By Tracy Judge, CMP, Director of Business Development, Meetings & Incentives

Is it just me or does it feel like we were off to the races as soon as the ball dropped this year? The first month of 2016 is just about over and I've barely had time to reflect on 2015 (and that image has an uncanny resemblance to the multi-tasking zone that is my desk). At least I'm still using the running shoes I bought for my New Year’s resolution!

Before the entire year flies by, let's not forget to reflect on the amazing year that is behind us. At Cadence, we have grown our business by always looking forward as well as pausing to acknowledge what we've accomplished. It gives us the confidence and courage needed to make bold moves and continually forge ahead with innovative ideas.

If I had to pick one thing in 2015 to reflect on, it'd be our intense focus on "people and product" that lead to the doubling of our business last year. How did we do this?

1) We focused on relationships.

Across the board, we never took our relationships for granted. In addition to our loyal clients, we focused on developing our team as well as our travel partnerships (which was especially crucial as we shifted into a seller's market). When we welcomed John Knob to lead our Sourcing & Industry Relations team, we instantly increased our expertise and industry relationships, which in turn increased our value for our clients. It's one example of how we invested in people to better support our clients.

2) We leveraged technology.

Technology increases efficiency and attendee engagement. We don’t take either of these things lightly. In 2015, we launched several new technologies including Event PassPro by Treeline Interactive and our main registration tool, Cvent. To ensure we were leveraging Cvent to the fullest, we asked Deborah Thomas to join the Cadence family. Deborah’s knowledge of Cvent and problem solving abilities continue to bring immense value to our team and clients.

3) We increased our business development efforts.

This is a relationship business- we don’t turn and burn. When our account base grows, so does our focus on account management. Therefore, to increase our new business development we welcomed Brian Griffith to our team as Business Development Manager. He's as passionate as we are about industry involvement, so if you haven't met him yet, you're bound to run into him this year.

With all that said, I can't wait to reflect this time next year! We have big plans for 2016, and as the year goes on we will continue to share them with you. In the meantime, we want to hear what goals you've started for 2016 (and what we can do to support them!)

As always, the conversation continues in the comments section below.

Tracy Judge, CMP
Director of Business Development, Meetings & Incentives

The only time you should ever look back is to see how far you’ve come.