2023 was a year of collaboration, celebration, and community for us here at Kangarootime. This past year, we spent time connecting with our customers, building tools and content with our partners, learning from conferences, and continuing to improve our platform. As we continue to grow, we’re looking forward to expanding our network, being a resource, and advancing childcare forward.
Take a look at our top ten moments from 2023.
10. Partnering with the Spread the Joy Foundation
This past year, we were fortunate enough to partner with the Spread the Joy Foundation. If you’re not familiar, Spread the Joy provides ‘joy boxes’ for hospitalized children. These boxes are full of toys and crafts to help bring a smile to these children’s faces. Through our partnership, we were able to host a packing party at our office where we broke the record for the number of joy boxes made within two hours. Together, our team packed over 400 boxes! Learn more about Spread the Joy and take a look at our packing party here.
9. Collaborating with Our Partners
We’re so grateful to be able to work with some of the best companies in early childhood education. In 2023, we took part in webinars, virtual conferences, and collaboration efforts regarding our integrations. By partnering with organizations like Rose Marketing Solutions, Intellikids, and 1Place Childcare, we’re able to create a hub of resources for childcare providers to improve and grow their businesses. We also work with companies like Kisi and PB&J TV to enhance the safety and security of childcare centers.
8. Supporting the ECE Community with Helpful Content
Our mission at Kangarootime is to help the ECE community and be a resource for childcare providers. With ECE leaders facing issues like hiring, retention, financial management, and more, we wanted to create guides, whitepapers, articles, and templates to help. By working with industry experts and leaders in the space, we’re able to create relevant and forward-thinking resources. Some highlights include:
The Effect of Positive Leadership Whitepaper
Kangarootime Platform Overview Webinar
No Fear Feedback with Beth Cannon
The Beginner’s Guide to Center Economics
7. Presenting The Power of Resilience in Leadership
Our Founder & CEO, Scott Wayman, launched his new speaking series in 2023 called The Power of Resilience in Leadership. This workshop is designed to empower leaders in early childhood education and teach them about the importance of being resilient. Scott has traveled to various conferences and centers to present and is excited to continue doing so in 2024!
6. Attending ECE Conferences
Connecting with childcare providers, meeting with customers, and learning from industry experts are some of our favorite parts of attending conferences. This past year, our team traveled to Vernon’s Key West Adventure, Summit of Excellence, Childcare Millionaires, Childcare Business Professionals, the Childcare Success Summit, SHIFT by Hinge, and NAEYC, just to name a few.
5. Launching Our New Website
At the beginning of 2023, we gave kangarootime.com a new look! Our new website brought us a better user experience and more functionality. In launching our new website, we also launched our official tagline – where childcare comes together. This represents our all-in-one software system that helps ECE professionals more effectively run their business as well as our mission to be a resource and build a community within the ECE community.
4. Connecting Our Community Through Webinars
Every month, we host webinars with industry leaders on relevant topics to help childcare providers learn and connect. Through this, our hope is to bring light to issues providers are facing and give them a space to come for information, advice, and strategies. We record each of these webinars and keep them available to download so childcare providers can continue to reference and watch them as needed.
3. Hosting Bounce 2023 in Buffalo
One of our favorite events of the year is our very own conference, Bounce! We loved being able to host childcare providers, ECE vendors, and industry experts for three days of connection, learning, and growth. Together, we learned about hot topics facing early educators, had fun at our Riverside Rendezvous party, and spent time networking with vendors serving the industry. Check out the full Bounce 2023 recap here.
2. Continuing to Improve Our Software
Our dedicated team of software engineers, data science, and customer support representatives, work together to understand the needs of childcare providers everywhere. With their help, our software platform has improved tremendously with innovative features like age-up forecasting, drop-in capabilities, education delivery, and advanced reporting functionality. In 2024, we’re looking forward to building even more features and helping childcare providers simplify the management of their centers so they can focus on growing their businesses.
1. Serving the Best Customers on the Planet
“We are humbled to serve the best customers on the planet,” is a common phrase heard from our Founder & CEO, Scott Wayman. We’re so lucky that this rings true and we have the support of our amazing community. We could not be happier to hear from our customers and how our product and team have helped transform their business. We want to express our deepest gratitude to all our customers and we look forward to serving you in 2024 and beyond!
