MeetingPackage: A Year of Innovation and Global Expansion in 2024

As 2024 draws to a close, MeetingPackage stands at the forefront of the meetings and events industry, reflecting on a year marked by significant growth, strategic expansion, and groundbreaking technological advancements.

Expanding Global Reach: A Strategic U.S. Market Entry

The year began with a bold strategic move—establishing a U.S.-based entity and hiring the first employees overseas to penetrate one of the world's most competitive markets. This calculated step quickly proved its worth through a landmark partnership with Sonesta Hotels, a global hospitality giant boasting over 1,100 locations across eight countries and three continents.

Kate Cortez, Enterprise Application Product Manager at Sonesta Hotels, highlighted the immediate impact of this collaboration, noting that their implementation of the Global Lead Passing (GLP) tool quadrupled their conversion rates, demonstrating the tangible value of MeetingPackage's innovative solutions.

In our bi-weekly meetings, we’ve turned pizza into a team-building exercise, devouring a whopping 368 pizza pies this year! At this rate, we might need to start a pizza loyalty program. Who knew working together could be so delicious?

Technological Innovations: Redefining Sales and Booking Processes

In 2024, MeetingPackage rolled out a series of strategic quarterly innovations that transformed the meetings and events technology landscape. The first quarter kicked off with groundbreaking collaboration tools, including Global Lead Passing (GLP), which simplified lead-sharing, a redesigned Supplier Order Management system, and Oracle OSEM integration for automated enquiries. 

During the second quarter, the company enhanced user experience with a rebuilt calendar featuring multi-property views, configurable bedroom types, and strengthened integrations with Cvent and Venue Directory. 

The third quarter focused on workflow customization, introducing a task management tool that helps track bookings with customizable tasks and automated reminders, along with the ability to generate custom booking documents and configurable booking statuses. 

Closing out the year, the fourth quarter saw the implementation of Opera Cloud PMS integration and the development of a rooming list functionality, rounding out a year of continuous technological advancement and user-centric design. These quarterly updates collectively represented a comprehensive approach to streamlining and digitalizing the meetings and events booking process.

This year, we launched the Traditional Meme Thread🧵 on our Slack, and over 40 Fridays, it garnered a total of 402 replies.🎉

Team Growth and Start of Our Company Culture Journey

In 2024, we experienced remarkable growth, welcoming 21 talented new colleagues from across the globe. This brought our total headcount to over 50 employees, all contributing to our shared vision and mission. This year, we also focused on shaping our company culture by co-creating our core values, encapsulated in the acronym T-O-T-A-L. These values reflect who we are and what drives us: Transparency, Ownership, Teamwork, Ambition, and Laughter. 

To ensure collaboration and strengthen our team, we organized two memorable gatherings. The first took place in sunny Malaga, Spain, and the second in the tranquil Finnish countryside. These events were not just strategic planning sessions but also opportunities to reflect on what makes MeetingPackage unique. 

Through these gatherings, both new and long-standing team members connected, exchanged ideas, and deepened their sense of belonging. These moments of togetherness proved invaluable as we continue to grow and thrive in a primarily remote working environment. 

Any possible delays in the development may or may not have been caused by our office doggos—Yoda, Kai, Elsa, Hilma, Alma, Veeti, and Valo—infusing woofs and borks into the office.

Global Presence: Events and Networking

This year, we’ve actively engaged with the industry by attending a total of 24 events worldwide. Our team participated in seven events each in the United States and the UK, alongside five in Germany, two in Spain, and one event each in Denmark, France, and the United Arab Emirates. These opportunities allowed us to connect with industry leaders, showcase our innovations, and gather valuable insights to continue shaping the future of meetings and events.

Attending these events has been a cornerstone of our commitment to staying at the forefront of the meetings and events industry. From engaging with partners and clients to presenting our latest innovations, these gatherings provided invaluable opportunities to exchange ideas, understand emerging trends, and strengthen our global network. Each event reinforced our mission to simplify and enhance the booking journey for venues and customers alike while also keeping us connected to the ever-evolving needs of the market.

Our Slack workspace is a vibrant hub of communication, where emojis bring our digital conversations to life. From celebration and applause to humor and support, our most-used emojis of 2024 reflect the energy, creativity, and camaraderie that define our team's daily interactions.

Looking Ahead to 2025

With exciting upcoming releases like Booking Engine v2, Rooming List, and SOM v2, MeetingPackage is poised to continue its trajectory of innovation. The company remains dedicated to simplifying and enhancing the booking experience for venues and customers alike.

Here's to continued growth, innovation, and partnership in 2025 and beyond!