Method and system for creating, managing and delivering community information

• US 7,930,722 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2006
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Touchtown Inc. (Uniguest Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Touchtown Inc. (Uniguest Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ruiz, Evan M., Graff, Karen A., Pepper, Jeffrey A., Hornig, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller; John W
• Assistant Examiner(s): MONTOYA, OSCHTA I
• Application Number:
  US11/501,404
• Publication Number:
  US 20070074268A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,714 Days
• Field of Search: 725/78, 725114-115
• US Class Current: 725/78
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2143 located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106

Abstract

A method for providing community information concerning an accommodation area includes the steps of (a) inputting community information of the accommodation area to a storage medium; (b) creating a television presentation and a web presentation using software, wherein the software imports the community information from the storage medium and automatically formats and lays out the community information into the television presentation and the web presentation; (c) applying presentation elements having user-modifiable rules associated therewith to the television presentation and the web presentation; (d) transmitting the television presentation to the accommodation via a distributed communications network; and (e) optionally displaying the web presentation on a web site associated with the accommodation area. A system for creating, managing and delivering community information is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for providing community information concerning an accommodation area, the method comprising the steps of:

inputting community information to a storage medium, wherein the community information pertains to the accommodation area;

creating a first television presentation using software, wherein the software imports the community information from the storage medium and automatically formats and lays out the community information into the first television presentation;

transmitting the first television presentation to the accommodation area via a distributed communications network;

creating a web presentation using the software, wherein the software imports the community information from the storage medium and automatically formats and lays out the community information into the web presentation; and

displaying the web presentation on a web site.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of creating a second television presentation using the software, wherein the software imports the community information from the storage medium and automatically formats and lays out the community information into the second television presentation.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting the second television presentation to the accommodation area via the distributed communications network; and

viewing the first and second television presentations on a first and second television channel, respectively, of the accommodation area.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of transmitting the second television presentation to another accommodation area via the distributed communications network.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of viewing the web presentation from within the accommodation area.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first television presentation is substantially similar to the web presentation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first television presentation is different from the web presentation such that the web presentation omits content designated as private.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the web site is associated with the accommodation area.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the accommodation area is one of a residential community, a hospital, an airport, a hotel, a school, a house of worship, a nursing home, and a retirement community.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

retrieving a plurality of presentation elements stored in a database communicatively connected to the software, and

automatically applying at least one of the plurality of presentation elements to the first television presentation and the web presentation.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the presentation elements are at least one of:

a background template;

title text with font and layout specifications;

description text with font and layout specifications;

location text with font and layout specifications;

time and date text with font and layout specifications; and

an audio component.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising a user-modifiable rule associated with one or more of the presentation elements, wherein the rule is operative for determining one of:

when the presentation element appears in at least one of the first television presentation and the web presentation;

how long the presentation element appears in at least one of the first television presentation and the web presentation;

if the presentation element appears in;

the first television presentation;

the web presentation;

both the first television presentation and the web presentation;

or

printed media;

whether an audio component is to be played in at least one of the first television presentation and web presentation; and

a schedule for presenting the presentation element on a repeated basis.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of:

inserting a dynamically linked object into at least one of the first television presentation and web presentation; and

retrieving content associated with the dynamically linked object such that one of the first television presentation and web presentation contains continually updated data.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

retrieving the community information from the storage medium;

automatically formatting and laying out the community information into a representation of printed media; and

automatically formatting and laying out the presentation elements into the representation of printed media.

15. A system for providing community information, comprising:

a server configured to be communicatively connected to a distributed communications network;

a database communicatively connected to the server, wherein the database is configured to store a plurality of presentation elements;

a storage medium communicatively connected to the server, wherein the storage medium is configured to store community information; and

software operative on the server for;

importing the community information from the storage medium;

automatically formatting and laying out the community information into a television presentation and a web presentation;

retrieving the plurality of presentation elements stored in the database;

automatically applying at least one of the plurality of presentation elements to the television presentation and the web presentation; and

transmitting the television presentation and the web presentation via the distributed communications network to an accommodation area and a web site, respectively.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the presentation elements are at least one of:

a background template;

title text with font and layout specifications;

description text with font and layout specifications;

location text with font and layout specifications;

time and date text with font and layout specifications; and

an audio component.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising a user-modifiable rule associated with one or more of the presentation elements, wherein the rule is operative for determining one of:

when the presentation element appears in at least one of the television presentation and the web presentation;

how long the presentation element appears in at least one of the television presentation and the web presentation;

if the presentation element appears in;

the television presentation;

the web presentation presentation;

both the television presentation and the web presentation;

or printed media;

whether an audio component is to be played in at least one of the television presentation and the web presentations; and

a schedule for presenting the presentation element on a repeated basis.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the software further includes one or more of:

an activity resource manager for detecting any conflicts in scheduling or availability of resources in the accommodation area; and

an administrator'"'"'s interface for editing the community information remotely from the server.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the software further includes a print generator for:

retrieving the community information from the storage medium;

automatically formatting and laying out the community information into a representation of printed media; and

automatically formatting and laying out the presentation elements into the representation of printed media.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising at least one television channel viewable within the accommodation area for receiving the television presentation.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the web site is associated with the accommodation area.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the television presentation is different from the web presentation.