[Web4lib] can anyone suggest a service that will meet these requirements?

[Petter Naess]

I wish to create a calendar of events in and invite contributors - as many
as possible - to post event announcements events at this common site.
I (fondly) envisage museums, libraries, think tanks, festivals, interest
organizations, impresarios, etc. etc. eagerly announcing their events -
seminars, concerts, conferences, performances, etc. - at this site, knowing
that this is THE place to go to announce and learn about - goings-on in
Norway.

For a collaboration of this kind to be successful - and to foster an
"architecture of participation" -  it is essential that the system is very
easy to use. There are, I think, several prerequisites (below),  and I'm
hoping someone can suggest a solution that will fit the bill. I've looked at
blogs, wikis, collaborative software like "Writely", etc., but haven't found
anything that meets all these needs.

1. Read access should be unrestricted. Posting should be very simple and not
require registration, merely knowledge of a common password. . This (as far
as I know) precludes systems such as Blogger, Wordpress and Typepad, which
require individual registration, which is off-putting for the person who
posts to/visits the site infrequently.

2. Should have a wysiwyg interface - I fear a wiki interface will scare off
the uninitiated.

3. The information should be organized in discrete entries, like in a blog,
to enable RSS syndication. Pbwiki (for example), satisfies requirement #1,
but I can't any way of organizing the information in RSSable fashion (same
goes for Writely).

4. Should be some way of categorizing or tagging events by type and topic,
eg. seminar/political science,  concert/jazz, etc.

5. be free and webbased.

Although I've not been able to identify a utility that meets these
requirements, I imagine many people might find such a creature useful - and
am hoping that it may exist!

Thanks for any suggestions!

Petter Næss
Information Resource Director
U.S.Embassy, Public Affairs
Drammensveien 18
0244 Oslo
Norway
phone (47) 21308802
fax (47) 22440436
pnaess at usa.no
http://www.usa.no
http://ircworld.blogspot.com