Events
This page contains instructions for creating an Event and how to embed a tagged event feed on a basic page.
For each event date please complete the following the guidelines below.
- Your submission must be an event with a definitive time and place.
- The event cannot be an announcement, holiday, deadline or closing.
- The submission must be completed at least one week in advance.
After you submit an event, University Communications and Marketing will review the submission for content, spelling and grammar before publishing it in the calendar.
Please note, not all events will appear on the Kent State home page. When you submit your event, you will be asked to choose a category, and that category will determine where your event will appear on the website and in FlashLine. All events DO appear on the university’s event calendar.
If your department has several reoccurring events throughout the year please email eventadmin@kent.edu to determine if your department meets the criteria to submit events.
IMPORTANT: If it is a single event that spans multiple consecutive days (such as a festival or fair or, for example, a track meet) then each day needs to have its own request in order for it to display each day of the event. If the event is created as a date span such as 9/13/2019 - 10/12/2019, the event will only display for the first day.
Step One
Decide how you want to promote your event. Events submitted can be promoted several ways. All events will be displayed as an event in FlashLine and on your campus's calendars page.
You can also request your event be promoted these additional ways:
- Listed on your department site's featured event feed when it meets the feed criteria. There are four options of how the events can appear on your homepage feed. If your homepage has an article feed it will be a one-column view, otherwise it will be a two-column view. Displaying the end date is optional. It will also feed to an archive event page if your website has one.
- Displayed as a Featured Event on Kent State University's calendars page and in the home page Featured Event feed when the event date meets the feed criteria.
- Designated as a FLASHperks event. FLASHperks is a rewards program for Kent State undergraduate students.
Step Two
Complete the following sections on the University Calendar Event Request Form.
Page 1 - èƵ the Host
- Requester Email Address* - your email address
- Event Contact Name - name of the event contact
- Event Contact Email - email of the event contact
- Campus Affiliation* - select your campus
- Division* - select your division
- Department* - select your department
- Student Organization - For student organization events on the Kent Campus, select the following above:
- Division: Student Affairs
- Department: Student Involvement
Page 2 - èƵ the Event
- Title of Event* - the title of your event
- Keep event names short (under 60 characters). To minimize the size of your headline, use ampersands instead of "and" and colons instead of dashes. Capitalize words as you would the title of a book or movie (e.g. The Bridge on the River Kwai). If the person approving your event determines that the event name is too long, they will truncate it.
If it is not apparent what your event is by the title, add a descriptor beforehand. For example, instead of saying "Labyrinth", say "Movie: Labyrinth".
- Keep event names short (under 60 characters). To minimize the size of your headline, use ampersands instead of "and" and colons instead of dashes. Capitalize words as you would the title of a book or movie (e.g. The Bridge on the River Kwai). If the person approving your event determines that the event name is too long, they will truncate it.
- Description* - describe your event
- Always use AP style and University Style when entering your event descriptions. Be especially mindful of the rules for time, (7 a.m., 7:15 a.m., noon, midnight), and dates, (Jan. 15, March 31), in AP style. If you are providing a phone number, please use the entire number, not just the campus extension, per university style. Also, uses dashes to separate the numbers, no parenthesis, (e.g., 330-672-2444).
- Try to be as helpful as you can with your event description. Some people fill out all the forms, but don’t try to “sell” their events. Think of your calendar entry as a newspaper article. Other fields will take care of the When and Where, use this space to fill out the Who, What and Why. Be specific. Adding descriptive details will inspire attendance.
- Please do not capitalize the word "free."
