Genio takes on Baltimore: A recap!

Team Genio recently packed their bags and headed across the pond for an incredibly productive trip to Baltimore! Our mission? To connect with institutions, strengthen relationships, and gather invaluable insights.

On the trip were five Genio team members, from a range of departments, Anja Madhvani (Event and Community Lead), Laura Barker (Customer Success Manager), Laura Howells-Barby (Senior Product Manager), Cora McIlwain (Senior Service Designer) and Conor Grego (Account Manager)

From providing hands on training for our contacts and gaining a deeper understanding of faculty roles, to gathering crucial product feedback, this trip was packed with meaningful engagements. Here, the team will share their biggest takeaways and favorite moments from Baltimore!

What was the highlight of the trip for you?

Laura Barker (Customer Success Manager): The definite highlight of the trip was deepening my connections with my teammates. Sharing a house with them allowed me to get to know each person individually on a personal level, which I absolutely loved.

Anja Madhvani (Event and Community Lead): Aside from connecting with our amazing customers in real life, the highlight of the trip was actually spending time with colleagues from other teams. We stayed in a shared house rather than a hotel, and spent a lot of time at the dining table eating family-style and playing scrabble. This opened up lots of opportunities for natural discussion about work. I love that I get to build a platform for them to excel in their roles.

Laura Howells-Barby (Senior Product Manager): The highlight of the trip for me was spending time with the faculty and senior leadership at some of our partner institutions. Hearing their inspiring stories, the challenges they are facing in the world of higher education and what they most need from technology partners right now was fascinating. 

Cora McIlwain (Senior Service Designer): Work trips can be exciting but also stressful, there’s loads to organise, it’s an unfamiliar setting, and you always get a few curveballs thrown at you. I loved how everyone on the trip really came together to support each other, to give a confidence boost when someone felt nervous or a joke when someone needed energising. 

Conor Grego (Account Manager): The highlight of the trip for me was definitely the opportunity to deepen my relationships with both my colleagues and our customers. As a remote worker I spend a lot of time connecting with people through a screen. Spending time on campus and connecting in person with the Disability Services Departments and Faculty gave me a deeper understanding of how we can effectively collaborate to achieve our shared goals. 

How did meeting our customers in person benefit you and your role?

Laura Barker (Customer Success Manager): Meeting our customers in person was incredibly beneficial, primarily because it allowed me to understand what truly matters to them on a deeper level. Witnessing their passion for their students' success was particularly fantastic.

Reviewing data together in person clearly demonstrated the successful implementation of Genio on their campuses and the tangible results their teams had achieved. This direct interaction also provided me with a more detailed understanding of their roles and responsibilities, which is fundamental to my own work.

Laura Howells-Barby (Senior Product Manager): I was able to dig more deeply into concerns and pain points that our HE partners are facing, surface solutions and identify ways our products can continuously improve to better meet these needs and challenges.

Anja Madhvani (Event and Community Lead): I organise all our conferences but this was my first time planning our site visits. Being on the trip helped me to conceptualise and give insight for future similar events. It was so eye opening to meet our customers and see what their day to day looks like.

It helped me to contextualise all the things I hear from our customer-facing teams, which until this point had perhaps felt a little abstract. We work with people who match our passion for supporting learners, and connecting with them in person really centred my focus on how I can use our events to do more to help students. 

Cora McIlwain (Senior Service Designer): Meeting not only our main DSS customers, but people with various roles across the institutions, has helped me to deepen my understanding of how software is deployed on the ground.

When even the location of the DSS office on the campus could be playing a role in engagement, it drove home how important it is for us to consider the entire ecosystem of the institution. I also found it amazing to watch my colleagues in action and see how they made running complex sessions look like a breeze. 

Conor Grego (Account Manager): On campus my main focus was on exploring the path to a Genio Institution-Wide with our customers. Speaking with Disability Services offices I learnt that while they see the value in supporting more students with Genio, oftentimes they are so focused on the immediate function of their office that they don’t have the time to focus on championing an Institution Wide project. 

What surprised you most about meeting admins, staff and faculty?

Laura Barker (Customer Success Manager): Their warmth and friendliness really stood out! It was incredibly enjoyable getting to know everyone on a more personal level, far beyond the usual ad-hoc meetings we have throughout the year.

I genuinely believe this experience has strengthened our relationships for the better, and I now have a much clearer idea of who to connect with for specific needs. Equally impactful was seeing just how much the staff genuinely care about their students. For them, this isn't just a job; it's a pathway to driving success in every student's life.

Anja Madhvani (Event and Community Lead): I don’t think I realised that faculty members are often champions of the work that our customers are doing. My assumption had been that faculty are very separate from the teams that support students with specific learning challenges. It was great to see that faculty were so open to talking about how technology can support their learners, and I loved how curious they were in the sessions we hosted.

Laura Howells-Barby (Senior Product Manager): The biggest surprise for me was the impact of covid on the way educators and admins talk about the current educational landscape. In contrast to our UK customers, it feels like in the US, the impact of covid on students entering higher education is still felt across the student population, with struggles in communication, group work, essay writing and time management often all attributed to the interruption in education that this generation of students experienced.

