Posting Events on CAS.org

Step-by-step guide for creating and managing conference, trade show, and CAS-hosted event pages on cas.org using the Webflow CMS.

Last Updated: March 30, 2026 | Audience: Everyone

Before You Start

Gather the following information before opening Webflow. Missing any of these will block you partway through:

• Event name, dates (start and end), and location (venue name + address, or "Virtual")
• Short description (1–2 sentences for the index page card)
• Full description (agenda overview, key topics)
• Registration link (internal HubSpot form or external URL)
• Registration deadline (if applicable)
• Speaker names and headshots (if showing the speakers section)
• Co-hosting organization name, logo, and about text (if co-branded)
• Event contact name and email
• Any related CAS Insights articles, white papers, or resources to cross-link

Step 1: Create the Event Item

1. Open the Webflow Editor or Designer.
2. Go to the CMS panel and find the Events collection (cas-events).
3. Click New Event.
4. Enter the Name (event title). This becomes the H1 on the event page.
5. Set the Slug. Keep it short and descriptive: acs-spring-2026 not american-chemical-society-spring-national-meeting-and-exposition-2026.

Step 2: Fill Required Fields

Dates

• Start Date/Time — Set the event start. For multi-day events, this is day one.
• End Date/Time — Set to the final day of the event. For single-day events, set the same date as start with the end time.

Event Type

• Event Type (MultiReference to Event Types) — Select one or more categories. These control filtering on the events index page. Common types: Conference, Trade Show, Seminar, CAS-Hosted, Virtual.

Descriptions

• Short Event Description (Plain Text) — 1–2 sentences shown on the events index card. Keep under 200 characters.
• Full Event Description (Rich Text) — Complete overview including topics, target audience, and agenda highlights. Use H3 headings to organize sections within this field.

Step 3: Registration Setup

Events can use either an internal HubSpot form or an external registration link. Never set both — it creates a confusing dual-CTA on the page.

Internal Registration (HubSpot Form)

1. Get the HubSpot form embed code from your marketing ops contact.
2. Copy just the data-form-id value from the embed code (a long alphanumeric string).
3. Paste it into the HubSpot Data Form ID field in the CMS.
4. Set the Registration Link to the event page URL itself (e.g., /resources/event/acs-spring-2026).

External Registration

1. If registration is handled on a third-party site (e.g., the conference organizer's website), enter that URL in the Registration Link field.
2. Leave the HubSpot Data Form ID field empty.

Registration Deadline

Set the Registration Deadline date if there is a hard cutoff. This displays on the event page as a reminder. Leave blank if registration is open until the event starts.

Step 4: Venue & Travel (In-Person Events)

For in-person events, fill in the location details:

• Venue (Plain Text) — Venue name. For virtual events, enter "Virtual" or "Online".
• Venue Address (Plain Text) — Full street address including city, state/province, country, and postal code.
• Parking Info (Rich Text) — Parking details, costs, and nearby garage recommendations.
• Travelling to (Rich Text) — Airport information, ground transportation options, and directions.
• Hotels (Rich Text) — Recommended hotels, room block information, and discount codes if available.
• Other info (Rich Text) — Dress code, Wi-Fi details, dietary accommodations, or any other logistics.

Only fill in fields you have information for. Empty fields are hidden automatically by the section visibility toggles.

Step 5: Speakers

If the event has featured speakers, you need to create or locate their Speaker items first.

Adding Existing Speakers

Start typing a speaker's name in any of the Speaker reference fields. The CMS will auto-suggest published speakers. Select the correct match.

Adding New Speakers

1. Before adding them to the event, create the speaker in the Speakers collection.
2. Fill in: Speaker Name, Title, Company, Picture (square headshot, 300–800px), and Bio Summary.
3. Publish the speaker item first. Unpublished speakers will not appear in the reference field search.
4. Return to your event item and link the speaker.

Events support referencing speakers through the Speakers section toggle (see Step 7).

