Just a few quick thoughts to share on this Thursday morning. Yesterday, a few of us got involved in some lengthy, fascinating discussions about what to do when data conflicts. I know this is a major cause of concern for nearly everyone, in every industry who collaborates on projects with others. But it struck us who were debating (the coffee might have been particularly strong yesterday morning) that this can be especially challenging (READ: money on the line!) for production managers and other live event professionals with tight turnarounds and small project windows. Often times, we get one shot to make or break an event and if we are working off of different versions of a daily schedule, the implications of cost and quality could be enormous.
But how do we do it? In a highly collaborative program (as we are building Propared to be), how do we ensure an event management team’s data doesn’t conflict, especially when multiple people may be editing it? We came up with dozens of potential challenges, (for example, working underground while stuck between subway stations). For each iteration, I was stunned by the level of complexity required in the software programming architecture to ensure these scenarios are logged and counted. In short, any event management software system must account for literally thousands of potential scenarios to ensure these conflicts are mitigated. As you can imagine, there is no quick solution. It is a topic that needs to be explored in great depth and likely will change over time as the needs of the event community shift. It certainly gives me a new found respect for programs that are able to do it well.
One last thing I wanted to share, that really kickstarted yesterday’s conversation. Anyone remember those awful popups from MobileMe that asked you to reconcile several hundred of your contacts –
One. At. A. Time?
Yea, that’s the sort of thing we’re trying to avoid.
- What are some of your favorite programs that share data well?
- Have you ever had problems when the wrong information shows up on your device?
Share your thoughts – we’d love to hear them!
