Tango Events Without the Algorithm

The Vision (2025+)

Facebook is no longer the only place to learn who’s dancing where tonight.

With the open web (not the closed ad-owned social platforms) you can publish once and have your milongas appear:

on your own website,
on a local community calendar (e.g. rhein-neckar-tango.de),
on a pan-regional aggregator (events.tangoverse.org), and
in every follower’s Mastodon / Friendica timeline – instantly.

Below is an updated guide that shows the full journey from publisher ? aggregator ? regional calendar ? dancer.

1 – Who publishes events and where?

Role	Tool	Typical example
Teacher / Tango School / Organizer	WordPress + ActivityPub + Event Bridge + any supported event plugin, like the free “GatherPress”	María creates a “Saturday Practica” post and hits Publish.
Community project	Gancio	Volunteers maintain gancio.freiburg.tango so anyone can submit events.
Festival crew	Mobilizon	They need RSVP head-counts and ticket PDFs, and Mobilizon can do that for them.

All three tools speak ActivityPub and generate the same federatable Event object.

Essentially, the organizers either need to have their own website, or be able to use community-infrastructure to share their events. But one place should be enough.

2 – Where does the data gather?

Layer	URL	What happens
Aggregator	events.tangoverse.org	Follows every publisher’s ActivityPub actor and stores all regional events in one feed (plus ICS & RSS export).
Regional calendar	rhein-neckar-tango.de	Pulls its own direct submissions and a filtered slice of the aggregator feed (only events within 60 km).

The aggregator is the source of convenience for many dancers, since they don’t want to check every web page for event dates. Any site or app can subscribe to it and build its own view.

The website of the event organizer/teacher/school is the real source of truth, but it federates to the (any) aggregator pages.

3 – How dancers interact

Discover – They open rhein-neckar-tango.de or follow @events@events.tangoverse.org from Mastodon or even better: Friendica, which has a personal calendar.
Details & RSVP – The event link points to a Mobilizon or Gancio page with maps, details, etc.
Reminders – The calendar feed lands in their phone app; Mobilizon can also send e-mail or push.
Share – After the milonga they post photos; the conversation circles back into the Fediverse.

Because everyone is reading from the same Event object, date/time edits or venue changes propagate everywhere.

4 – A concrete walk-through

María’s WordPress ??Create? Event
                   ???Followed by events.tangoverse.org
                              ???Feeds regional calendar rhein-neckar-tango.de
                                         ???Seen by Anna on her phone
                                               ??Join? RSVP stored in Mobilizon

María updates the start time ? WordPress sends Update ? aggregator updates ? regional calendar updates ? Anna’s phone updates ? nobody turns up late.

Checklist for teachers & organisers (no WordPress yet)

Task	Why
Pick a path: • self-host WordPress or • post directly on a shared Gancio / Mobilizon instance	Both publish ActivityPub; choose what fits your skills.
If WordPress: install the ActivityPub plugin (? 6.x) and Event Bridge (? 1.1.1).	Bridges your favourite event plugin to the Fediverse.
Create your first event and verify the JSON at https://your.site/@events.	The raw feed proves federation is on.
Tell the aggregator (events.tangoverse.org) to follow your actor.	One email/PM to the admin or a Follow button if open.
List direct events on your regional site (e.g. rhein-neckar-tango.de) or ask them to import from the aggregator.	Guarantees local dancers see you even if they ignore Fediverse.
Announce the handle (@events@your.site) so dancers can follow straight from Mastodon or Friendica.	Instant reach, no ads.
Optional: deploy Mobilizon if you need RSVP counts or ticketing.	Works side-by-side with WordPress/Gancio.
Edit once, test often. Change the time or add a tag; check it syncs on the aggregator and the regional calendar.	Early debug saves panic later.

No server budget?

Use a shared hub: many Fediverse hosts now offer “WordPress + ActivityPub” or “Gancio ready” plans for a few € per month.

TL;DR

Publish wherever you’re comfortable ? events.tangoverse.org slurps it up ? local sites filter & display ? dancers RSVP in one tap.

No algorithm, no lock-in, just tango.

@danieldekay