A Decade of Teamup for
WEF Media Bookings
Collaboration on the World Stage
The World Economic Forum is one of the most media-intensive gatherings on earth. Each year in Davos, hundreds of journalists from the world’s leading broadcasters and publications converge. And they all need to book interview rooms, coordinate TV crew rotations, and manage access in real time.
Before the Annual Meeting in 2017, this meant spreadsheets, hundreds of phone calls, handwritten notes, paper printouts, and constant firefighting. WEF staff were transcribing information throughout the day, resolving booking conflicts under pressure, and managing the inevitable chaos that comes when information lives in too many places at once.
Since discovering Teamup in 2016, the WEF media team hasn’t looked back. What started as a simple room booking solution has grown into an indispensable operational platform for both Annual Meetings in Davos and “Summer Davos” Annual Meetings of New Champions. Read more about what makes this collaboration a lasting success.
750+ self-bookings in Davos — a new record
Once again, top-tier media organizations from around the world rely on Teamup at WEF AM26. Hundreds of media professionals are able to self-book interview rooms and TV Rotation slots through the web and the mobile apps: A total of 750+ bookings over the 5-day event.
230+ media organizations — A confident WEF crew
In January, media professionals from 230+ top tier media organizations coordinate interview room bookings and TV Rotation slots through the platform. With years of refinement behind it, the WEF crew responsible for the media bookings is proficient and the operation runs with less friction than ever.
In June, media professionals make a large number of self-bookings at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in China.
Self-booking at scale
Hundreds of journalists from international media brands self-book interview rooms entirely through Teamup. The system is described as "simple and efficient, adaptable, scalable and secure." Continuous refinements make each year's deployment smoother than the last.
Teamup once again provides the booking solution for media organizations at Summer Davos. The platform's role in WEF's two annual flagship events is now firmly established. Teamup provides an essential part of how global media operations run at the Forum.
Scaling and adapting — Localization at ease
More than 200 media organizations use Teamup to book hundreds of interviews with world leaders. Jenny Zhan is again on site providing live support. The system continues to prove its reliability at scale, becoming a trusted part of WEF's operational playbook.
With Teamup available in 20+ languages, media professionals at Annual Meeting of the New Champions, the "Summer Davos" in China, enjoy the extended support in Chinese.
TV Rotations expand operational complexity
WEF's Annual Meeting 2022 took place in May as the world recovered from COVID19. Over 500 media members attend, the largest deployment yet. Teamup's scope expands beyond interview room bookings to coordinate TV Rotations: each media organization gets its own dedicated sub-calendar within the master calendar, with access permissions allowing each organization to manage their own bookings privately. With 150+ sub-calendars, the increased operational complexity requires a new level of collaboration. Teamup Co-fouder and CEO Jenny Zhan provides on-site support.
Continued refinements
The interview rooms booking solution continues to serve the self-booking needs for interview rooms in Davos and "Summer Davos" in China. The WEF media team leverages Teamup's ongoing system improvements to optimize their own operations with better security and a smoother user experience.
On the ground in Davos
For the first time, Teamup is used as the official room booking platform at AM17. Unique calendar links are shared with about 90 media organizations, allowing them to see room availability at a glance without revealing the details of what others have booked. Hundreds of journalists are able to self-book interview rooms without contacting WEF staff. It's a simpler, more efficient system that eases workload. Read more.
The collaboration begins
Frustrated with years of spreadsheets, emails, and endless phone calls, the WEF media team searches for a better solution and lands on Teamup. The team begins preparing to use Teamup as their interview room booking solution at the next event in January 2017 Davos event. This shift, with close support from Teamup CEO Jenny Zhan, marks the beginning of a successful, long-term collaboration.
Visual availability
Each interview room appears as its own color-coded column in Scheduler view. Media teams see all room availability instantly and identify open slots.
Self-booking with privacy
Each media organization receives unique calendar access. They can book available slots and update their own bookings at any time, but can’t see details or modify anyone else’s reservations.
Real-time updates
Any new booking or change is immediately visible across the platform. The WEF team always has an up-to-the-minute overview of the entire operation, and can respond to individual requests without delay.
Organized scalability
The calendar can expand with more needs. To handle TV Rotations, a dedicated sub-calendar is created for each media organization, organized in a single master calendar. Each organization sees only their own sub-calendars, while WEF sees everything.
Custom information capture
Event fields are configured with clear labels to ensure all context-specific information is captured at the point of booking. Required fields prevent incomplete submissions.
Mobile access
With everyone moving constantly across the Forum grounds, Teamup’s iOS and Android apps are essential. Everyon involved can view and update bookings from anywhere, on any device.
Bulk import and setup
Creating hundreds of sub-calendars and customized calendar links manually would be error-prone and slow. Teamup’s bulk CSV import allows the entire setup, from sub-calendars to access links, to be deployed quickly and accurately.
Adaptable and flexible
The same platform that works in Davos has been successfully adapted for the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in China. Teamup’s built-in flexibility allows it to serve complex global operations across different contexts and geographies.
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