The Gist

I live in San Francisco. I have a lot of favorite bands, authors, comedians and thinkers who come to town for concerts, readings, stand-up shows and lectures without bothering to let me know, because I don't want to sign up for a million mailing lists and I don't scrutinize the papers. The Internet should tell me when the people I want to see are in a place where I can see them.

So I made ShowComber. It combs through a terrific database of events at upcoming.org*, looks for the names I give it, and tells me what it finds either via web or RSS feed. It's not perfect yet, but it does work.

Step by Step

When you log in to ShowComber, you'll see a set of menus on the left side of the screen. The "Events" menu is the good stuff -- click on View Events to see what events ShowComber has found for you. But wait! ShowComber isn't psychic. It can't find events for you until you tell it:

  • Where you are, and
  • Who you want to see

First let's tell it where you are by giving it a few metros to watch.

Metros

A "metro" is a metropolitan area. Most metros are just cities. Some cover whole areas, like "San Francisco Bay Area". The metros you're watching are listed in the Metros menu on every page.

How do I add metros?

Click the Add Metros link in the Metros menu. You'll see your current metros at the top, and a list of countries. Click on your country and you'll get a list of states/provinces. Click on yours and you'll get a list of metros in that state/province. Click on the add link next to it to add it to your metro list.

Managing a Watchlist

A watchlist is a list of names you want to watch for in events. Currently, you are limited to 150 names. These names can be anything -- band names, person names, whatever. You manage a watchlist using the Watchlist menu. To view the names in your watchlist, click View Watchlist.

Adding Names to Your Watchlist

There are four ways to add names to your watchlist.

  1. Import your iTunes music library: When you first register, you'll probably want to import your iTunes library file. Follow the instructions on the Add to Watchlist page.
  2. Add names from a text file: You can create a text fiel with one name per line and import that file into ShowComber. Follow the instructions on the Add to Watchlist page.
  3. Just type them in: There's an area on the Add to Watchlist page where you can type in names, one per line.
  4. Quick-add: From any page, you can quickly add a name by typing it into the Add a Name box in the Watchlist menu and clicking the "Add" button.

Adding Events to the Database

Have you got an event you'd like others to know about? Excellent. ShowComber doesn't work unless people enter in the events they know about. What you need to do is get an account at upcoming.org and enter your event in there.

*Note: This site isn't affiliated with upcoming.org -- they've opened up their data so that anyone who wants to can make a project like this. Very cool.