Winter Haven launches community calendar with partner integration and AI search

Katrina Hill, public affairs and communications director, introduced Winter Haven’s new community calendar, accessible at events.mywinterhaven.com, which launched on October 1 as a soft launch. Hill said the calendar aggregates both city-hosted events and events submitted by community partners and organizations and that staff have already approved multiple submissions, including fundraisers and downtown markets.

Hill described user features: a city filter to view only municipal events, event pages with location maps and contact information, category filters (for family events or workshops), and the ability for organizations to submit events that come to the city for review and approval. She said the calendar supports API integrations so select partners (for example, the Chamber or Main Street) can automatically push events to the city calendar.

The calendar is mobile responsive, offers subscription and social-sharing options, and includes a “smart search” that Hill said “actually utilizes AI” to let users search naturally (for example, asking what events are suitable for a 2‑year‑old). Staff will hold onboarding workshops to train users on how to submit events and maintain the calendar; Hill said a communications plan includes social posts and email reminders to keep content current.

Commissioners asked about approval standards and sustainment of content; Hill said events must occur in or benefit Winter Haven and be family- and community-friendly, and confirmed written guidelines exist. Commissioners suggested periodic reminder emails to sustain participation; staff said they will continue outreach and training to encourage long-term engagement.

The calendar launch was informational; no formal action or policy changes were recorded during the presentation.