Event Submission Guidelines
All events listed on the University of Colorado Boulder Events Calendar must be associated with the university. Examples include programs hosted by schools or colleges, events associated with recognized student groups, or large public events at university venues. Events are reviewed, edited and added to the calendar at the discretion of the calendar editor and administrators.
If you represent an academic department, organization, or student group that does not have a calendar administrator, you may submit your event through our online event submission form.
A two-week minimum lead time is recommended for submissions, when possible, to make sure the editor has time to review your request with ample time for your event to be promoted on the calendar and relevant feeds. If an event does not appear to meet the requirements, it will be deleted from the calendar submission queue. Publication of events is at the discretion of the calendar editor.
If you need to change information associated with a submitted event (updates, cancellations, sell-outs) please email events@colorado.edu with your requested updates or work with your program's calendar administrator.
Featured Events
Featured events are featured on the landing page of the calendar. Designation as a featured event is at the discretion of Strategic Relations and Communications staff. Bear in mind featured events may be updated frequently, and we cannot guarantee how long your event will be featured on the calendar landing page.
Submission Best Practices
Posting an event online will help draw people to your event. Make sure that you make the most of this opportunity. Below are a few best practices for submitting your event.
When writing your title, make sure it can stand alone and people will get an understanding of what the event is, if only the title is displayed. Some view formats of the calendar will display only the title without the description.
Good Example
PWR Commitment to Action Writing Workshop
- Rationale: By labeling it PWR, it's more clear that Commitment to Action is a specific item for PWR. Saying it's a writing workshop shows it's about writing the commitment to action rather than brainstorming or completing the action.
Poor Examples
Commitment to Action Workshop
- Rationale: No context about what Commitment to Action is or what specifically the workshop is about.
Learn to Write your CGIU Commitment to Action
- Rationale: This is rather informal and would work better used as the description.
We recommend putting the most important information near the top, and concentrate on why people will want to come to your event. Most readers skim the first few sentences.
If you are pasting text from another document, make sure you paste plain text to ensure inadvertent formatting doesn’t accidentally get carried over to the event description. Try Shift + Option + Command + V on a Mac or Ctrl + Shift + V on a Windows computer. If you are having trouble, another method to try would be to paste your content into a text editor such as Note Pad or Text Edit to remove formatting and then paste it into the calendar description.
Don’t use special formatting other than bolds and italics. Only bold words that are very important for people to see if they are skimming. Avoid using underlines, as site visitors will mistake underlined text for links. Do not use all caps since this is not accessible.
Do:
- Keep sentences and paragraphs short and easy to scan.
- Double check your spelling.
- Provide links to relevant content, linking words that accurately describe the linked page instead of pasting a raw URL.
- Spell out acronyms that may be unfamiliar to most audiences.
- Indicate if RSVP is required. Add a registration link on the Tickets & Registration tab to trigger an RSVP button on your event page.
Don’t:
- Underline important words, instead use bold.
- Say “Click here.” Instead, link descriptive words.
- Example: “Click here to learn more about the Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement” rewrite to say “Learn more about the Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement.”
- Paste raw URLs, instead link descriptive words
- Example: Instead of “Visit http://www.colorado.edu/law/academics/public-service/public-service-opportunties”, rewrite to say "Visit the Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement."
Do not select all filters for your event. It is best to choose a few of the most appropriate filters under each filter type. Do not use the Academic Calendar filter. These filters are reserved for the university's official, campuswide dates and deadlines. Using these filters will delay your event approval.
Upload images that appropriately convey your event such as portraits of speakers or photos of venues. You may also find appropriate images in CU stock photos.
- Image size should be 350px (width) x 350px (height).
- Uploaded files should be no larger than 2000px x 2000px
Do not include images that may be offensive, inappropriate or in violation of copyright laws or university policies. Images should be appropriate for the event being submitted. Do not upload images with embedded text on the image. These images are not accessible and will be removed from your event my a platform admin.
Examples of images that are not accessible: images of event fliers, images with more than two or three words embedded on the image.
If you do not have an appropriate image, please note that events linking to a location on campus will automatically include a photo of that building.