Arrowroot Captiol’s Director of Investor Relations, Jessica Schmitt came to Marco in early 2023 with the request of having a retreat planned for their entire firm. Since they were a distributed team (half in California and half in Florida), they needed to meet somewhere in the middle, where everyone on the team could have a direct flight to.
Why Retreat Now?
- Why Marco? “We are a smaller team of 20 people and didn't have a dedicate person on the events or marketing team,” Jessica said. “We wanted to find someone who could amplify the planning efforts while still having it look and feel like an arrowroot event.”
- What kind of retreat? A fun and unique experience where the team could include time focused on professionalized development
- Main objective? Connection, making use of in-person time, and setting goals for the next year
Marco Itinerary Building
One of the best parts of working with Marco is our ability to support your L&D and People teams to design work and learning sessions throughout a retreat that maximize the coveted face-to-face time. We have a global network of gifted facilitators who specialize in DEI, EQ, leadership, and skills related to the future of work. We even provide workshop-in-a-box kits for subjects that are more easily facilitated by your team leaders. What else does building a retreat involve?
- Planning with Intention - Throughout a retreat, we are focused on weaving in intention-based content that we’ve co-curated for each individual team. Whether that be with a facilitator and speaking sessions, or through activities and fun experiences.
- We also have templatized versions that can be self-guided for smaller teams!
- Scaffolded Around Goals - By leveraging our resources across the globe, we marry the science and art of itinerary building to ladder up to each company’s specific goals and expectations.
- Art of Experience Design - For us at Marco, it’s critical to support the investment in time and money with experience design that delivers on your objectives, whether that be connection and team-building, collaborative work time and visioning, rest and relaxation, celebration, etc.
Why a Facilitator?
At Marco Experiences, we believe that one of the best ways to utilize your time together at a retreat is by bringing in an outside facilitator. These unbiased experts bring a fresh perspective, objective guidance, and years of experience to the table. Arrowroot took our advice and worked with our very own, Court Roberts. Watch Arrowroot's take on why a facilitator is vital at a company retreat.
Court is a facilitator who harnesses the power of experiential learning to create transformational environments for teams to connect, learn, and value each other in new ways. She has designed and facilitated hundreds of in-person and digital experiences focused on creating inclusive workplaces for teams all over the globe.
To prepare for the session, Court met with Arrowroot retreat booker, Jessica Schmitt a handful of times before the actual retreat. Court and Jessica aligned over the goals of the retreat and took time to uncover some of the company’s pain points ahead of time, so she would know what would be needed to be focused on onsite.
Engaging Activities
The serene and peaceful setting in the mountains of Utah provided the perfect backdrop for the activities and discussions that took place. The retreat activities were varied and engaging. The week included a combination of team-building exercises, group discussions, and individual reflection time. Some of the activities included:
- Team building- Marco made sure to have ample time to enjoy the location they were staying in, which included time skiing and snowboarding on the slopes
- Relaxation & fun- The itinerary also included a much-needed happy hour at a local whiskey distillery that included a tour and tasting
- Productive work time: Along with all the fun, we also made sure to sprinkle in various working sessions and strategic goal setting
- Mindfulness: One of the most impactful activities of the retreat was a series of listening exercises led by Court. These exercises helped executive staff practice what they were about to preach: active listening, empathy, and open communication
Retreat Summary
Overall, the retreat was a huge success. Participants reported feeling closer to their colleagues, more aligned with the company's values and goals, and more motivated to work together towards common objectives. In addition, Court's skills were instrumental in helping the retreat participants communicate effectively, build trust, and deepen their relationships with one another. We at Marco Experiences are proud to have been a part of this transformative experience, and we look forward to continuing to help our clients create meaningful, impactful events that bring people together and promote growth and learning.
