HUG Leader Program Guidelines

Welcome to the HUG Leader community! We're excited to partner with you in building vibrant local and virtual communities where HubSpot users can learn, connect, and grow together.

These guidelines will help you understand what to expect from us, what we hope from you, and how we can work together to create exceptional experiences for your community.

What it means to be a HUG leader

 As a HUG Leader, you're the architect of your own HubSpot community. You create spaces, both physical and virtual, where customers, partners, and HubSpot enthusiasts can share knowledge, solve problems together, and build meaningful professional relationships. Your events focus on practical education around inbound methodology, HubSpot best practices, and the real-world challenges your community faces.

This role is volunteer-based and community-driven. While HubSpot provides support, resources, and infrastructure, the magic of each HUG comes from leaders like you who are passionate about helping others succeed.

To maintain consistency and quality across our program, we have outlined some mandatory program requirements below that all HUG leaders are asked to follow. As a HUG Leader you agree to abide by these terms as well as the HUG Program Agreement available here.

HUG Leader Eligibility

To maintain consistency and quality across the global HUG program, we ask all leaders to meet certain expectations. These ensure that everyone attending a HUG event has a valuable experience, regardless of which community they visit.

To be eligible to become a HUG leader, you must:

  1. Be an active member of HubSpot's community as a Solutions Partner, Customer, Community Champion, Academy Professor, or Advocate
  2. Hold at least one current HubSpot certification (Marketing, Sales, Service, or CMS)
  3. Be a HubSpot customer in good standing for at least 6 months, or be affiliated with a Solutions Partner organization

HUG Leader Expectations

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Event Requirements

Event frequency: The minimum expectation is to host 1 HUG event/quarter that is free of charge to all attendees (though we'd recommend hosting 1/month!). Hold your first HUG event within 3 months of completing onboarding. This helps establish momentum and ensures you're ready to lead an active community.

We understand that circumstances change, if you need to skip a quarter or reschedule, just email hugs@hubspot.com to let us know.

Event Focus: Your events should focus on educating HubSpot customers and users about inbound methodology, HubSpot best practices, and related marketing, sales, or service strategies. Strive to include networking time and audience discussion, not just presentations.

Accessibility: All regular HUG events must be free to attend.

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Platform & Data Management

Event software: All HUG activities (event emails, registration collection, attendee communication, and check-ins) must happen through the HubSpot-provided software. This ensures consistent data management and protects attendee privacy. Do not use your personal HubSpot portal or other systems to manage HUG data.

Protecting Attendee Information: Contact information collected through HUG events may only be used for HUG-related activities. You may not export any data for personal business use, promotional activities, or any purpose unrelated to your HUG community. Honor all opt-out requests promptly and comply with applicable privacy laws and regulations.

Maintaining Community Focus: Your HUG exists to serve HubSpot's customer community. Events should be designed for and promoted to HubSpot customers, users, and those seriously evaluating the platform. Content should be appropriate and valuable for this audience. HubSpot reserves the right to address situations where a HUG has shifted focus away from serving the HubSpot community.

Commitment & Continuity

Annual leadership commitment

When you become a HUG Leader, we ask you to commit to leading your community for a full calendar year. If you join in March, you're committing through December 31st of that year.

Why this matters:

  • Community Stability. Your attendees rely on consistent leadership. Mid-year transitions disrupt momentum and can cause communities to lose engaged members.
  • Resource Planning. We allocate speaker availability, promotional support, and program resources based on annual planning. A full-year commitment ensures fair distribution and strategic coordination.
  • Strategic Growth. A full year allows you to build a strategic event calendar, develop themes across quarters, and create meaningful progression in your community's learning.

    When Circumstances Change

    Life is unpredictable. If job changes, relocation, health issues, or other circumstances make it impossible to continue:

    Contact us immediately at hugs@hubspot.com with as much notice as possible (ideally 4-6 weeks minimum). We'll work together on the best path forward:

    • Finding a co-leader to support you through a challenging period
    • Identifying a successor from your community
    • Temporarily pausing the HUG while we recruit new leadership

    Don't wait until you're burned out or overwhelmed. Early communication helps us support you and protect your community.

    Consider Co-Leadership

    Uncertain about managing a HUG alone? Start with a co-leader. Two leaders can share the workload, provide coverage during busy periods, and reduce burnout risk. Both co-leaders complete onboarding and share responsibility for program expectations.

