Patent Publication Number: US-2013232435-A1

Title: Map based event navigation and venue recommendation system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e) of the following co-pending and commonly-assigned U.S. provisional patent application(s), which is/are incorporated by reference herein: 
     U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/606,878, entitled “MAP BASED EVENT NAVIGATION AND VENUE RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM”, by Jason J. A. Knapp, filed on Mar. 5, 2012, Attorney Docket No. 257.7-US-P1. 
     This application is related to the following co-pending and commonly-assigned patent application, which application is incorporated by reference herein: 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “EVENT APPLICATION”, by Jason J. A. Knapp, et. al., filed on the same date herewith, Attorney Docket No. 257.6-US-U1 which application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/606,858, entitled “EVENT APPLICATION”, by Jason J. A. Knapp, et. al., filed on Mar. 5, 2012, Attorney Docket No. 257.6-US-P1. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to social media content, and in particular, to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for navigating a geographic map to find an event as well as recommending a venue/location to an attendee and/or a performer/participant. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Many fans of artists, sports, etc. frequently attend events featuring particular artists, teams, etc. Prior to attending an event, a fan may look at reviews and other information to determine how a particular artist performs or whether a particular venue/game/artist is exciting to watch in person. In addition, some sports/music fans may not be able to attend a particular event and/or are curious what is currently happening at such an event. To view such information in the prior art, a user may need to watch the live broadcast on television, read news articles describing the event, or contact a friend that is actually attending the event. However, such information may not satisfy an avid fan&#39;s insatiable desire for a particular event. 
     In addition to the above, performers, artists, politicians, and other similar event participants (including promoters of such events) may frequently attempt to determine the optimal venue and/or location to host an event for he/she/them to feature in. Prior art systems fail to provide a mechanism that determines, evaluates, and provides an accurate recommendation for a venue and performance data that will maximize attendance and thereby optimize revenue for the event participant/promoter. 
     In view of the above, what is needed is the capability to easily find an event and view information about such an event in an efficient manner. What is further needed is the capability to evaluate and suggest a venue and location for a performer/participant to host an event based on concrete user data and preferences. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the invention provide an interactive web presence for an event that provides the ability for users to upload content directly from the actual event using a mobile application. In addition, users (that are attending or are not attending the event) are provided with a map based navigation system that is integrated with the event web presence. After finding an event of interest, the user can view content for the event in a unique manner that may be timeline based. 
     Embodiments of the invention further provide a venue/location recommendation based on a fan base in a particular region that is determined from the event web presence. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers represent corresponding parts throughout: 
         FIG. 1  is an exemplary hardware and software environment used to implement one or more embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a typical distributed computer system using a network to connect client computers to server computers in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates the general structure and interaction within an event based framework/system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an example of a user interface that may be used to filter events/event sites in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates the logical flow for providing map based event navigation in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention; and 
         FIG. 6  illustrates the logical flow for providing a concert venue recommendation in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and which is shown, by way of illustration, several embodiments of the present invention. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     Hardware Environment 
       FIG. 1  is an exemplary hardware and software environment  100  used to implement one or more embodiments of the invention. The hardware and software environment includes a computer  102  and may include peripherals. Computer  102  may be a user/client computer, server computer, or may be a database computer. The computer  102  comprises a general purpose hardware processor  104 A and/or a special purpose hardware processor  104 B (hereinafter alternatively collectively referred to as processor  104 ) and a memory  106 , such as random access memory (RAM). The computer  102  may comprise or may be coupled to and/or integrated with other devices, including input/output (I/O) devices such as a keyboard  114 , a cursor control device  116  (e.g., a mouse, a pointing device, pen and tablet, touch screen, multi-touch device, etc.) and a printer  128 . In one or more embodiments, computer  102  may be coupled to or may comprise a portable or media viewing/listening device  132  (e.g., an MP3 player, iPod™, Nook™, portable digital video player, cellular device, personal digital assistant, etc.). In yet another embodiment, the computer  102  may comprise a multi-touch device, mobile phone, gaming system, internet enabled television, television set top box, or other internet enabled device executing on various platforms and operating systems. 
     In one embodiment, the computer  102  operates by the general purpose processor  104 A performing instructions defined by the computer program  110  under control of an operating system  108 . The computer program  110  and/or the operating system  108  may be stored in the memory  106  and may interface with the user and/or other devices to accept input and commands and, based on such input and commands and the instructions defined by the computer program  110  and operating system  108  to provide output and results. 
