Greetings Troupers!
As 2021 has drawn to a close, we’re reflecting on what an incredible year of growth and change we’ve seen both within Troupe and out in the world. From expanding our team to making Travel Massive’s Top 5 Hottest Travel Startups for 2022, we cannot wait to see what is in store for the next year. Building a collaborative group trip planner has proven to be quite a journey so far, we’re so happy to have you along for the ride. While we’re already dreaming about the trips we aspire to take in 2022, we wanted to take a moment to share all that we’ve accomplished in the last 12 months.
1. Vote With Ease
We heard you loud and clear that getting everyone on the same page is necessary for getting your trips off the ground. In the last year, we’ve added the ability to vote on dates, destinations, and stays, so your group can easily decide on all the key details of your trip. You can see how friends have voted on different suggestions, see whose votes are missing, and decide on where and when to go!
2. Customize Your Trip Site
We know every trip is different and we want to reflect that every step of the way. Customize your trip site with your own text and GIFs, so your group knows what you have in mind for your getaway. Upload a custom cover photo or use our Unsplash integration to find a high-res image that is sure to catch their eye.
3. Visualize Your Stays
When deciding where to stay, keep all of your options and information in one place. Search Vrbo without leaving Troupe and quickly add listings to your trip site for travelers to vote on. Easily see the number of bedrooms, scroll through photos, get real-time availability and pricing, and more! We’ve also built a map view that allows you to see all of your stays in relation to each other so you can pick the best one for your group.
4. Stay in the Know
It’s crucial to stay up to date on what travelers are thinking, saying, and voting on. That’s why we’ve updated our notifications so you and your group get updates on suggestions, votes, and comments. We’ve also added the ability to customize when you get notified and if you’d like to receive those updates via text or email.
You’ll also notice an ‘Updated” timestamp on each section of the site to provide more context on when changes were last made, so you’re always up to date. Click the timestamp to head to the activity feed for that section and see a log of all recent updates travelers made.
5. Know Your Travelers
Not sure who is and isn’t committed to the trip? We’ve made some updates so you can see bright as day who is coming, interested, and can’t make it. You can find this in the ‘The Who’ section of the Overview page and monitor each traveler’s status, which appears under their profile photo.
6. Easily Invite Travelers
We wanted to make invites short and sweet, so we’ve created a share link that you can drop into your group text or email thread. If that’s not your speed, you can always input a friend’s email and we’ll send an eye-catching invite.
7. Login With a Click
Don’t want to stress about remembering another password and login? Use your Google or Facebook account to effortlessly sign up for Troupe and sign in to a trip site, without the need to create new account credentials.
8. Named Top 5 Hottest Travel Startup for 2022 by Travel Massive
A huge thanks to Travel Massive for featuring Troupe on their list of 50 Hottest Travel Startups for 2022 and all of our users and supporters who got us into the Top 5! We’re humbled to be listed alongside so many innovative companies shaking up the travel space.
9. Incorporating User Feedback
We’ve been hard at work making Troupe a tool that planners can’t live without and that’s meant incorporating user feedback from Troupers like you. If you haven’t yet chatted with us about your experience using Troupe and would like to, reach out to us at [email protected]! We’d love to hear your suggestions on how to improve the product and get a quote from you too.
10. New Team Members
All of these changes could not have been possible without our amazing team. We added four engineers, a marketing manager, a product manager, and a product designer. Currently, we are looking to hire a Senior Software Engineer. Throw your hat in the ring and join the Troupe family! We can’t wait to see how our team continues to grow in 2022 and hope that you can be a part of it.
We hope that all the new additions to Troupe have inspired you to start planning. Feel free to explore our website and try your hand at creating a trip site!
Thanks for an incredible year and we look forward to planning more trips with you in 2022!
To making memories,
Emily and the Troupe team