Step 6: Co-Branding (Partnership Events)

For events co-hosted with another organization:

• Co-brand Logo (Image) — The partner's logo. PNG or SVG with transparent background, 400–600px wide.
• Co-hosting Org Logo (Image) — If different from the co-brand logo (some events have both a co-brand mark and a separate org logo).
• Co-hosting Org Name (Plain Text) — The partner organization's full name.
• About CAS (Rich Text) — Standard CAS boilerplate for the About section. Reuse from previous events.
• Co-hosting org about (Rich Text) — The partner's About section content. Request this from the partner contact.
• Why hosting together (Rich Text) — Brief explanation of the partnership value. Optional but recommended for Tier 1 events.

Step 7: Section Visibility Toggles

This is the most important step for controlling what appears on the event page. Each toggle controls whether an entire section renders. Only turn on sections you have fully populated. Turning on a section with empty fields will display blank areas on the page.

• Show Speakers Section — Displays the speakers grid. Only turn on after all speakers are published and linked.
• Show Agenda Section — Displays the schedule. This pulls from the Event Schedules collection (see Step 8). Only turn on after schedule items are created and linked.
• Show Venue Section — Displays venue, travel, parking, and hotel information. Only turn on for in-person events with at least venue name and address filled in.
• Show About Section — Displays the About CAS and co-hosting organization content. Only turn on for co-branded events with About text populated.

Other Toggles

• Hide this event — Hides the event from the events index page but keeps the event page itself live and accessible via direct URL. Use this for invite-only events or events still being finalized.
• Tier 1 — Activates the enhanced page layout with larger hero treatment, additional content sections, and more prominent speaker/agenda display. Only enable for major CAS-hosted events (annual conference, major trade show presence). Most events should leave this off.

Step 8: Event Schedules (Agenda)

The agenda section is powered by a separate Event Schedules collection. Each schedule item represents one session or time block within the event.

1. Go to the Event Schedules collection in the CMS.
2. Create a new item for each session: title, start time, end time, description, and speaker (if applicable).
3. Link each schedule item back to the parent Event via the reference field.
4. Publish all schedule items.
5. Return to the Event item and turn on Show Agenda Section.

Schedule items sort by their start time automatically on the event page.

Step 9: Related Content & Contact

Cross-Links

Link relevant content to give attendees pre-event reading:

• Learn more: CAS Insights (Reference) — Link a related blog article.
• Learn more: Articles (Reference) — Link a related article.
• Learn more: White papers (Reference) — Link a related gated content piece.

These appear at the bottom of the event page as "Related Resources."

Event Contact

• Event Contact Name (Plain Text) — Primary point of contact for questions.
• Event Contact Email (Plain Text) — Contact email. Displays as a mailto link.

Step 10: Publish & Verify

1. Review all fields one more time. Check for red outlines indicating missing required fields.
2. Verify your slug is clean: lowercase, hyphens only, no special characters.
3. Click Publish on the event item (not "Publish Site").
4. Visit the live URL at cas.org/resources/event/{your-slug} to verify:

• Page title and description display correctly
• Dates are formatted correctly (watch for timezone issues)
• Registration link works and goes to the right destination
• Only populated sections are visible (no blank white areas)
• Speakers show with photos and bios (if section is enabled)
• Agenda is ordered chronologically (if section is enabled)
• The event appears on the events index page at /resources/events

Post-Event: Converting to On-Demand

After an event concludes:

1. If there are recordings, add the Video from previous event (Brightcove ID) and the Image from previous event.
2. Update the Full Event Description to past tense ("This event brought together..." instead of "Join us for...").
3. Remove or update the registration link if registration is closed.
4. If the event should no longer appear on the index page, enable Hide this event.
5. Add a Quote from past attendee survey if available — this is a strong proof point for future similar events.

Common Mistakes

• Enabling section toggles for empty sections. This creates visible blank areas on the page. Only toggle on sections you have fully populated.
• Not publishing speakers before linking them. Unpublished speakers won't appear in the reference field dropdown. Publish first, then link.
• Setting both HubSpot form ID and external registration link. Pick one method. Using both creates a confusing page with two competing CTAs.
• Forgetting to update the event after it concludes. Stale "Register now" CTAs on past events look unprofessional. Convert to post-event format within one week.
• Using Tier 1 for non-major events. The Tier 1 layout is designed for large, CAS-hosted flagship events. Using it for a small trade show booth creates an awkwardly oversized page. When in doubt, leave Tier 1 off.