     Output/results may be presented on the display  122  or provided to another device for presentation or further processing or action. In one embodiment, the display  122  comprises a liquid crystal display (LCD) having a plurality of separately addressable liquid crystals. Alternatively, the display  122  may comprise a light emitting diode (LED) display having clusters of red, green and blue diodes driven together to form full-color pixels. Each liquid crystal or pixel of the display  122  changes to an opaque or translucent state to form a part of the image on the display in response to the data or information generated by the processor  104  from the application of the instructions of the computer program  110  and/or operating system  108  to the input and commands. The image may be provided through a graphical user interface (GUI) module  118 A. Although the GUI module  118 A is depicted as a separate module, the instructions performing the GUI functions can be resident or distributed in the operating system  108 , the computer program  110 , or implemented with special purpose memory and processors. 
     In one or more embodiments, the display  122  is integrated with/into the computer  102  and comprises a multi-touch device having a touch sensing surface (e.g., track pod or touch screen) with the ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface. Examples of a multi-touch devices include mobile devices (e.g., iPhone™, Nexus S™, Droid™ devices, etc.), tablet computers (e.g., iPad™, HP Touchpad™), portable/handheld game/music/video player/console devices (e.g., iPod Touch™, MP3 players, Nintendo 3DS™, PlayStation Portable™, etc.), touch tables, and walls (e.g., where an image is projected through acrylic and/or glass, and the image is then backlit with LEDs). 
     Some or all of the operations performed by the computer  102  according to the computer program  110  instructions may be implemented in a special purpose processor  104 B. In this embodiment, the some or all of the computer program  110  instructions may be implemented via firmware instructions stored in a read only memory (ROM), a programmable read only memory (PROM) or flash memory within the special purpose processor  104 B or in memory  106 . The special purpose processor  104 B may also be hardwired through circuit design to perform some or all of the operations to implement the present invention. Further, the special purpose processor  104 B may be a hybrid processor, which includes dedicated circuitry for performing a subset of functions, and other circuits for performing more general functions such as responding to computer program instructions. In one embodiment, the special purpose processor is an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). 
     The computer  102  may also implement a compiler  112  which allows an application program  110  written in a programming language such as COBOL, Pascal, C++, FORTRAN, or other language to be translated into processor  104  readable code. Alternatively, the compiler  112  may be an interpreter that executes instructions/source code directly, translates source code into an intermediate representation that is executed, or that executes stored precompiled code. Such source code may be written in a variety of programming languages such as Java™, Perl™, Basic™, etc. After completion, the application or computer program  110  accesses and manipulates data accepted from I/O devices and stored in the memory  106  of the computer  102  using the relationships and logic that was generated using the compiler  112 . 
     The computer  102  also optionally comprises an external communication device such as a modem, satellite link, Ethernet card, or other device for accepting input from and providing output to other computers  102 . 
     In one embodiment, instructions implementing the operating system  108 , the computer program  110 , and the compiler  112  are tangibly embodied in a non-transient computer-readable medium, e.g., data storage device  120 , which could include one or more fixed or removable data storage devices, such as a zip drive, floppy disc drive  124 , hard drive, CD-ROM drive, tape drive, etc. Further, the operating system  108  and the computer program  110  are comprised of computer program instructions which, when accessed, read and executed by the computer  102 , causes the computer  102  to perform the steps necessary to implement and/or use the present invention or to load the program of instructions into a memory, thus creating a special purpose data structure causing the computer to operate as a specially programmed computer executing the method steps described herein. Computer program  110  and/or operating instructions may also be tangibly embodied in memory  106  and/or data communications devices  130 , thereby making a computer program product or article of manufacture according to the invention. As such, the terms “article of manufacture,” “program storage device” and “computer program product” as used herein are intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer readable device or media. 
     Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that any combination of the above components, or any number of different components, peripherals, and other devices, may be used with the computer  102 . 
       FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a typical distributed computer system  200  using a network  202  to connect client computers  102  to server computers  206 . A typical combination of resources may include a network  202  comprising the Internet, LANs (local area networks), WANs (wide area networks), SNA (systems network architecture) networks, or the like, clients  102  that are personal computers or workstations, and servers  206  that are personal computers, workstations, minicomputers, or mainframes (as set forth in  FIG. 1 ). However, it may be noted that different networks such as a cellular network (e.g., GSM [global system for mobile communications] or otherwise), a satellite based network, or any other type of network may be used to connect clients  102  and servers  206  in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
     A network  202  such as the Internet connects clients  102  to server computers  206 . Network  202  may utilize ethernet, coaxial cable, wireless communications, radio frequency (RF), etc. to connect and provide the communication between clients  102  and servers  206 . Clients  102  may execute a client application or web browser and communicate with server computers  206  executing web servers  210 . Such a web browser is typically a program such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER™, MOZILLA FIREFOX™, OPERA™, APPLE SAFARI™, GOOGLE CHROMET™, etc. Further, the software executing on clients  102  may be downloaded from server computer  206  to client computers  102  and installed as a plug in or ACTIVEX™ control of a web browser. Accordingly, clients  102  may utilize ACTIVEX™ components/component object model (COM) or distributed COM (DCOM) components to provide a user interface on a display of client  102 . The web server  210  is typically a program such as MICROSOFT&#39;S INTERNET INFORMATION SERVER™. 
