Zelus: Sports analytics company takes on Philly

Amy Yan

Updated on Apr 25, 2024

Narrowing Down from 5 Cities

Zelus Analytics, a rapidly expanding series A sports analytics company, is renowned for its advanced platform that assesses, predicts, and enhances player and team performance. With a distributed team of 70 members, they annually organize a retreat, typically managed by a volunteer from the operations team who invests several hours per day over a quarter planning the event.

When responding to requests for proposals (RFPs) from hotels, the volunteer planner often found themselves sifting through extensive documentation to even start sourcing and booking acommodations, which was both tedious and time not well-spent.

Zelus partnered with Nowadays and initiated their search across five different cities in the USA. Nowadays leveraged data from each attendee's originating airport to optimize cost-effectiveness, and also helped rule out certain cities, such as DC, due to concurrent city-wide conferences inflating prices.

"It's been really, really nice... you did all of the reach out... I would have spent at least 90 minutes to two hours every day of the weeks that we were planning this having to organize all of it. Using Nowadays for our fully remote company is a huge win... not having to manage all of this cross-communication." — Maritza Grillo, Operations Lead at Zelus

Ultimately, Nowadays secured Loews Philadelphia for the team, negotiating a favorable nightly rate, and even waiving meeting space rental fees and F&B minimums!

Activities & Food 😋

After securing the lodging, Nowadays facilitated team bonding activities and found private dining spaces accommodating all 70 attendees with AV setup, demonstrating invaluable local expertise.

Nowadays arranged a private lunch at Victory Brewing, featuring an open bar, short rib pasta, and scenic patio views. The Zelus team also enjoyed a private event at SPIN Philadelphia, a ping pong social club, which offered intense ping pong matches across five courts, complemented by passed hor d'oeuvres.

Bringing the Team Together

As guests departed for the airport, they conveniently utilized shuttles organized by Nowadays, grouped according to flight departure times. The retreat fostered closer bonds among attendees, as they explored the offerings of "The City of Brotherly Love."

“Using Nowadays has made a significant impact in planning the company-wide gathering for our fully remote company.  With attendees from nine different countries, they greatly simplified the work we had to hand in house, providing fantastic hotel rates and insightful analysis.  Nowadays has been at the same quality level as our previous event planners at a fraction of the cost." — Inderpal Singh, COO at Zelus Analytics

💡 Tip: Negotiate with hotels to waive the F&B minimum in meeting spaces so that attendees can explore the local restaurants nearby instead! This approach allows attendees to sample a variety of cuisines and immerse themselves in the location's offerings, often at a more cost-effective rate.