Using Online Calendars

For Personal Use:

If you are using Outlook or any other major online calendar service, you can easily add events from other online calendars to your own calendar. You can even add an entire calendar to view alongside your own calendar. I'm using Google Calendar for myself now, and I've got not only my own appointments that only I can see, but also the calendars of Providential Gardener, the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, Rhode Island Events, Rhode Island Farmers' Markets, and several others in my own list. They all show up in different colors, and I click each of them on and off.

It's a snap to add events from the other calendars into my own calendar! Try it yourself. You don't have to put any of your personal info into Google if you don't want to. You can sign up for a free Google calendar and just work with public events from other calendars. Search for other calendars by typing "Providential Gardener" or "Rhode Island" in the SEARCH PUBLIC CALENDARS textbox. Add some calendars to your list and play around with it.

From online calendars, you can send reminders to yourself via email, and you can invite others to events. Very helpful!

I'll be adding more hints about using online calendars here, so check back now and then. ~ Sue

For Event Organizers:

I strongly urge groups to make their own free Google Calendars for their events. Yahoo also has a free calendar, and there are some others as well, but I've found more environmental groups using Google than the other free services.

Google Calendars are:

• Easy to share
• Easy to update
• Easy to add to other calendars

Several Rhode Island environmental organizations already have Google calendars:

• Providential Gardener calendar (which is an aggregating, comprehensive listing of RI environmental events): http://providentialgardener.typepad.com/whatgrowsonri/the-providential-gardener.html  
• Newport Tree Society:
  http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=newporttreesociety%40gmail.com
  
• RI Natural History Survey:
  
• http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=0s82hm3sbpbl7aoo3bptuehmac%40group.calendar.google.com
  
• Barrington Land Trust: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=05fr2mvno4e5369a2bajgnspqk%40group.calendar.google.com
     
• RI Invasives: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=qmcoaatfen5oqg8skve1r7ajd8%40group.calendar.google.com
     

Your organization benefits in several ways by having a Google calendar (and/or any of the other free online calendars).

• It's a free publicity channel
• It gives more opportunities and places for people to discover your event announcement
  
• You can describe your event in full detail. I cannot always
  add your whole announcement when I enter your event in The Providential
  Gardener Calendar because of time considerations.
• People can easily add your event to their personal electronic calendars (including Outlook) with a click or two
  
• People can add your WHOLE CALENDAR to their calendars, which gives you more visibility
• It's easy for other groups to help publicize your event by adding your event to their electronic calendar.
  
• A Google Calendar can be easily embedded on your website.

As more people use online/electronic calendars, your Google Calendar will be increasingly used. I am not advocating giving up any other calendar, just adding Google Calendar (and any and all other online calendars for that matter) to your other publicity channels.

Here are more details:

SETTING UP GOOGLE CALENDAR:

It's free. It requires having a Google account, which is easy and fast to set up. Go to www.google.com/calendar   to get an account for your organization. You may want it to be a separate account from any personal Google account you have so others in your organization could update your organization's calendar.

I would be glad to walk you through setting up a calendar for your organization on Google if you have any questions.

And if you do this, please let me know at postinfo@providentialgardener.com! I am maintaining a list of RI environmental calendars, and will list yours.