     Web server  210  may host an Active Server Page (ASP) or Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) application  212 , which may be executing scripts. The scripts invoke objects that execute business logic (referred to as business objects). The business objects then manipulate data in database  216  through a database management system (DBMS)  214 . Alternatively, database  216  may be part of or connected directly to client  102  instead of communicating/obtaining the information from database  216  across network  202 . When a developer encapsulates the business functionality into objects, the system may be referred to as a component object model (COM) system. Accordingly, the scripts executing on web server  210  (and/or application  212 ) invoke COM objects that implement the business logic. Further, server  206  may utilize MICROSOFT&#39;S™ Transaction Server (MTS) to access required data stored in database  216  via an interface such as ADO (Active Data Objects), OLE DB (Object Linking and Embedding DataBase), or ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity). 
     Generally, these components  200 - 216  all comprise logic and/or data that is embodied in/or retrievable from device, medium, signal, or carrier, e.g., a data storage device, a data communications device, a remote computer or device coupled to the computer via a network or via another data communications device, etc. Moreover, this logic and/or data, when read, executed, and/or interpreted, results in the steps necessary to implement and/or use the present invention being performed. 
     Although the term “user computer”, “client computer”, and/or “server computer” is referred to herein, it is understood that such computers  102  and  206  may include thin client devices with limited or full processing capabilities, portable devices such as cell phones, notebook computers, pocket computers, multi-touch devices, and/or any other device with suitable processing, communication, and input/output capability. 
     Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that any combination of the above components, or any number of different components, peripherals, and other devices, may be used with computers  102  and  206 . 
     Event Site Overview 
     Embodiments of the invention are implemented as a software application executing on a client  102 , server computer  206 , or a combination of both client  102  and server  206 . Further, as described above, the client  102  or server computer  206  may comprise a thin client device or a portable device that has a multi-touch-based display (i.e., a tablet device), a mobile phone, a gaming system, an IP (internet protocol) enabled television, a television set top box, or other internet enabled device running on various platforms and operating systems. Users may communicate and interact with the software application using a mobile device, client computer  102 , portable device, etc. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates the general structure and interaction within an event based framework/system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. As described above, mobile device  132  and/or client  102  may communicate and interact using a variety of networks  202  with various websites and applications. Mobile application software (commonly referred to as an “app”) may be installed and/or utilized on mobile devices  102  and/or clients  102 . Such an app may be downloaded from an application marketplace or online store of applications. The app may be used to provide the functionality herein. In addition, various apps may be used in combination with server side applications to provide the desired functionality. In this regard, in addition to, or instead of, an event app on a mobile/client device  102 / 132 , an application for the user to check-in or submit his/her location may be used (e.g., FourSquare™). 
     On the server side  206 , a social network site  302  (e.g., MySpace™ Facebook™, LinkedIn™, Friendster™, Twitter™), may be used to host various event sites  304  (e.g., event site 1, event site 2, . . . , event site N). Such event sites are described in further detail below and correspond to actual events that occurring at a particular venue. Each event site  304  may utilize an event application  306  to manage the information for the event site  304 . Further, an event controller  308  may be used to combine, manage, and provide access to information from multiple event sites  304 /event applications  306 . 
     Either as part of the social network site  302  or executing separately from the social network site  302 , various applications  310 - 320  may be used to provide additional features for the event based interaction. The use of such applications  310 - 320  are described in further detail below (or in the cross referenced application). It may be noted that the description is not limited to the applications depicted in  FIG. 3  and additional applications may be used to provide the features described herein. Further, in addition to the applications  310 - 330  interacting with (or being an integral part of) social network site  302 , each application  302 - 320  may interact with the other applications  302 - 320  and or directly with the user  102 / 132 . 
