Hierarchical events

• US 8,578,301 B2
• Filed: 11/23/2007
• Issued: 11/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dan Klausmeier
• Original Assignee: Skadool, Inc.
• Inventors: Klausmeier, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): ULRICH, NICHOLAS S
• Application Number:
  US11/944,581
• Publication Number:
  US 20080141145A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,174 Days
• Field of Search: 715/963, 715/853, 715/751, 715/758, 715/759, 715/752, 705/8, 705/9
• US Class Current: 715/853
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

Systems and methods for the organization of hierarchical events are disclosed. A parent event in a first calendar application workspace classifies a hierarchy of events. A child event child event corresponds to a hierarchy of events. Identification of the parent event and a new child event results in the display of the new child event in a second calendar application workspace, the new child event being a scheduled event in the hierarchy of events that does not indicate a calendaring conflict with the parent event. A collaborative organization environment for discussion concerning the new child event may be provided.

Claims

1. A system for organization of hierarchical events, the system comprising:

a first computing sub-system that generates a parent event classifying a hierarchy of events, the first computing sub-system including at least one processor and being associated with a planner of the parent event;

a second computing sub-system that generates a new child event corresponding to the hierarchy of events, the second computing sub-system including at least one processor and being associated with an invitee to at least one event from the hierarchy of events, wherein availability of an individual at a given level in the hierarchy of events is determined by time reservations of all events for the individual subject to a hierarchical relationship of all the events; and

a server that generates information related to a display of the new child event in a calendar application displayed at the computing subsystems associated with the planner and the invitee, the new child event scheduled for a first person for a first time period which overlaps with a second time period scheduled for the parent event for the first person, the new child event displayed as not conflicting with the parent event.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the server further generates a collaborative organization environment for a discussion concerning the new child event.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the discussion further includes feedback generated by at least one of the computing sub-systems associated with the planner and the invitee.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the collaborative organization environment provides information regarding a service or attraction related to the new child event.

5. A method for organization of hierarchical events, the method comprising:

receiving an identification of a parent event in a first calendar application workspace at a computing device, the parent event classifying a hierarchy of events;

receiving an identification of a new child event at the computing device, wherein the new child event corresponds to the hierarchy of events, wherein availability of an individual at a given level in the hierarchy of events is determined by time reservations of all events for the individual subject to a hierarchical relationship of all the events; and

executing instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of instructions by a processor displays the new child event in a second calendar application workspace, wherein the new child event is a scheduled event having a first time period which overlaps with a second time period scheduled for the parent event for a first person, the new child event in the hierarchy of events displayed as not having a calendaring conflict with the parent event.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second calendar application workspace displays only a child event and associated siblings, the second calendar application workspace displayed as a result of the processor executing instructions stored in memory.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first calendar application workspace displays different sets of events based on the identification of a current level of the hierarchy of events.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein identification of the parent event in the first calendar application workspace results in the display of a workspace dedicated to the hierarchy of events.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the hierarchy of events includes the new child event.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further generates the second calendar application workspace, the second calendar application being a sub-set of the first calendar application workspace.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the first calendar application workspace is independent of the second calendar application workspace.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first calendar application workspace is displayed independent of the second calendar application workspace.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the new child event includes a time of day interval for at least one day of the week within a range of dates defined by a starting date and an ending date of the parent event.

14. The system of claim 5, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further generates a collaborative organization environment for a discussion concerning the new child event.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the discussion concerning the new child event occurs amongst invited participants.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the discussion concerning the new child event occurs through an instant messenger application stored in memory and activated through the execution of the application by the processor.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the discussion concerning the new child event occurs through a native messaging application stored in memory and activated through the execution of the application by the processor.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the discussion concerning the new child event occurs through a message board.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the discussion concerning the new child event includes the processor executing a polling application stored in memory, wherein polling takes place amongst invited participants.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the invited participants for the new child event differ from the invited participants for a sibling event to the new child event.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the invited participants for the new child event differ from the invited participants for the parent event.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein a participant to the discussion creates a new child event.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein an entity identifying the parent event has been granted access to the collaborative organization environment by the owner of the parent event.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the entity identifying the parent event has been granted access to the collaborative organization environment through the use of a keyed-URL.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the entity identifying the parent event has been granted access to the collaborative organization environment through the use of a password.

26. The system of claim 14, wherein the collaborative organization environment provides information regarding a service or attraction related to the new child event.

27. The method of claim 5, wherein availability of a group of individuals at a given level in a hierarchy of events for each individual is determined by time reservations of all events for each of the individuals from the group of individuals based on the hierarchical relationship of each of the events for all of the individuals relative to the given level of the hierarchy.

28. The method of claim 5, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further displays the availability of the individual at the given level in the hierarchy of events.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further displays the availability of the group of individuals at the given level in the hierarchy of events.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising displaying the availability of the individual at the given level in the hierarchy of events, wherein displaying the availability of the individual includes overlaying time reservations.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the time reservations are displayed such that they are semitransparent in appearance.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein a darkness associated with an overlaid time reservations indicate a severity of an overbooking of the individual.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein a color associated with an overlaid time reservations indicate a severity of an overbooking of the individual.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein the time reservations of ancestor events for the given level in the hierarchy of events for each individual are excluded from the determination of the availability of each individual from the group of individuals.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further displays the collective availability of the group of individuals at the given level in the hierarchy of events.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein displaying the collective availability of the group of individuals includes overlaying time reservations.

37. The method of claim 5, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further displays a map corresponding to a location of one or more events from the hierarchy of events.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the map zooms in on a particular region of the map in response to user interactions with the one or more events as received at the computing device.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the display pans to a particular region of the map in response to user interactions with the one or more events as received at the computing device.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further displays a list of the one or more events displayed on the map.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the map navigates to an event selected from the list of one or more events in response to the execution of instructions by the processor.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein selection of an event displayed on the map allows for editing of details corresponding to the event.

43. The method of claim 37, wherein the one or more events from the hierarchy of events displayed on the map are all child events of the same parent.

44. The method of claim 5, wherein the new child event is displayed in a calendar application workspace distinct from a display of the calendar application displaying the parent event.

45. The method of claim 14, wherein the collaborative organization environment provides information regarding an accommodation related to the new child event.

46. The method of claim 14, wherein the collaborative organization environment provides driving directions to the service or attraction.

47. The method of claim 26, wherein the service is a reservation service.

48. The method of claim 26, wherein the information is provided by a third-party.

49. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for organization of hierarchical events, the method comprising:

receiving an identification of a parent event in a first calendar application workspace, the parent event classifying a hierarchy of events;

receiving an identification of a new child event, wherein the new child event corresponds to the hierarchy of events, wherein availability of an individual at a given level in the hierarchy of events is determined by time reservations of all events for the individual subject to a hierarchical relationship of all the events; and

displaying the new child event in a second calendar application workspace, wherein the new child event is a scheduled event in the hierarchy of events and scheduled for a first time period for a first person which overlaps with a second time period scheduled for the parent event for the first person, the new child event displayed as not having a calendaring conflict with the parent event.