Calendar Solution: Handling upcoming Dates with Posts?

I would do this with a custom post type, probably “Events” in your case, custom (probably hierarchical) taxonomy, and custom postmeta. You can register the post type with only the capabilities you need, then extend those capabilities with custom metaboxes for the custom postmeta. This custom meta is going to be your event date/time, don’t use postdate for that, as it creates odd content display issues. The custom taxonomy is to allow you to differentiate lectures, workshops, and any other event types you might have. This taxonomy should only be applied to the new custom post type.