     To better understand the event based framework and system, an overview of each of the depicted applications&#39; tasks within the event based framework may be useful. Award application  310  manages awards, award programs, and achievements based on a user&#39;s  102 / 132  level/state of participation and interaction with the event based system. Recommendation engine  312  is used to recommend content, events, etc. to a user  102 / 132  based on event based content. In addition, recommendation engine  312  may be utilized to recommend a particular location/venue to host an event. DBMS  214  manages all of the event based data that may be stored in database  216 . Media content player  314  enables the ability to view media content uploaded by users  102 / 132 . Websites/website apps  316  are websites other than the social network site  302  (e.g., Twitter™, search engines, map-based interactions, etc.) that may use the event based information or provide additional information based on the event based information. Such websites/website apps  316  also interact with the event app  306  and/or event controller  308 . Passport app  320  enables the use of an event passport/passport book that serves as a listing or registry of which events one or more users  102 / 132  have attended. Navigation application  320  provides the ability to utilize a graphical user interface to navigate and find a particular event and then view content for such an event in unique manner. 
     As described herein, an event (e.g., a concert, a sporting event, a party, a charity event, a theatrical production, or any event that may be attended/watched by a user) may have a corresponding event internet presence (referred to herein as an event site or event location  304 ) that is hosted by a server computer  206 . Such an event site  304  may be an application  212  hosted by web server  210 , and/or may be a page on a social media network  302  such as a MySpace™ page, a Facebook™ page, a Google+™ page, a LinkedIn™ page, etc. 
     The event site  304  may utilize an event application  306  to organize and store the information on a per event site  304  basis. In general, the event site  304  (and supporting applications  306 - 320 ) provides the ability for users  102 / 132  to “check into” an event and upload content directly from the actual event using a mobile application. The server  206  (e.g., via the event app  306 , event controller  308 , and or other applications) may verify the user&#39;s location at the event (e.g., via global positioning system [GPS] information encoded in a picture or transmitted from the mobile device) (and may also confirm the content location) and tags the data appropriately. The event site  304  serves as an aggregate for the user content uploaded from the event. Any user  102 / 132  can visit the site and view the content. Alternatively, access permissions may be restricted (e.g., private event functions [e.g., birthday parties, exclusive parties at private estates, etc.] may have access restricted to only those persons that attended/were invited to the event). 
     The uploaded content may be pictures, sound, video, information about the event or participants in the event, and information about the pictures, sound, video, or other content (e.g., attributes about the content), etc. The content described herein is not intended to be limited to specific content or types of content. For example, at a baseball game, content may include a picture of a message displayed on a big screen, a picture of any of the players (in the dugout or otherwise), who is at bat, what celebrities are attending the game, the total attendance, where a beach ball is currently being hit, where a “wave” is starting, how long the lines are at the different concessions or in the bathrooms, where to buy certain types of food, GPS data associated with any of the above, etc. Similarly, at a concert, content may include the current song being played, a picture of the band, a picture of an attendee, a picture of a ticket to the concert, what clothing a particular artist is wearing, etc. 
     The event site  304  may enable usage of the event site  304  before, during, and subsequent to the occurrence of the event. Before the event occurs, users  102 / 132  can view the scheduled participants (e.g., the scheduled pitchers or players at a baseball game, scheduled artists at a concert, etc.) and/or information about the event (e.g., songs played at other similar concerts, the scheduled playlist, information about the instruments being played and similar artists that play the same/similar instruments, information about the promoter, the master of ceremonies (MC), production crew, etc.). Users  102 / 132  may also have the potential to purchase tickets to the event or link to another site  316  to purchase tickets. 
     During the event itself, content is uploaded and may be streamed and/or used by users  102 / 132  (e.g., in real-time). Such content may be used to find concessions/bathrooms (e.g., with the shortest line), meet up with friends, view what is happening at a different location at the venue, etc.). Users  102 / 132  not at the event may also have the ability to view uploaded content to attend the event “virtually”. 
     After the event, users  102 / 132  can view and interact with the uploaded content (e.g., including the set played by an artist, pictures, video, etc.). Similarly, content uploaded may be utilized by other applications  310 - 318 . As an example, a music player  314  may utilize the content such that when playing a song, relevant content (e.g., pictures of the artist playing that song at a particular concert) may be displayed to the user  102 / 132 . Alternatively, a user  102 / 132  can “relive” the event wherein the content (and accompanying information) is organized in a timeline like manner and delivered to the user  102 / 132  such that the user  102 / 132  can replay the content in an attempt to experience/re-experience the evening. For example, a user  102 / 132  can attempt to replay a concert event. In such a scenario, the application  306  may replay/stream music to the user  102 / 132  in the order that the band played the set at the concert event. Simultaneously, the application  306  may display pictures, audio, video, etc. that is synchronized with the music (e.g., the time when the content was captured by a user  102 / 132  may be synchronized with when a particular song was played by a band and delivered to the user  102 / 132  in a time appropriate manner). 
