
respond to an end user search request, select a subset of the set of listings based at least in part on the subset of the set of listings corresponding to one or more locations near the first location and a ranking of respective point scores corresponding to at least the subset of the set of listings;
transmitting the subset of the set the listings in a list for presentation in an order based at least in part on the ranking;
responsive to a second selection of a user interface element, add to the event a second reference to a second listing to represent a second location of the event, wherein the second listing is from the subset of the set the listings; and
associate a second scheduled time period with the second location represented by the second reference to the second listing, the second scheduled time period being adjacent in time to the first scheduled time period.