[BBflat]

There is a system on Shaded Legend that works awesome for things like this.

First, there is a message box (separate from the chat system and PMs) that appears in the bottom right of your screen, telling you whenever an event is going to start, who the winner was, etc.

Second, there is an events warper that takes you to the event house or to the designated event.

It works great, and everyone is happy. As for people coming on at the last minute and getting all angry, usually a PM to the Events Team works. It takes about 15 seconds to get to the event, though, so it is not much of an issue.