     Accordingly, the application controller  308  (e.g., via the event app  306 ) may offer various options to one or more users  102 / 132  regarding how the content can be delivered to the user  102 / 132 . The user  102 / 132  may also opt to simply browse all uploaded content. In yet another embodiment, a user  102 / 132  can elect to filter the content based on a variety of factors/attributes. Some filtering options may include filtering the content by: the user  102 / 132  that uploaded the content, the type of device that captured the content (e.g., cellular phone v. digital camera v. tablet/multi-touch device), the location at the actual event where the content was captured (e.g., filtering content such that only content captured by users  102 / 132  in the first ten rows or in a particular venue section will be viewed by the user  102 / 132 ), by properties of the user  102 / 132  that captured the content (e.g., gender, age, profile of user  102 / 132  compared to the present user  102 / 132 , etc.), by age appropriateness (e.g., if the content is marked with containing risque content, it may be filtered out, or content may be filtered based on being appropriate for all ages, only over 13, only over 18, etc.), by what is depicted in the content (e.g., filtering out all content but for images of the band members or certain band members—i.e., such that candid photos of other attendees at the event are excluded—or vice versa), etc. In this regard, any type of filtering system may be in place and a variety of different properties and attributes may be used to filter the content. 
     To further provide the ability to organize and filter the content in a desirable manner, the uploaded content may be tagged. Such tagging associates the content with a variety of attributes. In this regard, content may be associated with a song, event, playlist, users  102 / 132  (having a particular songs on a playlist, that have attended a particular concert, that uploaded a song at a concert, etc.), musical type/genre, venue, time captured, what/who is depicted in the picture, location (e.g., general seating section, exact seat location, and/or GPS location), etc. 
     Such content may be tagged by the user  102 / 132 . Alternatively, the content may be tagged automatically by the application  306  (or other applications  310 - 320  that are configured to discover the tags) based on various properties. For example, based on GPS data that accompanies a photograph, the application  306 - 320  may search for and/or compare the GPS data to known GPS data for a particular venue and may further determine where the content was captured within the venue (e.g., what seating area or the exact location). The timestamp associated with the content may then be used to determine what event occurred, what was occurring at that time in the event (i.e., based on other user  102 / 132  uploaded content), etc. All such information may be associated with the content (e.g., via tags). 
     Automatic or manual tagging may also be initiated based on an ongoing activity at the event. For example, a user  102 / 132  may check-in at an event. The application  306 - 320  (or a mobile application on the mobile device  132  itself) may then perform an analysis of the audio content received (e.g., streamed to the application) to determine/identify what the content is (e.g., audio recognition of a particular song at a concert). Such an identification of the content may also utilize the “check-in” information to assist in the discovery process (e.g., by filtering songs from an artist performing at the venue). The application  306  may then request confirmation of the determination/identification and then store such content at the event site  304  (e.g., in database  216  via DBMS  214 ). In this regard, the time when a particular song is played may be automatically determined and stored at the event site  304  by an event application  306 . Alternatively, rather than identifying/recognizing content based on audio, a user  102 / 132  may opt to submit identifying information based on text entries (e.g., via a mobile device  132  keyboard/text message). For example, at a concert, the user  102 / 132  may enter the first letter (or first few letters) of a song at a particular concert and the event app (e.g., on the mobile device  132 ) may match the letters with a listing of songs by the artist and thereby recognize the song, or alternatively, present a list of songs for the user  102 / 132  to select from (i.e., based on the letters entered by the user  102 / 132 ). 
     A tagging infrastructure may also be utilized. Such a tagging infrastructure serves to establish a relationships for (and between) the uploaded content. For example, certain songs may be associated with a particular concert, events may be associated with artists/athletes, music at a concert may be associated with users  102 / 132  that have such music on their own playlists, etc. Such relationships between data may be stored in a database  216  and managed by a relational DBMS  214 . 
     Map-Based Event Navigation 
     In one or more embodiments of the invention, map based navigation options may be integrated with the event site  304  information (e.g., via navigation application  320 ). In this regard, users  102 / 132  may have the ability to view a geographic map and see what concerts are currently occurring, recently occurred in the past, or are going to occur at or within a designated time in the future. Alternatively, a text based search for an event may also be utilized. 
