Online calendar resistance: any solutions?

[TNCreature]

No tool or organizer will work effectively if people don't use it. This is an issue at home, at work and in bands.

I am in 2 bands. Band one, generally we text. 1 guy prefers email and 1 guy with a janky old flip phone has trouble "downloading" text messages (this guy also doesn't use Facebook or any other social media, and he works in...the technology field!).
But tough, that is the one generally useful and universal and fastest means of communication. Get on board people.

Band two, a complete opposite. These guys are TOO connected and use too many platforms, I can't keep up and I don't have time to.
They use WhatsApp, and you must communicate in each individual topic, don't dare post in the wrong one! Google calendar, Google drive, Google desktop, some sort of file sharing app, YouTube, I'm sure there are more. And they expect you to look at all of this every day. Nope, too much.
I like using Google Calendar, BUT these guys put all of their individual personal appointments on it as well as a way to indicate whether or not they are available. Ugh, too much detail. Just mark available or unavailable, I don't want to read that Suzy has a B-day party or Auntie Jane is having minor surgery...

 

[40Hz]

These days far too many local musicians I run into see themselves as an “Army of One.” They’re all about ME. My schedule, my family, my interests, my time, my money - me, me, me.

People like that generally don’t have a team mindset. Even when it can clearly be of benefit to them, they’ll close their eyes, cover their ears, and start loudly singing “I got to be me! I got to be me...”

Trying to introduce groupware to people who go through life seldom making actual commitments and only reluctantly form “alliances of convenience” is like banging your head against the wall.

Good luck.

 

[gln1955]

Like the OP, I tried to get our band to use Google calendar, helping everyone set up thier phone to use it, etc. It's been an utter failure because one member will not use it. This one member happens to be the one with the most family and other commitments. This same guy also doesn't answer texts for days on end and has missed rehearsals, giving us the old "I didn't get the memo" BS. If it were my decision, he would have been gone long ago

So what it comes down to is some people just don't communicate well by whatever medium you try to use. Are those people worth working with?

 

[RustyAxe]

Just because my calendar may show I have nothing going on (therefore am ostensibly available) it doesn’t mean I’m going to play whatever gig comes down the pike. Regardless of the calendar, I’m not available for that $50 restaurant patio gig, that freebie “festival” gig two hours away, your sister’s picnic, etc, etc.

So we use email, FB Messenger, text ... and get this ... the phone. In all cases a reply within 24 hours is expected. Failure to do so might mean my role gets sub’d out.

 

[Marc valero]

We use facebook messenger often to announce new booking dates and chat about new songs, etc. Our drummer does most of the bookings and the lead singer does some bookings. I just requested a photo of the July and August calendar pages (lead singer posted the pages) and I think I will recommend that at the end of every month they just put photos up of the next two months. I only play in the one band and we average about 11-13 shows a month, so it helps me with planning and to see if I have any conflicts with my day job.

 

[TheReceder]

I'm in multiple bands, and none of them want to use the same calendar. I'm an X tech junkie that has given up the smart phone because it took up too much of my life. I have a flip phone which won't text. I'll answer voicemails within seconds if it's something or someone I want to answer.

In the end, I figure I'm like a lot of people... I gave up the corporate world and became a musician to eliminate stress... spending 15 minutes to update 4 calendars with when I'm available isn't what I'm about. I'll update when I'm in the mood, but if a gig comes up, I want to talk to someone before someone books it. If the club owner can't wait, I'm not sure I want to play at that club.


BTW... with the shenanigans that facebook and google are up to, I'm not such a fan of either platform.

 

[logdrum]

When I was younger and actively gigging, the phone and a day planner was all I needed and all these online collaboration tools are not any better. If we were designing circuits and involved 8 timezones and 500 people , then yeah.

I work in a pretty high tech company and work in a satellite campus focused on ML-Ai and cellular R&D. I should be drenched with all tech . I am not. I like living in rural areas and old houses . My buddy and peer, a high end EE is almost like a monk. No personal laptop except for a computing stick he sticks in his TV once in a while for only necessary email online banking he can't do at work. Leaves the company laptop at work, He doesn't do TV etc, even online streaming. He has a smart phone so he could video call his mother once in a while.

My daughter who is now on her own remarked that we are the only house with no dishwasher or central air and still plays LP records. And I still have cassette tapes that I play in my truck.

Everyone at work except my monk-like friend laughed when I said I got my ham radio license. Technology can probably help but if someone is by nature not organized, no amount of tech can help

 

[arbiterusa]

Am I missing anything? What has worked for you?

Paper planner. I don't use Google tools for anything. Why give some company access to details of your life?

I'm not some Luddite, I should add. I'm an IT security guy with just about two decades of working in the field, and my experience dealing with breaches, scams, hacking, etc is exactly WHY I don't use any cloud-based products for my personal data. It's the "way in" over 90% of the time.

 

[TeamScorpioRI]

I had a HUGE resistance to implementing a band calendar. We use the "Band" app. Similar to Google Calendar in functionality. It took legit 6 months for everyone to start using it and for everyone to add all the blackout dates. They just couldn't get the concept.

Them: Why do we have to do this?
Me: Because it makes it easier to book shows if I have access to everyone's availability.
Them: Why can't you just text us asking if we are available
Me: Because sometimes I am face to face with a club owner who has his calendar out. We don't have time for me to wait the usual 3-4 hours for someone to respond.
Them: So I have to put all dates that I am not available?
Me: Yes
Them: But what if I am not available, but its not a band reason. Do I still have to put that down?
Me: Yes
Them: OK, but if I put that I am available, I still need you to check with me as I may not actually be available.
Me: *bangs head against desk repeatedly*

This same conversation when on for 6 freaking months. Over and over again.

