Providing event data to a group of contacts

• US 8,631,070 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2009
• Issued: 01/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Vance, Michael Steffen, Armantrout, Jeffrey Allen, Alva, Jessi E., Valdez Klein, Teresa S.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, MINH CHAU
• Application Number:
  US12/413,487
• Publication Number:
  US 20100250672A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,754 Days
• Field of Search: 709204-207
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15

Abstract

Data related to an event is provided to a group of contacts while the event is occurring via an event user interface that enables the group of contacts to coordinate with one another during the event. In this regard, an event coordination service is provides the event data to each contact of the group for review via an event user interface that is persistently displayed on a telecommunication or other computing device associated with the contact for the contact'"'"'s easy and immediate reference during the event. When the event ultimately concludes, display of the event user interface ceases as the group of contacts likely no longer needs immediate or ready reference to the event.

Claims

1. A system for enabling a group of contacts to share data related to a social event as the social event occurs, the system comprising:

a data store that stores data related to one or more social events; and

a computing device in communication with the data store, the computing device operative to;

obtain data related to a social event of interest to the group of contacts, which data is stored in the data store and updated as the social event occurs with data obtained from one or more external data sources and one or more contacts of the group; and

cause the data related to the social event of interest to be displayed on one or more computing devices, each computing device associated with a contact of the group, wherein the data related to the social event of interest is displayed in an area of prominence on the computing device for a duration of the social event until another action is taken by the contact associated with the computing device, in which case the data related to the social event of interest is automatically redisplayed in the area of prominence on the computing device following completion of the action taken by the contact.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external data sources includes a map upon which points of interest associated with the social event are indicated.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external data stores include additional data related to at least one point of interest.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the additional data related to at least one point of interest is displayed in conjunction with the map.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external data sources includes data related to at least one point of interest associated with the social event.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein data related to the at least one point of interest associated with the social event includes at least one of a recommendation for the point of interest, a review for the point of interest, a location for the point of interest, and contact information for the point of interest.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further operative to cease causing the data related to the social event of interest to be displayed in an area of prominence on the one or more computing devices after at least one of completion of the social event and an indication that the contact associated with the computing device is not interested in the social event.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external sources is requested by one or more contacts of the group.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external sources is automatically obtained from the one or more external sources.

10. A system for providing event data to a group of contacts, the system comprising:

a data store that stores event records, each event record including data related to a social event; and

a computing device in communication with the data store, the computing device configured to;

obtain, from a mobile computing device, a request to coordinate a social event of interest to a group of contacts who are to participate in the social event, the request including data related to the social event of interest to the group of contacts who are to participate in the social event;

generate an event record based on the request obtained from the mobile computing device, the event record including the data related to the social event of interest to the group of contacts, wherein the data is updated as the social event occurs with data obtained from an external data source and data obtained from at least one contact of the group; and

publish the data related to the social event of interest to one or more contact computing devices, each contact computing device associated with a contact of the group, wherein the event data is published such that the data related to the social event of interest is displayed substantially continuously upon the contact computing device as the social event occurs and the data is updated, and until another action is taken by the contact associated with the contact computing device, in which case the data related to the social event of interest is automatically redisplayed substantially continuously upon the contact computing device following completion of the action taken by the contact.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the data obtained from the external data source includes a data related to a point of interest associated with the social event.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein data related to a point of interest associated with the social event includes at least one of a recommendation for the point of interest, a review for the point of interest, a location for the point of interest, and contact information for the point of interest.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the data obtained from the external source is requested by at least one contact of the group.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the data obtained from the external source is requested by the computing device.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the computing device is further operative to cease publishing the data related to the social event of interest to the one or more contact computing devices and the mobile computing device upon completion of the social event.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the external data source is at least one of a location based service, a review service and a recommendation service.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the external data source is affiliated with the social event.

18. A method for providing data related to a social event to a group of contacts as the social event occurs, the method comprising:

as implemented by one or more computing devices configured with specific executable instructions,

generating an event record including data related to a social event of interest to a group of contacts, which event data is updated as the social event occurs with data obtained from one or more external data sources; and

causing the event data to be displayed upon one or more computing devices, each computing device associated with a contact of the group, wherein the event data is displayed persistently upon the computing device as the social event occurs and wherein the event data that is displayed persistently upon the computing device until another action is taken by the contact associated with the computing device, in which case the event data is automatically redisplayed persistently upon the contact computing device following completion of the action taken by the contact.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external data sources includes a data related to at least one point of interest associated with the social event.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein data related to the at least one point of interest associated with the social event includes at least one of a recommendation for the point of interest, a review for the point of interest, a location for the point of interest, and contact information for the point of interest.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external data sources includes a map upon which points of interest associated with the social event are indicated.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external data sources is displayed in conjunction with the map.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein event data is further updated as the social event occurs with data obtained from at least one contact of the group.

24. The method of claim 18 further comprising ceasing to cause the event data to be persistently displayed upon the computing device after at least one of completion of the social event and an indication that the contact associated with the computing device is not interested in the social event.

25. The method of claim 18, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external sources is requested by at least one contact of the group.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external sources is automatically obtained from the one or more external sources.

27. The method of claim 18 further comprising enabling a contact to initiate communication with one or more other contacts in the group as the social event occurs.

28. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the external data sources is at least one of a location based service, a review service and a recommendation service.

29. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the external data sources is affiliated with the social event.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer-executable component for enabling a group of contacts to collaborate with each other during a social event, the computer-executable component comprising:

an event collaboration component configured to;

obtain data related to a social event of interest to the group of contacts as the social event occurs, wherein the data is obtained from one or more external data sources and one or more contacts of the group; and

generate a user interface including said data for display on a computing device associated with a contact of the group, wherein the user interface is a top level user interface displayed on the computing device during the social event, wherein the top level user interface is updated during the social event as data related to the social event is obtained from the one or more external data sources and the one or more contacts of the group, and wherein the top level user interface is substantially continuously displayed during the social event until another action is taken by the contact and is automatically redisplayed upon completion of the action.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external data sources includes a data related to at least one point of interest associated with the social event.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein data related to the at least one point of interest associated with the social event includes at least one of a recommendation for the point of interest, a review for the point of interest, a location for the point of interest, and contact information for the point of interest.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the event collaboration component is further operative to cease generating the user interface after at least one of completion of the social event and an indication that the contact associated with the computing device is not interested in the social event.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external sources is requested by one or more contacts of the group.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external sources is automatically obtained from the one or more external sources.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the user interface includes at least one selectable control for initiating communication with one or more other contacts in the group during the social event.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the data obtained from the one or more external data sources includes a map upon which points of interest associated with the social event are indicated.