- Currently, there is no option to format the description outside one large paragraph. Formatting your content to display in one paragraph is recommended. The following styles will not be carried over to the final display:
- multiple paragraphs
- bulleted lists
- indents
- Link URL/Website Address - the URL/website address the text will link to when selected
- Link Text (required if you entered a Link URL Website Address)- add a link to your event by entering the text that should be displayed
- Category* - please select from the following options: Academic Events, Arts & Theatre, Diversity & Culture, Festivals & Fairs, Games, Music & Movies, Health & Wellness, Information Sessions, Just For Fun, Recognitions & Celebrations, Service & Sustainability, Speakers & Discussions, Sports & Recreation, or Workshops, Trainings & Conferences
- Event tags - select up to five from the selections provided
Page 3 - Event Date and Time and Event Location
Date and Time
- Start Date* - the date your event starts
- Start Time Hour and Minutes* - the time your event starts
- End Date* - must be the same as the start date
- IMPORTANT: If it is a single event that spans multiple consecutive days (such as a festival or fair or, for example, a track meet) then each day needs to have its own request in order for it to display each day of the event. If the event is created as a date span such as 9/13/2019 - 10/12/2019, the event will only display for the first day.
- If your department has several reoccurring events throughout the year please email eventadmin@kent.edu to determine if your department meets the criteria to submit events.
- End Time Hour and Minutes* - the time your event ends that day
Event Location
- Building* - options available are determined by the Campus Affiliation field, select Other if the event is off campus
- Room or Off Campus Address* - enter the room location of the event
Page 4 - èƵ the Attendees
- Audience* - select all that apply from the following options: Alumni, Faculty, Families/Guests, First-Year Students, Open to the Public, Prospective Students, Staff, Students
- Approximate Attendance?* - enter how many people you anticipate attending
Page 5 - Additional Event Promotion
- Should this event be available on your department's website? Note, the website must be hosted in the domain.* - Selecting Yes will expand the following field:
- Organic Group/Website Name - select your site's group name (title). Please note, only sites with home page feeds are listed. If you would like one setup for your site, please submit a support ticket referencing your event title. Once the feed is created, the event will be added to the website.
- Featured Event - should this event be considered for inclusion on the calendars page and in your campus's home page news feed? Selecting Yes will expand the following fields:
- Short Title - for display on your event's hero image; this can be the same as the Title of Event field above - the field is not required, however a short title and/or a subtitle is needed
- Subtitle - for display on your event's hero image - the field is not required, however a short title and/or a subtitle is needed
- Featured Event Banner - upload a hero banner image for the event page - image specs: jpg, 1500px x 600px, 1MB maximum
- Event Image - upload an image for the event page body area - image specs: jpg, 480px x 480px, 1 MB maximum
- File Upload - to guide us in creating graphics for your featured event, please provide additional assets
- FLASHperks - select if you would like the event to be a FLASHperks event, if selected answer these additional questions will be presented:
- What time should the FLASHperks staff arrive* - enter the time
- How long are FLASHperks staff needed?* - select from 30 minutes to 3 hours
- How will guests arrive?* - select either All at once or In and Out
Submit your event
- Please enter the characters you see in the picture.
- Select the Finish button to submit your event for publication.
*Required field
Step Three
The event will be received for approval and an email confirmation will be sent to the Requestor Email Address. When the event is approved or denied you will receive an additional email confirmation. Approved department events are synced to event feeds every hour on the hour. Your event will not appear in Drupal until the top of the hour.
Editing an Approved Event
If you need to edit or cancel an event please use the link provided in the email confirmation. Please note, if you change the event in Drupal and later request a change using the email link, it will be overwritten on the hourly sync. All changes should be made using the link provided in the email confirmation so the content will be updated everywhere it is displayed.
Event Support and Knowledge Base
Support tickets would be submitted for the following reasons:
- Event not showing up on the calendar
- Unable to edit details of the event
- Error message when trying to submit an event
Creating a Tagged Event Feed on a Basic Page
To create a feed that pulls in all events with a specific tag to a basic page:
- Create a basic page with the relevant body content
- Open the "Open Utilities" -> "Layout" view
- In the desired section for the feed, click "Add Block"
- Locate the block titled "Events: All Events - Audience, Tag, Category Filters" and click it
- In the block's "Tags" field, choose the relevant tag by which you'd like to pull events into the feed.
- Scroll down in the gray sidebar and click "Add Block"
- Scroll up on the Layout editor and click the blue "save layout" button
Events with the selected tag should be showing on the page now. If they're not, please verify that your event is properly tagged, and that you have selected that same tag, and that the event is in the future (past events will not show.)
If there are no future events for the selected tag, the feed will appear invisible.