GUIDE

The Year-in-Review Slideshow Your Whole Company Builds

Open a wall two weeks before the holiday party and ask every team for three photos from the year and one message saying what they show. Approve them as they come in, and on the night play the wall full screen during the welcome and the toast, then switch to Grid so the party's own photos join it. Nobody spends a weekend in Canva, and every team is on the screen because every team put itself there. Below: the request to send, a two-week calendar, 12 prompts, a run of show, and an honest section on when an edited video is the better choice.

Last updated: November 2026

A company year-in-review slideshow is a photo show of the year's moments (launches, offsites, new hires, wins) played at the end-of-year party or the January all-hands. The usual version is a video one person edits from photos they chase down. A crowdsourced year in review is built by the teams themselves: each team posts its own photos and short messages to a live wall by scanning a QR code, the organiser approves them, and the wall plays them on the night.

Why it shouldn't be one person's project

The photos already exist, on a hundred phones. The work is getting them out: chasing every team, renaming files, finding out the week before that the Leeds office sent nothing. That usually lands on one person in comms or the office manager, in the busiest month of the year.

A wall moves the work to the people who have the photos. Each team posts its own, from the phone they're already on, when it suits them. The organiser's job becomes checking that every team is there and approving what goes on the screen.

Approval keeps it safe for a big screen. A photo of a whiteboard with next year's numbers, a customer's name on a laptop screen, a colleague who'd rather not be on it: on Professional, nothing reaches the screen until someone taps approve.

This is the one guide where the wall is the method. If you'd rather not use a tool, the shared-folder method below works too. It just puts the work back on one person.

12 prompts that make a good year in review

Send teams a short list rather than 'send us your photos'. Specific prompts get specific photos.

  1. The first week of the year

    The kickoff, the plan on the whiteboard (blur the numbers), the first team lunch.

  2. A launch or a ship day

    The moment something went live, and the faces when it did.

  3. The offsite

    One photo per team from the offsite or team day, not forty.

  4. New faces

    Everyone who joined this year, on their first day or at their desk.

  5. Behind the scenes

    The desk at 7 pm before the deadline, the warehouse at 6 am, the field team's van.

  6. The hardest quarter

    One photo and one line on what got the team through it.

  7. A customer moment

    A thank-you note, a site visit, a happy client (with their permission).

  8. Remote corners

    Home offices, the other sites, the colleague who dials in from another time zone.

  9. A thank-you to another team

    A photo and one line for the team that made your year easier.

  10. The number you're proudest of

    One line, one number, nothing confidential: tickets closed, trees planted, kilometres driven.

  11. The team in one photo

    The photo that sums up your team's year.

  12. Something to look forward to

    One line about next year, to end the show on.

The request to send every team

Send it two weeks before the party, to team leads or to everyone, with the QR code as an image and the link underneath:

Our year in review: 3 photos from your team by [date]

Scan this code (or open the link) and post three photos from your team's year. Then post one message: your team's name and a line about what the photos show. No app and no sign-up; it takes two minutes.

They'll play at the holiday party on [date]. Everything is checked before it goes on screen.

How many to ask for: three per team is easy to say yes to. Eight teams at three photos is 24; twenty teams is 60. Teams always send a few extra.

A two-week collection calendar

  • Day −14: create the wall, turn on approval, send the request.
  • Day −10: approve what's in. Thank the first teams publicly in the channel; it prompts the rest.
  • Day −7: go down the team list. Message every team lead whose team isn't on the wall yet, directly.
  • Day −3: the deadline. Approve, and remove duplicates and blurry shots.
  • Day −1: open the wall on the venue screen and watch it once all the way through.

Office parties in 2026 cluster on the first three Fridays of December (Dec 4, 11 and 18), so for most companies Day −14 falls between November 20 and December 4.

No tool? The shared-folder method

It works, and it's free. Make one shared folder (Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox) with a subfolder per team. Send the same request with the folder link instead of the QR code. Three days before, one person drags the photos into a Keynote or Google Slides deck, one per slide, set to advance automatically every 6–8 seconds, and plays it from a laptop on the night.

What you give up: someone still chases the missing teams and builds the deck, the deck is closed once it's built, and the photos taken at the party aren't in it.