     Various filters may be used to narrow the navigation options to a particular genre, venue, artist, date/date range, etc.  FIG. 4  illustrates an example of a user interface that may be used to filter events/event sites  304  in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. Note that the filters that may be used are not limited to those provided in graphical user interface  400 . Various user interface controls may be used such as check boxes, combo boxes, command buttons, frames, images, labels, list boxes, radio buttons, text boxes, scroll bars, spin buttons, tab strips, toggle buttons, etc. 
     As illustrated, a user  102 / 132  may have the option to identify the artist/performer  402  and whether the user  102 / 132  has attended an event featuring the performer in the past  404 . The event sites  304  may further be filtered by the genre  406 , location  408 , venue  410  (and whether the user  102 / 132  has attended the venue in the past  412 ), and date range  414 . In addition, various other filtering attributes  416 - 422  may be utilized that are unique to the social media network and/or embodiments of the present invention. In other words, the filtering attributes  416 - 422  are attributes that are based on information that is uniquely maintained by (i.e., are unique to) a social media network. For example, the results may be filtered by whether a friend has attended  416  the event and/or similar events in the past. Similarly, event sites  304  may be filtered based on whether friends recommend  418  the event or the event site. The user  102 / 132  may further elect to limit results based on whether the event site has been personally recommended  420  to the user  102 / 132  by a recommendation engine  312 . In other words, based on the user&#39;s profile and other known information, a recommendation engine  312  may recommend a particular event site/event and the user  102 / 132  can opt to limit/filter the results of the search to recommended sites. The user  102 / 132  may also filter event sites based on whether media content is available for viewing at the event site  422 . In other words, if no users  102 / 132  have uploaded content, the user  102 / 132  may not want to see/view such an event site. 
     The results of such a search/filter may be displayed in a geographic map with glyphs/icons indicating the location of the various events identified. Colors/geometry of the icons/glyphs may be used to distinguish various features of the event site (e.g., a past event in a first color, a currently ongoing event in a second color, and a future event in a third color) (e.g., different highlighting based on whether content is available). Hovering over a particular icon/glyph may display a tooltip with information regarding the event/event site. The map user interface may be navigated using various types of navigation controls commonly available such as zooming, translating, etc. 
     Once an event site of interest has been identified and selected by the user  102 / 132  (e.g., by selecting an icon/glyph using a cursor control device), the event site  304  itself may be displayed to the user  102 / 132 . Once the event site  304  is displayed, various features of the event site  304  may be available to the user  102 / 132 . For example, the user  102 / 132  may view media content (e.g., all or a portion) uploaded by users  102 / 132  of the event site  304 . Such media content may be displayed on a timeline like manner based on the time of upload or the time of capture (e.g., of a time-stamped picture). The user  102 / 132  may have the option of rewinding or fast forwarding through the media content/event-based information on the event site  304 . In this regard, the content may be delivered/broadcast in a stream that is stored on the server and delivered to the user  102 / 132  in the format requested. Alternatively, if an entire stream is received by the user  102 / 132 , the user&#39;s system may cache the stream and the event app on the client may provide the functionality to fast forward or rewind. 
     The event-based information/content may be viewed in a timeline like window/media player that is configured to display the content to the user  102 / 132 . 
     In view of the above, various methods and/or protocols may be used to deliver the event content from the event site  304  to the user  102 / 132 . For example, the content may use datagram protocols, real-time streaming/transport/transport control protocols, bitrate streaming, transmission control protocol (TCP), unicast protocols, multicast protocols, IP (internet protocol) multicast, and/or peer-to-peer protocols. 
     Accordingly, the user  102 / 132  has the ability to select an ongoing event such as a concert and “tune-in” to the concert. Embodiments of the invention may further broadcast live audio feed from the event. Alternatively, if the live audio feed is not possible, based on uploaded information (e.g., the particular song being played by an artist), the event site  304  may play a pre-recorded version of media content (e.g., a particular song/track from the artist&#39;s record) while displaying/providing images from the event to the user  102 / 132 . Such a play of the artist&#39;s content may be synchronized (as best as possible) with the song being played at the concert. Thus, simultaneously with the pre-recorded track, media content uploaded in real-time may be played to the user  102 / 132  thereby providing the user  102 / 132  with a desktop/mobile virtual concert/event. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates the logical flow for providing map based event navigation in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. 
     At step  502 , one or more event sites are established. 
     At step  504 , content from users are received and used to populate the event sites. 
     At step  506 , map based navigation to locate an event site is enabled. Such an enabling may include populating location based information for events represented by each of the created event sites and utilizing such location based information to populate a graphical user interface of a map that allows users  102 / 132  to navigate and find the different events. 