 

[LBS-bass]

Yep, I've mentioned here before that these shared calendars always seem like a good idea, but in practice they only lead to problems because not everyone has the presence of mind to check or update something beyond their own personal calendar. You're herding cats. So unless you can get everyone on the same page to share their personal calendars, you're not going to accomplish much with an online calendaring system. You're still going to have to contact everyone to confirm availability, so why not just do that and skip the aggravation?

 

[Holdsg]

my personal calendaring is a mess, a mix of work cell, personal cell, family paper calendar, excel spreadsheets, google calendar, and texts for the various bands I am in. Somehow it works and I keep several bands, wife, family, work all happy. Looking to simplify, but have no real clue where to start.

 

[fhm555]

Back in the stone age i was in a band with a bunch of people who had actual lives so the member handling the booking would find out what dates local clubs had open then try to find out if everyone was available for that date. I was the only member who made it clear in advance that unless i gave him specific dates i would not be able to do, i was in for whatever he could secure. The rest of the band would have to check work schedules, clear it with wifey, etc etc. needless to say we didn't work much because while we were trying to find out who could do it, a better organized band was taking the job when it was offered.you can’t be too organized or too prepared.

 

[OogieWaWa]

Our drummer, oddly, tries to keep us posted every time he updates a Word calendar document, it looks like a calendar, and it's got all our gigs and each of our "Blackout" dates on it. There's only three of us.

It works great, but like most people that use it, he doesn't have much of a clue on how Word works. One one date he couldn't fill the box with red to indicate a gig, so he used a red hilight instead with the white text; which unfortunately our guitar player's iPhone didn't recognize and just showed it as a white box with white text. The guitar player was surprised when we started talking about our next gig and he had no idea we even had one!

 

[Bunk McNulty]

These days far too many local musicians I run into see themselves as an “Army of One.” They’re all about ME. My schedule, my family, my interests, my time, my money - me, me, me.

People like that generally don’t have a team mindset. Even when it can clearly be of benefit to them, they’ll close their eyes, cover their ears, and start loudly singing “I got to be me! I got to be me...”

Trying to introduce groupware to people who go through life seldom making actual commitments and only reluctantly form “alliances of convenience” is like banging your head against the wall.

Good luck.

Funny. Being in Redhead is kinda like being on a sports team, or maybe the French Foreign Legion: You give up control of your life to the BL. We're looking for a keyboard player, and this will be an issue for 99% of respondents. We take February off, but otherwise, we arrange our lives around the band calendar. Fortunately, my S.O. is still talking to me.

 

[40Hz]

Funny. Being in Redhead is kinda like being on a sports team, or maybe the French Foreign Legion: You give up control of your life to the BL. We're looking for a keyboard player, and this will be an issue for 99% of respondents. We take February off, but otherwise, we arrange our lives around the band calendar. Fortunately, my S.O. is still talking to me.

Sounds like you're in what I consider a “real band.” You operate as an integral team producing your own signature performances.

The groups that operate more as job shops with a roster of subs for all positions seems to have become the norm however based on a lot of the posts I see on TB. “Band” in that context is about as meaningless to me as the Nike logo. I personally think its contributed a great deal to the devaluation of local bands in the eye of the general public. If there’s nothing inherently special about a particular band’s lineup, then (to me) there can’t be anything inherently special about that band either. And it’s reflected in the pay scale (or lack thereof) most bands are seeing.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

I don’t like to use online calendars (via smartphone, tablet or computer) simply because it means more screen time. Also, if you’re device malfunctions or loses power, you’re done. Also, I’m not into sharing too much information online.

 

[micguy]

I play in a bunch of churches. They all use Planning Center - not sure if Google Calendar is similar. I put in block out dates (vacations and a weekend a month to spend with my wife); they ask for me on pretty much every weekend I don't block out, it all works fabulously, and I don't end up double booked accidentally or anything. Without that, my scheduling would be a nightmare.

 

[Dusty Elmer]

I play in a really busy Americana-type band and we use the Tiny Calendar app on our phones. Works like a charm. If any of us are busy we just block out the date(s), and we can all see it. Whoever books the gig puts it in the calendar along with the time, pay, address, etc. It works best if you have a band email address, and you all log in with that. It's pretty efficient.

 

[Stumbo]

I don’t like to use online calendars (via smartphone, tablet or computer) simply because it means more screen time. Also, if you’re device malfunctions or loses power, you’re done. Also, I’m not into sharing too much information online.

Privacy is a myth. If you're online, your privacy is toast.

And even if you aren't online, your car's gps, stores you shop at, gasoline purchases, etc. and facial recognition cameras are coalescing data to determine your life's patterns so corporations can sell you stuff by placing timely psychoactive advertisements via social and other media.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Privacy is a myth. If you're online, your privacy is toast.

And even if you aren't online, your car's gps, stores you shop at, gasoline purchases, etc. and facial recognition cameras are coalescing data to determine your life's patterns so corporations can sell you stuff by placing timely psychoactive advertisements via social and other media.

Yes I am fully aware of these things. Which is why the privacy component isn't at the top of the list of reasons why I don't use an online calendar. And for the record, my car doesn't have GPS navigation, just sayin.