1. A method for enabling a portlet to function with a remote consumer system, the method comprising: detecting within a descriptor file for the portlet one or more event data structures, each of the one or more event data structures describing at least one event occurring within a web portal environment comprising at least the portlet and the remote consumer system; and generating, for each of the event data structures in the portlet, a corresponding data structure within a service description for the remote consumer system, the service description configured to enable the remote consumer system to communicate with the portlet.