From two weeks out to the morning after

Set-up first, then a run of show for the first 30 minutes of the party, where the year in review belongs.

  1. 1

    Two weeks out: create the wall and turn on approval

    Create a wall titled with the ask ('Our 2026: 3 photos from your team'). On Professional, turn on the approval queue so every post waits until you approve it on the phone remote. Post a test from your own phone.

  2. 2

    Two weeks out: send the request

    Send the message above with the QR code and the link. Remote and overseas teams post the same way, from wherever they are.

  3. 3

    One week out: check every team is there

    Go down the team list and message every lead whose team is missing. Approve as posts arrive, and leave out anything confidential or unflattering.

  4. 4

    On the night, arrivals: Grid

    Grid shows many photos at once in slowly scrolling columns, so people find their own team while they get a drink. The QR code sits in the corner for the party's own photos.

  5. 5

    The welcome: the year in review, full screen

    Switch to TV view: one photo at a time, full screen. The Cinema style plays them slower and letterboxed, with messages shown as title cards between photos. Leave it for 5–8 minutes while people watch and a leader talks over it. Music comes from the venue's sound system, not the wall.

  6. 6

    The toast: pause

    Pause the wall while the CEO speaks, so the screen holds still.

  7. 7

    The party: back to Grid

    Spotlight the QR code once so everyone can add the night's photos, then back to Grid. With approval on, party photos are checked before they're shown too.

  8. 8

    The week after: the newsletter and January

    Download every photo and message as one ZIP and use them in the newsletter or the January all-hands. The wall stays where it is, so you can play it again.

What goes wrong

  • ✗Asking for 'all your photos'. Keen teams send forty, everyone else sends none. Ask for three, with a deadline.
  • ✗Confidential details in the background. Whiteboards, dashboards, customer names on screens. Approve before the night and leave those out.
  • ✗Photos of people who didn't want to be on screen. Say in the request that everything is checked, and remove a photo the moment anyone asks. The photo consent checklist covers notice and opt-outs.
  • ✗Finding out on the night that TV view is locked. TV view isn't on the free plan. Premium ($10.99/month) and Professional include it, or unlock this wall once for $14.99. The free plan also shows only 5 posts at a time and keeps a wall's first 30.
  • ✗Expecting music from the wall. The wall shows photos, messages and short clips (played muted). Play music through the venue's sound system.
  • ✗Screen goes to sleep mid-toast. Turn off the TV's sleep and eco timers before people arrive; the TV and projector guide lists where they hide.

Crowdsourced wall, edited video or slide deck

Three ways to show the year. Each is better at something.

Option Who does the work Better at Weaker at
Crowdsourced QR wall Each team posts its own; one person approves Every team on screen; open until (and during) the party; the night's photos join in No music track or edited story arc
Edited video (Animoto, Canva, iMovie) One person collects, sorts and edits Music, titles and a story arc; the right choice for a board meeting or an external audience Evenings of editing; closes before the party, so missing teams stay missing
Slide deck from a shared folder Teams upload; one person builds the deck Free, offline, familiar Someone still chases and builds; party photos aren't in it

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a company year-in-review slideshow without building it yourself?

Let every team add to it. Open a wall two weeks before the party, ask each team for three photos and one message, approve them as they arrive, and play the wall full screen on the night. The party's own photos can join it afterwards.

How long should a year-in-review slideshow be?

About 5–8 minutes for the moment everyone watches, which is 40–60 photos at 6–8 seconds each. A live wall loops, so it can keep running quietly after the watched part.

How do I collect photos from every department?

One place, one small ask, one deadline: a QR code and link, three photos per team plus a message with the team's name, two weeks out. A week before, check the team list and message the leads whose teams are missing.

Can remote employees add photos?

Yes. They scan the code or open the link from wherever they are, and their photos land on the same wall as everyone else's.

Can we approve photos before they show?

Yes, on Professional ($19.99/month ($11.99 the first month)). The approval queue holds every post until someone taps approve on the phone remote, and AI moderation screens photos and text first.

Can we add music?

Not from the wall. Play music through the venue's sound system while the wall runs. Guests' video clips (up to 15 seconds on paid plans) play muted on the wall.

Open your year-in-review wall today

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