Cora McIlwain (Senior Service Designer): I was a little taken aback at how much time everyone was willing to spend with us, particularly the senior people who I’m sure are very busy! Everyone was so generous with their time and it was clear that being on campus allowed for more relaxed and open conversations. 

Conor Grego (Account Manager): What surprised me most was the nuanced faculty perspective on topics like AI.  I had assumed there would be a more unified stance, but I found faculty members who believe AI can negatively impact critical thinking, right alongside others who feel not incorporating it could put students at a disadvantage in the workplace.

How did the trip meet your expectations of what you wanted to achieve? 

Laura Barker (Customer Success Manager): This trip exceeded my expectations! I honestly didn't anticipate having such meaningful conversations with administrators who genuinely care so much about the students at their institutions. I absolutely loved this trip and would strongly encourage more site visits in the future.

Anja Madhvani (Event and Community Lead): It exceeded my expectations in a number of ways. I’d been so caught up in all the planning that I hadn’t considered how valuable it would be for me to connect with my peers from other teams in the business. It’s actually really changed how I think about the work I do and how I can work more collaboratively with others.

Laura Howells-Barby (Senior Product Manager): I was also able to gather interesting and useful insights into our other products and tools, and share these with the rest of our product team. Our focus groups and interviews helped us identify trends and gather feedback in a way that was much faster and more detailed than can be captured in regular 30-minute video calls.

Cora McIlwain (Senior Service Designer): Since we’re still so new to doing these kinds of trips, I was expecting it to be a bit more chaotic. In actual fact the week ran very smoothly, the admins had obviously done the work on their end to get the right people in the room which is a testament to how much they valued us coming to visit!

Conor Grego (Account Manager): The trip absolutely exceeded my expectations, especially in its ability to accelerate Institution Wide conversations. These discussions take time, but the direct engagement we had on campus moved things forward significantly. I think this is testament to building genuine relationships with our customers.

From a team perspective, staying in the same house together and debriefing on our day was incredibly valuable to deeply understand our perspectives and to be very clear on how to provide the most value for our customers. 

What is going to be implemented with the feedback and observations made with customers and other staff?

Laura Barker (Customer Success Manager): For me, a key takeaway was observing how both staff and students utilize their resources. This experience strongly reinforced my belief that offering a diverse mix of multimedia resources is absolutely essential for our users.

Additionally, administrators specifically requested more in-depth demonstrations of Genio Notes. This highlights a clear opportunity for us to offer more comprehensive demonstrations of this feature throughout a customer's journey with us, especially when we introduce new functionalities.

Anja Madhvani (Event and Community Lead): We definitely confirmed some hunches we had about priorities for Product development. I feel I now also understand the structure of campus better, though this is incredibly varied across different institutions.

I’ve come back with lots of ideas about how we can connect with more personas on campus, and how we can connect with learners to ensure they know that Genio tools are available to them and how they can access them.

Laura Howells-Barby (Senior Product Manager): We have already re-prioritised parts of our product roadmap as a direct result of the learnings from the Baltimore trip, such as ensuring that our Genio products support the goals of our learners, educators and administrators, as well as the different needs of students across different academic disciplines.

Cora McIlwain (Senior Service Designer): I think this trip has given us a great blueprint for how we can maximise the impact of this kind of event moving forward, to make sure customers get the best experience and that every Genio on a trip knows what they need to do to be successful.

It was clear to me on the trip, that increasing different champions and staff’s level of expertise with Genio products would really help support learner adoption by creating more touchpoints with them. As we start to create playbooks for how institutions can be successful institution wide, we can look at where the opportunities are to enable this.

Conor Grego (Account Manager): My key takeaway from this trip is that every customer’s needs are vastly different. This means their journey towards supporting all students can look very different. As a business we should focus on how we can add the most value throughout this process.

For example, effectively combatting faculty questions around implementing new software and helping to guide institutions when they are shaping their policies around new technologies on campus.

Outside of meeting customers, you got to embrace some US activities and food - how did this add to your experience?

Laura Barker (Customer Success Manager): The food in Baltimore was second to none! I’m a huge seafood lover and it certainly caters to that. I also loved going to Wholefoods to buy American snacks and goodies for the house!

Cora McIlwain (Senior Service Designer): I enjoyed learning more about the history of Baltimore and finding out about Mr Trash Wheel, who helps to clean up the river after storms. Eating a sandwich made out of an American ‘biscuit’ was also a highlight.

Anja Madhvani (Event and Community Lead): I always enjoy trying local foods when visiting the States. This was my second time in Baltimore, they’re famous for their blue crab, which is delicious! I also try to make time for a little thrifting, which never disappoints! Sometimes a little change of scene does wonders, and I have come back with a renewed energy for the work I do and how I can maximise our opportunities.

Laura Howells-Barby (Senior Product Manager): As someone who loves seafood and shellfish, I was super excited to try Baltimore’s delicious food. Exploring the city on foot, meeting locals and socialising with some of our customers was such a fun way to learn about Baltimore and its rich history!

Conor Grego (Account Manager): I'd never been to the US East Coast before, so exploring Baltimore and getting a feel for the city was a real highlight. The disability services departments at the institutions we visited even gave us some great food recommendations!

We made our way to Fell's Point and found the best crab cakes and lobster rolls in town. I feel incredibly lucky to have these kinds of experiences with Genio while working to make university campuses more inclusive with our technology.