Maintaining a great customer experience.

Your HUG should maintain a focus on helping HubSpot’s customer base. HubSpot reserves the right to suspend or terminate any HUG that, upon our discretion, is not focusing efforts around HubSpot customers and users. This can include, selecting content that is not deemed appropriate for customers, actively promoting events to people who are not HubSpot customers, and so on. To further protect our customer's experience, we ask that you only use the contact information of your HUG attendees for HUG-related activities, and comply with all opt-out requests and applicable laws and regulations (whether received from us or from the individual on the list). Contact data should not be exported or used for any personal or promotional activities.

Branding & Collateral Guidlines

Design and branding guidelines. Plus, a note about event sponsorship.

Your HUG Logo

During onboarding, we'll provide you with a Canva template to create your official HUG logo. This template ensures consistency while accommodating different city name lengths.

Logo Requirements

  • Use your approved city or community name (e.g., "Boston HUG," not "BOS HUG")
  • Follow the template structure—don't recreate the logo from scratch
  • Maintain proper spacing (one grid square of padding around the logo)
  • For longer city names, adjust the artboard size while maintaining proportions

Where to Use Your Logo: Use your official logo on all event promotions, presentation slides, and community materials posted in the HubSpot events software or on official HUG channels.

Reference Our Full Guidelines: For detailed branding specifications, fonts, and design assets, visit our digital assets and branding guidelines. Note that HubSpot owns the font license, so it can only be used for HUG marketing, not other purposes.

 

HUG Naming Conventions

In Written Copy:

  • First mention: "Boston HubSpot User Group (HUG)" or "Boston HubSpot User Group"
  • Subsequent mentions: "Boston HUG"
  • Always use "[City] HubSpot User Group" format—not "HubSpot User Group - Boston" or other variations

Keeping Marketing Neutral

Design Principles Your HUG website and promotional materials should be neutral in representation. They should look like HubSpot community events, not events affiliated with your company or other organizations.

This Means:

  • Don't design assets using your company's branding or color scheme
  • Don't prominently feature your company logo (except in designated speaker introduction spaces)
  • Don't create materials that promote your company's services
  • Keep the focus on the community and learning, not on any single business

 

What You Cannot Do

  • Use HUG branding or names ('HubSpot User Group,' 'HubSpot,' 'HubSpot Academy') for purposes unrelated to promoting your official HUG events
  • Use materials that infringe on others' intellectual property rights
  • Promote your business, products, or services through HUG collateral outside of pre-approved spaces (like speaker introduction slides)

Working with Sponsors & Speakers

How to use speakers and sponsors for HUG events.

You're welcome to partner with sponsors and invite guest speakers to enhance your HUG events. Here's how to do this in a way that protects the community experience and maintains clarity about HubSpot's role.

Acceptable Sponsorship

What Sponsors Can Provide:

  • Physical event space, including necessary facilities (AV equipment, wifi, security, accessible facilities)
  • Food and beverages for attendees
  • Swag items like t-shirts, stickers, or other giveaway items

What This Means: Sponsors may provide these logistical elements to make your events possible, but they're not permitted to present content, access attendee data, or use the event as a sales platform. This keeps HUG events focused on learning and community rather than vendor pitches.

Sponsor Restrictions

Excluded Companies: Do not partner with direct HubSpot competitors as sponsors or speakers. This includes other marketing automation platforms, CRM providers, or any company HubSpot competes with directly. When in doubt about whether a company qualifies as a competitor, check with the program team at hugs@hubspot.com before confirming any partnership.

What Sponsors Cannot Do:

  • Present content or speak at the event (beyond a brief thank-you acknowledgment)
  • Access attendee lists, registration data, or contact information
  • Staff a booth, demo station, or promotional table
  • Be listed as an "official partner" of the event or claim any business relationship with HubSpot
  • Have their branding dominate the event space or materials in a way that suggests event ownership or co-hosting

Sponsor Recognition

Appropriate Recognition:

  • List sponsor names and logos in the HubSpot Events software in your event description when creating your event. You can also create a custom tab in your event to provide a separate page for sponsors within your event page
  • Include sponsor logos on the opening or closing slide of your presentation
  • Display sponsor logos on provided swag items
  • At in-person events, allow reasonable sponsor signage near provided items (e.g., "Event space provided by [Company]" at entrance, or sponsor logo on catering table)

Inappropriate Recognition:

  • Designing event marketing materials (social graphics, email headers, event banners) around sponsor branding or using sponsor color schemes
  • Creating the impression that sponsors have endorsed HubSpot or partnered officially with HubSpot
  • Allowing sponsors to make announcements, distribute promotional materials (beyond branded swag), or conduct any sales activities
  • Featuring sponsor logos throughout your presentation or on HUG-branded materials beyond the designated opening/closing slide

Speaker Guidelines

Who Makes a Great HUG Speaker:

  • HubSpot customers sharing implementation stories, results, or lessons learned
  • Marketing, sales, or service practitioners with tactical insights and real-world experience
  • HubSpot employees, certified trainers, and Solutions Partners
  • Industry experts discussing trends, strategies, or challenges relevant to HubSpot users
  • Anyone genuinely excited about education and community building (not just lead generation)

Speaker Expectations: All speakers, including those from sponsor companies, should provide educational content focused on strategy, tactics, best practices, or HubSpot implementation insights. Content should not be sales-focused or primarily promotional.

Transparency: If a speaker is affiliated with a sponsor company, make this clear to attendees upfront in your event description and when introducing the speaker.

Maintaining Clear Boundaries

Required Disclosure: Make it clear to attendees that sponsors are supporting event logistics but are not affiliated with HubSpot, and their products or services are not endorsed by HubSpot.

A simple statement in your event description works well: "Event space provided by [Company]. [Company] is not affiliated with HubSpot and this does not constitute an endorsement."

When in Doubt: If you're uncertain whether a sponsor arrangement or speaker topic meets these guidelines, reach out to hugs@hubspot.com before making commitments. We're here to help you navigate gray areas and ensure your event is successful, not to catch you in violations.

If you need help sourcing a HubSpot speaker, please reach out to us via the HUG Leader Support Form.

HubSpot Support for HUG Leaders

How HubSpot helps you make your events exceptional.

We appreciate our HUG Leaders and provide the support we describe below, which we hope will help make our HUG Leaders successful.

  • We will try to raise awareness for your HUG via promotional emails provided you submit information in a timely manner.
  • We will compile a library of product updates and content for you to share at your event.
  • We will provide you with a third-party software solution with which you can build your HUG community and drive registration for events.

We don't provide unlimited financial stipends or otherwise compensate you for your HUG Leader representative’s time, travel, or any other expenses you incur in connection with your participation as a HUG Leader. 

Community Health & Program Success

We want every HUG to thrive long-term. Here's how we'll work together to ensure your community stays healthy and engaged.

What We Look For

At the end of each calendar year, we'll review how your HUG is doing. It's a health check to understand where you might need support and to celebrate your successes.

Key Indicators:

  • Event frequency: Hosting at least one event per quarter (with flexibility for communicated exceptions)
  • Community engagement: Building consistent attendance appropriate for your community size
  • Experience quality: Maintaining positive feedback and experiences for attendees (we track event NPS and qualitative feedback)
  • Certification status: Keeping at least one HubSpot certification current
  • Guideline adherence: Following the program expectations outlined in these guidelines and the HUG Program Agreement

Realistic Expectations

We recognize that HUGs come in different sizes and serve different types of communities. A HUG in a major metro area will look different from one in a smaller market or one serving a niche community. We're not holding every community to identical numerical benchmarks—we're looking at trajectory, engagement quality, and whether your community is thriving in its own context.

When Things Get Challenging

If you're struggling to meet expectations—whether due to attendance challenges, time constraints, life changes, or other factors—please reach out to us. We'd rather support you through challenges than discover issues at year-end. We can help troubleshoot, connect you with other leaders facing similar situations, or discuss whether adjustments to your approach might help.

Program Changes

If a HUG consistently fails to meet program expectations despite offered support, or if it shifts away from serving the HubSpot user community, we may need to suspend or transition leadership. We'll always communicate concerns clearly and work with you on solutions before taking any action. Details about program changes and transitions are outlined in the formal HUG Program Agreement.

Self-Promotion Guidelines

For HUG Leaders who are HubSpot Solutions Partners.

If it uses HUG data or HUG branding, it must serve the HUG community (education, logistics, community updates), not your pipeline.

Anything that looks like “using HUG to generate leads for my agency” (especially via email, attendee lists, or HUG-branded materials) is out of bounds; anything that’s brief context about who you are plus strong educational content is in bounds.