     At step  508 , the map based navigation receives a selection of a particular event site. For example, the selection may activate a hyperlink or uniform resource locator (URL) that transports the user  102 / 132  (e.g., via a web browser) to the event site itself. 
     At step  510 , the event site is used to deliver content to the user  102 / 132 . As described above, such content may be streamed via multicast or unicast, and may provide the ability to fast forward and/or rewind the content which may be organized by time/date of upload or time/date of content capture. 
     Concert Venue Recommendation 
     Embodiments of the invention may enable the ability to develop/supplement a profile for a user  102 / 132  that interacts with the event site  304  described above. Further, each event site  304  may maintain statistics/information regarding the users  102 / 132 /types of users  102 / 132  (e.g., residence location, gender, music preferences, venue preferences, event preferences, etc.). Such statistics may be maintained for users  102 / 132  that have attended the event and/or users  102 / 132  that have uploaded content to the event site  304 . For example, statistics regarding the residences (e.g., cities, state, location within a city, etc.) of the users  102 / 132  that attend(ed) a particular event may be maintained. 
     A statistical analysis of such information may be used to manipulate the information and update a user&#39;s profile. The profile information may also be developed/modified based on a user&#39;s interaction with a social network site (e.g., MySpace™). The profile based information may be based on the statistical analysis/manipulation of the user&#39;s information. For example, if a user  102 / 132  has attended multiple similar events (e.g., multiple concerts for a particular artist or multiple concerts in a particular genre of music), the user&#39;s profile may be modified to reflect that the user  102 / 132  is a “fan” of such events, artists, performers, venue, etc. As used herein, the user&#39;s profile may be the public or may be information (e.g., metadata) maintained internally about a user  102 / 132 . 
     Based on user based profile information and/or event-based information, embodiments of the invention (e.g., the recommendation engine  312  or the event controller  308 ) may utilize logic to develop a profile (e.g., a demographic profile) for a particular location (e.g., city or part of a city, state, region, etc.), venue, artist, sport, etc. In this regard, the recommendation engine  312  (e.g., via DBMS  214  and database  216 ) may modify the profile for a particular area(s) of Los Angeles (e.g., Santa Monica and/or Venice Beach) indicating that such an area has a large fan base of persons that like alternative rock (or a specific band). Statistical analysis and logic may also be utilized to determine the likelihood of such users  102 / 132  willingness to attend an event for a particular artist/genre within a certain city or at a certain venue. In this regard, a user&#39;s profile may include information regarding attendance at various events, location of such attendance, preference for certain artists and/or genres of music, etc. Such information may be utilized to predict the likelihood of attendance at a particular event. Such predictions and statistics may be accumulated across numerous users  102 / 132 . 
     Based on the accumulation of data across a group of users  102 / 132 , the recommendation engine  312  may provide a recommendation to an artist, team, production company, etc. regarding the optimal location to host an event. As an example, suppose the statistics indicate that 2000 people in the Lake Charles, La. vicinity are fans of Derek Trucks and are likely to attend a local concert featuring Derek Trucks. Based on such statistics, recommendation engine  312  may recommend to Derek Trucks, his band, or his manager, that he should host a concert at a facility in the Lake Charles area that accommodates 2000 people or less (e.g., the L&#39;auberge Casino Resort™). Similar recommendations may be made regarding the ticket prices (e.g., based on the income of the users  102 / 132  and/or cost of prior tickets paid by the users  102 / 132  at the venue). 
     Such recommendations may also include a recommended season/date/time for hosting the event. For example, if trends/statistical analysis indicate that attendance is likely higher during the Spring/spring break at a particular location (e.g., Fort Lauderdale or Cancun), such a time may be recommended to a potential event host. 
     Similarly, recommendation engine  312  may provide recommendations to users  102 / 132  regarding when and where a particular artist is playing at a user&#39;s preferred venue, a nearby venue, or when similar artists (e.g., in the same genre as an artist the user is a “fan” of) are playing at a particular/nearby venue. Thus, based on the user&#39;s past attendance at an event or based upon profile-based information, songs, artists, events, etc. may be recommended to a user  102 / 132 . 
     In addition, fuzzy logic may be used in an attempt to determine what to recommend based on the event site specific information. Alternatively, fuzzy logic may be utilized to recommend an event site to a user  102 / 132  or to an artist/potential event host based on the approximate users  102 / 132  attributes and the predicted behavior of the user  102 / 132 . 
