Too many venues, too little time
Every theatre, museum and club sends its programme in its own way: as a PDF, by email, on its website, in a ticket shop. Before anyone can write, someone has to read, type and compare.
Programmes in every format
Booklets as PDFs, press emails, websites and ticket shops. Every venue sends it differently, and someone has to read it all.
Calendars by hand
Dates are typed in one by one. Small venues and towns drop out because there isn't time.
Changes arrive too late
When a concert is moved, the calendar still shows the old time. Readers stand at a locked door and complain to the paper.
Every channel separately
Website, newsletter and print need the same listings, prepared again each time.
A week on the culture desk
On Monday the venues' programmes arrive, each in a different format. Dates are typed up, times compared, unclear points chased by phone. On Thursday the weekend tips are written against the clock. On Friday a change turns up after the newsletter has already gone out.
On Monday the listings are already in the calendar, checked and with their sources. On Thursday suggestions for the weekend are ready as drafts, in three lengths. The desk chooses, rewrites and approves. If a venue moves a date on Friday, the calendar is right again soon after.
What CIXTRA delivers
Everything comes from the same checked foundation. You decide what to use.
From Monday to Friday
CIXTRA keeps reading every venue's programme, merges duplicates and notices when something changes. This is a week on a culture desk in Graz.
Monday, 7:00 The week is already there.
Thursday, 9:00 The weekend is ready as a draft.
Friday, 16:40 A concert is moved.
Jazz in the Cellar, Saturday, 14 November
Starts 20:00Starts 20:30
The venue's own website counts before the booklet and the ticket shop.
Sat 14, Jazz in the Cellar, 20:30
updatedTip 1: now starts at 20:30
updatedTime replaced in the text
marked for reviewPage rebuilt
updatedTypical uses
Regional paper
A regional paper fills its events calendar with the listings of every town in its area, including the small ones. The newsroom writes the stories around them.
City magazine
A city magazine gets drafts for the weekend tips and the newsletter every Thursday. The editors choose, cut and approve.
Regional radio
A regional radio station reads out the day's tips every morning, from the same checked listings, and points listeners to the calendar on its website for the rest.
Three steps to your first calendar
- 01
A conversation
We agree on the area, the sections and the channels you want to start with.
- 02
One area, one channel
We read in the venues in your area and start with one channel, for example the weekend calendar.
- 03
Widen it
Once the first calendar is in place, we widen the area and channels: newsletter, weekend tips, pages for the paper.
What newsrooms ask us
Is anything published automatically?
No. Drafts stay drafts until someone on your desk approves them. Only the calendar can be set to keep itself up to date.
Where do the listings come from?
From venue websites, programme booklets, ticket shops, press emails and feeds. Every detail keeps its source so you can check it.
Can we use the texts?
Yes. The drafts are written fresh. The venues' original texts are not copied.
Does it fit our editorial system?
Calendars and drafts come as an embed, through the data feed or as a file. We work out which route fits your system in the first conversation.
How do we start?
With one area and one channel, for example the weekend calendar. After two to four weeks we look at it together and widen it.
Is it only about culture?
No. Markets, festivals, guided tours, sport to watch and things for families are included too.
See your weekend page with real listings.
Tell us your area. We'll show you which listings CIXTRA already knows there and what a draft for your desk looks like.