Add eventAttendanceMode to Event

[thill-odi]

Proposer

@nickevansuk (ODI/imin) with contributions from @thill-odi (ODI)

Use Case

An Opportunity provider is providing new means of accessing led classes online, as well as or instead of at a physical location.

This proposal obviously has increased salience in light of COVID-19 isolation measures.

Why is this not covered by existing properties?

The existing data model deals only with physical locations, not those available via online technologies.

Please provide a link to example data

See e.g. https://www.cococollective.co.uk/booking/ for a yoga studio that has recently moved to online events to replace physical ones.

Proposal

The schema.org property eventAttendanceMode should be added to all Opportunity types, with the exception of Slot, FacilityUse, and IndividualFacilityUse. Its purpose is to indicate whether participation is in a physical location only, online, or both, and it takes the following values:

• MixedEventAttendanceMode
• OfflineEventAttendanceMode
• OnlineEventAttendanceMode

It is assumed that eventAttendanceMode is fully heritable, so that values defined on parent objects (e.g. EventSeries, SessionSeries) are applicable to child objects (e.g. Event, ScheduledSession). Where this value is defined on a child object, however, the value defined at this lower level takes precedence over any defined higher up the chain.

[thill-odi]

See also #224, #226, #227.

[thill-odi]

Semantics rules (from @nickevansuk) ...

When:

• eventAttendanceMode is set to https://schema.org/OnlineEventAttendanceMode, virtualLocation MUST be present and location MAY be present, however data users MUST NOT advertise the location as a means of participation.
• eventAttendanceMode is set to https://schema.org/MixedEventAttendanceMode. virtualLocation MUST be present and location MUST be present.
• eventAttendanceMode is set to https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode. virtualLocation MUST NOT be present and location MUST be present.

[nishaldesai]

To add to this, location information in all cases is very useful for local authorities and others wanting to support local businesses. i.e. if Westminster is going out to local businesses to get them to go virtual so that Active Westminster can support them, they should have a way for Westminster as a data user, or users as part of the UX, to filter for "local" only

[nickevansuk]

Is virtualLocation actually "MUST" - as some events will simply not include this detail (e.g. if the virtual location is behind a paywall)?

Perhaps it should be RECOMMENDED instead?

See https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xENpJfK77neNlltsUre7kvjJBibowIDv1xFUBjpSYNU/edit#gid=0

[nickevansuk]

We also need to add guidance for location for OnlineEventAttendanceMode, that this is the original location of the class so not the house they’re in when they're under lockdown, but the studio they’re usually in, to help people find stuff that's "near to them" at least virtually

[nickevansuk]

Additionally should we relax constraints on PostalAddress for OnlineEventAttendanceMode, in case activity providers just want to give a rough location and not an exact one (e.g. postcode only).

This is something that has been discussed more generally in previous W3C calls to help outdoor providers too.

[nickevansuk]

As @lukehesluke has pointed out, perhaps there are two separate but often related semantic objectives that are being discussed?

• Original location: Where this studio was located before it went virtual
• Affiliated Locality: For a studio which was perhaps never physical. "I'm in Westminster borough". So it can be picked up by Active Westminster

Suggest location for OnlineEventAttendanceMode covers both of these - and in both cases is just indicative of where the broadcast is coming from

[JoshuaLevett]

Is there an estimated date for these virtual session additions?

[domfennell]

A positive response from Croydon Borough Council ("sounds like a fantastic alternative") and a suggestion for consideration: "could there be an option for feedback post session to measure uptake, ease, fun factor etc., ?”

[JoshuaLevett]

@nickevansuk
Appreciate that you have other things to do than answer GitHub questions.
However, Playwaze is working on both providing and consuming the new virtual sessions. As we use this Library to do it, we are somewhat dependant on it.

Any indication of when this (at least a very basic) model will be ready to use would be greatly appreciated.

[nickevansuk]

Sorry @JoshuaLevett getting through these one at a time... the tooling and that library will be updated tomorrow after 3:30pm tomorrow, before the end of the day.

The call 2-3:30 will finalise the spec, and the tooling will be available as soon as humanly possible after that.

[JoshuaLevett]

Thanks @nickevansuk :)

[nickevansuk]

Note that although the specification uses the language "virtual", the common language used in the sector, and hence recommended here, should be "Live Stream"

[nickevansuk]

Update Proposal

The schema.org property eventAttendanceMode is added to the existing opportunity types for SessionSeries, HeadlineEvent, Event, CourseInstance as part of existing RPDE feeds for those types.

Its purpose is to indicate whether participation is in a physical location only, online, or both, and its value must be one of the following:

• https://schema.org/MixedEventAttendanceMode
• https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode
• https://schema.org/OnlineEventAttendanceMode

If eventAttendanceMode not provided it is must be assumed to be https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode for backwards compatibility.

It is assumed that eventAttendanceMode is fully heritable, so that values defined on parent objects (e.g. EventSeries, SessionSeries) are applicable to child objects (e.g. Event, ScheduledSession). Where this value is defined on a child object, however, the value defined at this lower level takes precedence over any defined higher up the chain.

Note if eventAttendanceMode is set to https://schema.org/OnlineEventAttendanceMode, location MUST NOT be provided - for backwards compatibility, in order to ensure that existing data users do not misrepresent virtual classes as physical ones.

Semantic rules

• eventAttendanceMode is set to https://schema.org/OnlineEventAttendanceMode, beta:virtualLocation and beta:affiliatedLocation MAY be present and location MUST NOT be present.
• eventAttendanceMode is set to https://schema.org/MixedEventAttendanceMode. beta:virtualLocation MAY be present and location MUST be present. beta:affiliatedLocation MUST NOT be present.
• eventAttendanceMode is set to https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode or not supplied. beta:virtualLocation and beta:affiliatedLocation MUST NOT be present and location MUST be present.

[JoshuaLevett]

@nickevansuk
We have had several clients express an interest in information with location to get data from local providers. Birmingham, Westminster, and Yorkshire in particular.
I know that location was removed from online events to prevent misrepresenting data with existing sources, but is there any alternative method to handle this?

[nickevansuk]

@JoshuaLevett - yes this is covered by beta:affiliatedLocation (see #227)

As an aside - OpenActive.NET now includes all these additions, so you should be unblocked in your development work

[JoshuaLevett]

Perfect, thanks @nickevansuk

[JoshuaLevett]

Currently the validator gives an error

However, at the start of this issue it is mentioned that it should be included.
It looks like this might have been missed

[nickevansuk]

This should now be fixed @JoshuaLevett - good catch!