     Fuzzy logic is a superset of conventional (Boolean) logic that has been extended to handle the concept of partial truth—truth values between “completely true” and “completely false”. With fuzzy logic, continuous truth values are permitted such that system variables may take a continuous range of truth-value memberships in the interval [0,1], rather than strict binary (True or False) decisions and assignments. For example, if it is cloudy and overcast, the statement “it is raining” could have a True value of 0.8, and a False value of 0.25. Likewise, the statement “The current user  102 / 132  is a visitor” has the value 0.9 if highly likely, 0.1 if highly unlikely, and 0.5 if the answer is “may be”. In embodiments of the invention, fuzzy logic may be utilized to determine the likely approximate attendance if a person/group were to host an event at a particular venue/location (and may include a recommended season/date/time). 
     The likelihood of a user  102 / 132  attending a particular event may be predicted using fuzzy logic. In such an example, the normal location of a user  102 / 132  (e.g., in a particular suburb or in Los Angeles) may be compared to the user&#39;s current location (e.g., downtown or Seattle). Other attributes such as prior attendance at an event (e.g., concerts featuring a particular artist), travel to see such an event, in combination with known facts such as the location of the particular artist&#39;s concert the following evening in the vicinity of the user  102 / 132 , may be used to predict with a particularly probability that a user  102 / 132  will attend the event. Based on such a probability, a particular event site  302  may be recommended to the user  102 / 132 . Alternatively, based on an accumulation of the approximate likelihood of multiple users predicted attendance, a particular location/venue for an event may be suggested/recommended to a potential event host. Thus, an application  306 - 318  or recommendation engine  312  may rely on fuzzy logic in an attempt to determine when and where to host an event of a particular type or of a particular person/group/performer. 
     Thereafter, once an event is scheduled at a particular venue, the recommendation engine  312  may be used to drive traffic to the corresponding event site and may interact with such an event site  304  and/or information gathered by the event site  304 . 
       FIG. 6  illustrates the logical flow for providing a concert venue recommendation in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. 
     At step  602 , an event site is established. Such an event site corresponds to an event that multiple persons attend and is an electronic repository for content related to the event. Such an event site may be hosted by a social media site and may include installing or utilizing a new instance (e.g., an object oriented instance) of an event application on the event site. To establish the event site, any known information may be stored/associated with the event. For example, the type of event, the artists/participants of the event, the venue, the location of the venue (e.g., latitude and longitude, GPS, street address, etc.) the time and date of the event, links to websites for any of the above, etc. The establishing/publishing/associating of such information with a particular event may all be automated. For example, an event application/controller may webcrawl and when a new upcoming event is discovered (e.g., at an artist&#39;s/team&#39;s web page, a ticketing company&#39;s webpage, etc.), information about the artist/team/venue may be automatically retrieved from a trusted source. The automatic gathering of such information may further provide the ability for an authorized user  102 / 132  to confirm the information before, during, or after the establishment of the event site. Alternatively, an authorized user  102 / 132  may be required to establish the event site and content initially stored thereon. 
     At step  604 , content is received, at the event site, from one or more users  102 / 132  attending the event. The event application may confirm the authenticity of the received content (e.g., via GPS data, receipt of tracking information (e.g., input of user information). The event application may also filter the content to determine if any impermissible content has been uploaded (e.g., obscene, illegal, or nefarious content, content that requires a copyright license, content for which a minimum viewing age may be required, etc.). Such content may further include attendance information of one or more users  102 / 132  (i.e., information regarding whether the user  102 / 132  has attended a particular event). 
     At step  606 , the uploaded content is analyzed to extrapolate information about the user  102 / 132  and predicted user behavior. Such an analysis may also collate predicted user behavior from multiple users  102 / 132  as well as establish location, artist, song, venue, etc. specific profile information. In this regard, existing profiles for artists, songs, performers, etc. may be supplemented with the collated information (e.g., indicating a fan base in a particular geographic location and/or a popular music genre in a particular geographic location). 
     At step  608 , based on the analyzed content/extrapolated information, candidate event locations are determined. For example, based on prior attendance from certain users  102 / 132  (e.g., extrapolated from event sites) and a geographic location/focal point for fans of a particular performer/artist, a potential/candidate location for hosting an event may be determined (e.g., a specific venue for a particular artist/performer on a particular date/date range). 
     At step  610 , the candidate event location is recommended/provided to a potential event host (e.g., artist, manager, promotion company, etc.). 
     CONCLUSION 
     This concludes the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention. The following describes some alternative embodiments for accomplishing the present invention. For example, any type of computer, such as a mainframe, minicomputer, or personal computer, or computer configuration, such as a timesharing mainframe, local area network, or standalone personal computer, could be used with the present invention. 
     The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.