+45% interest in booking a trip: WeRoad's IRL community programme
How Gather designed, refined and scaled local meet-ups that turned travel lovers into paying customers
+80% brand
familiarity
3.5k attendees in
6 months
4.5* average
event rating
Curious how this could look for your brand?
“Gather helped us bring structure and scale to something that had started organically. They didn’t just support - we co-designed a clear experience offering together, defined formats that worked, and built a system to track performance against real business goals.”
Erika de Santi, Co-Founder & Chief of Experience, WeRoad
↓ See how it worked
The 3-stage Community Launch System:
1. Design →
We built five core blocks so every gathering feels on-brand, converts, and can be cloned city-to-city
2. Refine →
After designing the programme, we tested and tuned it. We kept what worked, improved what didn't, and set standards to run every week without fail
3. Scale ⇥
After proving the model, we used the Community Launch System to scale predictably - first across southern UK cities, then into WeRoad's in-house playbook
Stage 1: Design
We built five core blocks so every gathering feels on-brand, converts, and can be cloned city-to-city
✨ Positioning
Named the group ‘WeRoad Adventure Gatherings’
Promise = make friends & explore – instantly resonates with 20-40s solo travellers
📚 Content
Three repeatable formats (10-15p walks, 20-30p cultural activities, 50 + p drinks)
No reinventing the wheel for every event
🎯 Conversion
5-min host intro, traveller ice-breakers, alumni evangelists, postcard CTAs, opt-in QR codes
🏠 Venues
Data scorecard (lighting, acoustics, layout) → picked places that match the brand vibe and the gathering format
💬 Engagement
Surveys, competitions to keep the community alive in between gatherings
Stage 2: Refine
After designing the programme, we tested and tuned it. We kept what worked, improved what didn't, and set standards to run every week without fail
⏳ Pilot cadence
8-12 gatherings per month across three formats (walks, table games, socials)
→ Built a repeatable run-of-show, week by week
👥 People & roles
Gather lead = host + planner
WeRoad travel coordinators = co-hosts & conversation starters
Venues = briefed on setup, timings, host intro slot
📊 Tracking
Tracked via Google Sheet dashboard:
RSVP / attendance rate
Trips booked by attendees
Rating for each gathering
💼 Client effort
We kept WeRoad’s weekly time investment under one hour, including:
Approving each month's calendar
Sharing posts to channels
Reviewing weekly learnings
Tracking gathering volumes, attendance and quality
Stage 3: Scale
After proving the model in London, we used the Community Launch System to scale predictably. We expanded the model across South UK, before WeRoad made the decision to bring Community in-house with its own Community team and member app
✅ Green light
Once we saw strong & consistent metrics, we had the signal to expand:
45% uplift in booking interest
4.5* average event ratings
Consistent event-driven bookings
🚀 Flagship rollout
Adventure Drinks format rolled out in Oxford, Birmingham, Cambridge, Bristol
One-page ‘event-in-a-box’ kit
👥 Host multiplier
WeRoad travel coordinators as city leads
2-hour Google Meet training + checklist; Gather as remote coach
Passionate customers recruited as co-hosts
🔄 Other formats
After reaching big enough community size, cities unlocked other gathering types (e.g. Neighbourhood Walks)
🤝 Handover to HQ
Delivered city playbooks & host handbook
Handover sessions with new in-house Community Team
What lives on today
Real-world community remains one of the most important pillars of WeRoad’s strategy
Southern UK cities still use the Adventure Drinks template every month
Our KPI framework (Engagement / Quality / Conversion) has been incorporated into HQ’s global standard
“Gather helped us turn in-person gatherings into a real growth channel. Within a few months, they became a core part of our UK strategy, helping us give people a flavour of our trips and drive bookings.
But the best part is how Gather streamlined the whole process. They managed all logistics from start to finish, regularly reported on performance in detail, and proactively fine-tuned our strategy so that it always made an impact.”
Clarissa Cappelletti, Regional Manager, WeRoad.com
Thinking about your own scale?
Once your pilot hits green-light metrics, we create the recruitment toolkits, playbooks and reporting dashboards that allow you to clone it to new locations without any need for extra headcount.
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