It’s hard to believe that this time of year has finally arrived. The time where we slow down and look back on how far we’ve traveled over the last twelve months, and the destinations we reached along the way. After all, our mission is not so unlike that of the starship Enterprise: “to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before!”
This has truly been a year of discovery—finding new ways to give, connect, learn, and listen. Now, having made it to the season we so affectionately refer to as Plexivus, we can take time to celebrate these breakthroughs and (perhaps most importantly) the commonality they all share: togetherness. To quote the late Japanese writer Ryunosuke Satoro, “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
With that, let’s take a look back at 2023.
To Boldly Give
As a team that spans the globe, we believe we are responsible for always finding ways to give back on both a local and a global level. This past August, we announced a brand new giving initiative: The Plex Theater of Dreams Grant. As lovers of cinema and loyalists of independent theaters, we created the $100,000 grant to lend a helping hand to one deserving local movie theater, and in turn, the community it serves. After all, there’s nothing quite like going to the movies.
Never having developed a grant before, this was truly a labor of love. Once we established the details of the grant, we set out to spread the word to local theaters in the US who would be eligible (reaching out to over one hundred!) Then came the really hard part: the application review. So many deserving theaters submitted applications that had us reaching for the tissues—each with a unique story and need. In the end, one stole our hearts, and we are beyond excited to announce the very first recipient of our grant: The Little Art Theatre from Yellow Springs, Ohio. We even made a little film about it.
Be sure to watch to the end, it’s the best part.
To Seek Out New Connections…
This year marked a major milestone in the evolution of Discover on Plex: we can now Discover Together. More than ever before we are living up to our vision to empower real human connection by bringing people and entertainment together.
Not only is Plex the place to find what to watch next no matter where it lives, but now it’s the place to find your friends, make new connections, and share more about you and the movies and shows you love most. We’re not just an app, we’re a community of fans, growing larger every day.
If you haven’t already, explore what’s new with Discover, give your profile a glow-up, and make a friend, or two, or more. Because at the end of the day, we consider a movie recommendation from a friend even more valuable than a Tomato Score.
…And Improved Search Results
Perhaps equally as important as a review of a movie or show, is your experience trying to find it. Though we unveiled Universal Search on Plex in 2022, we continued our quest to perfect the experience, conducting research studies and working together with our metrics team. Turns out, the way you search has changed, which means we needed to change too. We combined the power of our design and engineering teams to create a new and improved search experience, which we debuted just in time for Pro Week.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but if you didn’t notice it, don’t be embarrassed. A truly great search experience is one that you might not even notice, because you’ve just found what you’re looking for, faster.
To Explore New Conversations
Next to Plexivus, our second favorite time of year is dedicated to the users that have been with us from the beginning. We’re talking about Plex Pro Week. Now with three years of Pro Week under our belt, we’re already back in the kitchen, cooking up ideas for 2024.
What made this Pro Week perhaps the most exciting yet, was our first ever “Fireside in the Forums” event. Not your average fireside chat, this week-long event created space in the forums for various members of the Plex community to interact with engineers and thought leaders inside Plex, sharing ideas and feedback. Were we anxious? A little. Was it worth it? Absolutely. In fact, we’ve already made improvements to some existing Plex Pass features as a result of the Fireside. Not a “one and done,” this event is just one of many to come as we fulfill our pledge to stay more connected and engaged with our personal media pros.
In case you missed it, or want to relive it, we’ve got a recap with all the highlights.
Plexamp: The Free Frontier
(Re)born almost on the Fourth of July this year was Plexamp, our highly rated custom-built music player. Originally an idea sparked from our combined passion for music and Plex, it was one of the early fruits of Plex Labs—the place for employee passion projects and community creativity. And now it has made its debut as a fully supported app, free for all. They grow up so fast…
Of course, we did reserve a few of our favorite Plexamp features for our Plex Pass members. Here’s more on what’s changed.
The Voyage Continues
As we say goodbye to this year, we also want to say “thank you” for being part of our crew. None of this would be possible without you and your passion for entertainment. We hope that like us, you’ll take some time to appreciate all that you have accomplished (because you deserve it) and perhaps take even more time to rest. Come January, it’ll be time to get back out there and find something new to discover, together.
From all your friends at Plex,
Happy Plexivus