Wondering about upcoming events in your area? There’s an app for that.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could carry a pocket-sized reference tool with information for all the upcoming events in your city or town — something you could whip out at a moment’s notice, in case you forgot the dates for the Art Festival or the location of the new Farmer’s Market? You wouldn’t have to access the city website or even Google, because the dates, times, and directions would already be waiting for you, right on your mobile device. Yep, we’re talking about an app — a totally unique platform that makes community updates mobile and easily accessible.

It’s called YouTown, and it’s taking government/citizen communications to a whole new level. Agencies that sign up for YouTown can begin publishing events and local happenings within an hour. Citizens can browse the listings on their iPhones (other devices to follow) and click the event to view further information. From there, all it takes is a finger-tap to call the contact number or get directions. There is even a “filter feature” so people can customize the events that appear in their YouTown feed to match their particular preferences and interests.

Coming soon: events in YOUR town
Events can range in category from the recreational (festivals, sports, cultural celebrations) to the practical (holiday closings, Council meetings, sanitation schedules). Here’s a glance into some of the events that cities have already published using YouTown:

Enid, Oklahoma: You can attend the Historic Preservation Commission meeting, or perhaps you’d like to join the Garfield County Knitters at the library.

Seattle, Washington: The Community Center is hopping this week with Adult Basketball, Table Tennis, Volleyball, and Line Dancing. Seattle’s Original Coffee Crawl is coming up too!

Prattville, Alabama: Check out the Community Chorus Spring Dinner Concert for an evening of fine food and entertainment, or maybe you’d like to give back by volunteering at the Spring Cleanup effort.

YouTown takes the popular mobile technology that people use in their everyday lives and integrates it with the data that agencies are already publishing in their newspapers, blogs, fliers, and websites. Since people don’t generally have the time or patience to keep track of all the local happenings using such a variety of information sources, YouTown ties it all together and delivers it to your mobile device, making it a one-stop shop for keeping up with events in your town.

Events are just one of many convenient functions in the YouTown app — check back for an in-depth look at more features soon!