AI SaaS Event Site on HubSpot: From Locked-Out to Live-Edits in Days

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Industry

Technology

Challenge

An AI SaaS team had a gorgeous, custom “Ferrari” site they couldn’t drive—every change required a vendor ticket, two weeks’ notice, and extra fees. Two weeks before their flagship event (130+ speakers), the site went into a full content freeze.

Results

Launched event microsite on HubSpot in < 2 weeks. Updates happened up to the minute—including mid-event speaker swaps. Attendees used the site as the live hub for days. Post-event, the company migrated the entire website to HubSpot for speed, control, and cost discipline.

Key Product

Website Migration, Hubspot Build, Training

100%

Marketer-editable website

15 Min

Average Time to Live

$70K/Yr

Saved in retainers + last-minute fees

Our custom site was the Ferrari of websites, but we couldn’t drive it. When Kelly + Courtney suggested we build a micro-site on HubSpot we could own, I said, "I will never edit a website." Then I found myself smiling ear-to-ear midway through the event when a prominent speaker changed, and I was able to make the change myself in under 10 seconds. It was liberating.

CMO, SaaS Company

About the Client

$20M+ SaaS company based in the US.

Spent over $ 130K on a completely custom CMS website that could only be edited by the agency that designed it.

Client hosts a multi-million-dollar flagship event, with over 130 speakers, annually. Speakers and event details change up to the minute they go on-stage.

Every year, they were locked out of their custom CMS 2 weeks before the event, resulting in a poor attendee experience. We changed that.

Background Timeline

Client Context: VC-backed AI SaaS with a custom CMS that looked elite, but blocked marketing velocity—especially risky ahead of a marquee, million-dollar event.

Timeline

Week 0 (Emergency): Rapid assessment → scope → HubSpot event microsite build.
Week 1: Drag-and-drop component set, SEO basics, and 1-hour team training; handover with editor permissions and SOPs.
Event Week: Live updates (speaker changes, room shifts, agenda tweaks) executed by marketing in seconds.

MONTH 1–2: Full website migration plan → reusable component library → governance + editability targets (≥90% marketer editability; <15-minute median publish).

PERFORMANCE SUMMARY

Quantifiable Wins

Editability: “Developers only” → 100% marketer-editable modules.
Publish speed: ~2 weeks per change → <15 minutes median publish time (10 seconds for critical swaps).
Event agility: 0 updates allowed during final 2 weeks → real-time edits before and during sessions.
Ownership: Vendor-locked stack → team-owned CMS + reusable components.
Cost discipline (est.): Eliminated recurring dev tickets and late-stage change orders → ≈$50k–$100k/yr avoided (this case modeled near $70k/yr) via reduced retainers and emergency fees.

Qualitative Wins

Happier attendees: Attendee experience improved with accurate, live schedules and bios.
Confidence + control: CMO and team regained confidence and control (“I’ll never edit a website” → on-the-spot edits).
Solid foundation: Foundation set for AI-speed pivots without breaking the bank, consistent with our “Empower, don’t trap” value.