What does it take to bring together over 100 ship design experts from around the world? Laura Siltala, Marketing Manager at NAPA Design Solutions, shares what the year-long journey of organizing the NAPA User Meeting 2026 has been like and who makes it happen.

One thing Laura learned during organizing the NAPA User Meeting: just how much the participants care. Not only about the presentations and workshops, but about each other.

“People in this industry are really passionate about what they do,” she says. “I was surprised by how much they want to simply meet, discuss their work, and spend time together.”

That observation has shaped her approach to the whole event. Because while the NAPA User Meeting revolves around software, ship design, and technical expertise, what ultimately brings it to life is the people: those who attend and those who work behind the scenes to make it happen. Laura shared her reflections ahead of this year’s User Meeting, while preparations were in full swing.

A flagship event with decades of tradition

The NAPA User Meeting is NAPA Design Solutions’ annual flagship event, bringing together the naval architects, engineers, and shipyard professionals who use NAPA tools every day. First held in 1984, the tradition has continued ever since. This year’s edition takes place in Helsinki in early June, where more than 100 participants from 20 countries representing 57 organizations gather under the theme “Transforming the Future of Ship Design.”

The NAPA User Meeting is a place to share industry insights, explore where ship design is heading, and get hands-on with the latest NAPA ship design tools. For NAPA, the event is equally an opportunity to listen: to learn more about our customers, their work, and what they need from our software solutions.

The event program typically features expert presentations, practical workshops, and a showroom. But beyond the formal agenda, the User Meeting is also a rare occasion for this global community to come together face-to-face.

The slogan, “Transforming the Future of Ship Design,” took shape collaboratively, with input gathered from across the entire NAPA Design Solutions organization. It continues the direction we have championed for several years: leading the conversation about where ship design is heading.

First time at the helm

Laura joined NAPA in the summer of 2025 and is currently covering a leave in the Marketing Manager role. This User Meeting is her first, and she is one of the main people responsible for bringing it together.

Her role in the User Meeting organization spans both overall project management and marketing, covering the main theme, the event’s visual identity, advertising, customer invitations, social media and email campaigns, and event practicalities. She works in close partnership with long-time Naparians who have organized the User Meeting for many years. External help is also used for handling venue coordination, hotel bookings, participant communication, and other practicalities.

But the circle extends far beyond this core team. The Team’s chat channel for User Meeting speakers alone includes around 30 people, and program content has been shaped with input from across the organization. As Laura puts it, this event touches a large part of the Design Solutions team. According to her, this has also been one of the most rewarding parts of the project: it has brought Laura in contact with colleagues from all corners of the organization, and even with some of the customers who presented at the event.

Fresh eyes on an established tradition

Not having attended a previous User Meeting could have been a disadvantage. Laura sees it differently.

Before taking on the organizing role, she visited the NAPA User Seminar Korea in fall 2025 to get a feel for how these events work in practice. Since then, she has tried to bring a fresh perspective where she can: looking at the program format with new eyes, tracking data such as the share of first-time attendees, and thinking about new ways to measure the event’s success.

At the same time, she is quick to acknowledge that the institutional knowledge of colleagues is invaluable. The NAPA User Meeting has been held for decades, and there is a well-established model for how things are done. “There is always room for improvement,” Laura says, “but it is really valuable to have experienced people who know the history.”

A year in the making

Preparations began a full year before the event, starting with selecting the event venue and date. From there, the milestones unfolded: defining the overall theme and visual identity, then tackling the biggest piece of all, building the program.

“The program is the most important, but also the most challenging part to get right,” Laura explains. It means identifying the relevant topics and finding the right speakers, both from within NAPA and the customer side, and encouraging people to contribute.

During the User Meeting preparations, Naparians speaking at the event were also provided with presentation coaching, helping them develop skills that serve them well beyond this single event. For the technical experts, the User Meeting offers valuable experience in presenting and sharing knowledge with a wider audience.

The closer the event, the more intensive the preparation work becomes. The project team stays aligned through regular project meetings, and years of documented experience from previous User Meetings provide a solid foundation to build on. Laura brings years of marketing and event management experience to the role, and combining that expertise with the deep institutional knowledge already within the organization has been a natural fit.

When the event came to life

Ahead of the event, Laura told us that the moment she was looking forward to most was seeing all the planning coming alive, and meeting participants and customers face-to-face, something she finds very valuable nowadays when so much happens remotely.

When the event finally arrived, the program reached well beyond the conference rooms. Participants gathered for dinner at a historic Helsinki venue overlooking the icebreakers in the nearby harbor, and at a waterfront restaurant the following evening. For visitors from abroad, it was also a chance to experience a little of Helsinki beyond the hotel walls.

And once the formal program was wrapped up, the conversations carried on: the final day was reserved for meetings between our team and NAPA users at NAPA’s Helsinki office. In the end, that is what the NAPA User Meeting is really about: the people who make it happen and the connections that last well beyond the event itself.

The NAPA User Meeting 2026 took place on 1-3 June 2026 in Helsinki. Read more on the event highlights here.

Inspired by the people behind the NAPA User Meeting? Discover what it’s like to work at NAPA and explore our open roles on our Careers page!