Never planned an in person company retreat before. Can anyone provide some guidance on how many days, which days of the week are good or , which days that should generally avoid to hold a retreat? Very small tech startup that has never had an in person retreat. Would like to keep a tight budget (so maybe 3-4 days?). Any advice on team building or fun activities would be great as well! Location is most likely somewhere like Denver and the retreat will be in the winter.

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I would suggest Tuesday through Thursday so that people don’t have to travel on Sunday or Friday.

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2 nights/3 days should be more than enough, but do you have an agenda in mind? Agree with EY1 that don’t make people travel on Sunday or Friday.

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No plan at all, until we can get the dates locked. In your previous retreats, did you do any fun activities? I understand not traveling on a Sunday but is there a reason for no Friday? I was actually thinking Wednesday through Friday for anyone who wants to stay over the weekend. Also so there is no need to rush back to work the next day.

Once you lock down the location ask the question “what do we want to accomplish?” That will guide how you plan the event. I’ve done events were we do workshops in the morning, maybe have a speaker after lunch or more workshops, then break out for activities. Activities depend on the location - we’ve done guided museum tours or historic sites, gone to sporting events, cooking classes. We did pottery once and it was hysterical-everyone had a blast. You’re thinking about Denver so I’d suggest snowshoeing as skiing/snowboarding is more solitary. Good luck!

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Check the Denver area, there are usually team building companies in major cities even some rural areas that will come out and setup to do specific activities geared towards your team. For example if you do a ski resort, they’ll come to the resort and setup and escape room at that location. I’ve used best corporate events in the past they are great, and will come anywhere but there are a ton of great companies out there. I’ve also had them do live game shows and we geared the questions either specifically to our company or gathered intel on the participants beforehand and made it a game about how well you know your team. We did a family feud style game once, we also did a price is right type game once, both were super successful. I’ve used them for virtual events too that turned out great also

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Thank you, super helpful! I will look into these games. Indoor games is prob the way to go, given how darn cold it will be in Denver at the time

I second the mid-week as ideal. Aside from dinners, I would try to make anything you do outside the meeting be area-specific. What in the Denver area is a must-do or any cool venues? There are a bunch of vendors that do team
Building. Check out Watson adventures. Not sure if they are in Denver but it can give you an idea of what’s out there.

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Our office does a retreat every other year, over a weekend. Friday and Saturday night and you are allowed to bring your family. We typically plan a few different activities during the day that people can sign up for, big dinners, drinks, live music, etc.

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