ESR

480+ corporate events · 5 years

Company Retreat Planning for Teams and Leadership

Hand us your corporate retreat, and you'll come back with a team that spent its days on the work that matters and its evenings together. A two-day company offsite or a leadership weekend, we plan it around your goal.

A team gathers on a resort terrace for an evening program with a simulator station

Why a company retreat pays off

Two days away from the office get you decisions that drag on for months in weekly calls.

  • A business retreat works when it has a clear reason: a new strategy, a merger, a team that has never met in person. People talk differently when they share a meal and a game, and that carries into the next quarter.
  • It doesn't need to be a long trip. A work retreat can be one day at a venue an hour from the office. Staff retreats for a whole department and a team offsite for six leaders need different rooms, but the same thing from you: a goal and a date.
A resort meeting room set for a retreat session with a view of the hills

Corporate retreat venues and locations

The right place fits your agenda first and the photos second. We look for corporate retreat locations by what your days need: a meeting room that seats everyone without a column blocking the screen, breakout spaces, outdoor room for activities, and a short trip for most of your people. The options range from hotels and corporate retreat centers to ranches and private estates.

  • Small groups. For a leadership team, a house or a boutique hotel with one good meeting room is often enough.
  • Unusual places. A winery or a mountain lodge works if the travel is short.
  • Luxury. A luxury corporate retreat at a resort makes sense as a reward. Resorts book far ahead.
  • Close to the office. Corporate offsite venues within driving distance save a travel day and work for a one-day session.
  • Part of our venue search. We shortlist, visit by video or in person, and check power and load-in for our equipment.
Corporate event venues
A DJ table and speakers set up for an evening program on an estate lawn

What our company retreat planners handle

  • Venue search and contracts. Shortlist, room blocks, meeting space.
  • Agenda and run of show. Who speaks when, breaks, free time, and evening plans.
  • Meeting AV. Speakers, microphones, screens and a technician for your sessions.
  • Activities and evenings. Our own simulators, VR stations, AI photo booth and hosted games.
  • Travel and ground logistics. Arrivals, transfers and the schedule around them.
  • People on site. Our team stays from setup to the last session.

You get one company retreat planner for the whole trip, not a list of vendors to manage.

Planning a retreat around skills and strategy? Our leadership development programs are built as offsites too.

What a corporate offsite quote includes

You'll see the full plan priced before you sign anything. We don't keep a price list, because each retreat gets its own quote. These things shape it:

  • Group size and number of days.
  • Where you're going and travel.
  • The venue and what it already includes.
  • AV for sessions: screens, microphones, speakers, a technician.
  • Activities and evening programs.
  • Travel and transfers, if you want us to handle them.

Our how we quote page lists what to include in your request. Send the basics and we'll reply right away.

Parts of a retreat we've already run

A retreat is several kinds of events in one trip. Here are the pieces we've run for clients, each one something your offsite needs.

Speakers on stands set for the side seating of a presentation hall
Seated presentation

Audio Support for an Indoor Presentation and Seated Program

A seated session in a hard, echoing hall. We placed speakers on stands along the seats and ran a sound check before guests came in. Every row heard the presenter. That's the setup for a retreat's morning strategy block.

Photos from offsite programs

What a retreat day with our team can look like, from the morning session to the evening.

  • Rows of chairs facing a screen with speakers on stands at a country venue
  • A surf simulator under a shade tent on an outdoor plaza
  • Speakers on tripod stands beside a seated audience
  • Colleagues watch the leaderboard on a terrace at dusk
  • An evening gathering with music around a fire pit
  • A breakout room set for a leadership strategy session

Venue paperwork and insurance

The venue gets our documents before we arrive, so setup starts on time.

We send insurance documents to venues and organizers on request. Send us the venue's vendor rules, and we agree arrival times, power for equipment and outdoor setups with the venue in advance.

Where offsites go wrong

Each of these takes value out of a retreat. Here's how we plan around them.

  • An agenda with no air.

    Back-to-back sessions leave no time to talk. We build free blocks into the run of show.

  • A pretty room that doesn't work.

    Columns, bad sound, no blackout for the screen. We check the room for your sessions, not for the brochure.

  • Logistics time underestimated.

    Transfers, check-in and room changes eat the day. We schedule them like sessions.

  • Evenings left to chance.

    Without a plan, people go to their rooms. An activity with a score keeps the group together.

  • Too many vendors.

    Venue, AV, activities and transport each with their own contact. One team means one phone number for you.

Offsite planning, step by step

You'll always know what's decided and what's next. Business retreat planning is mostly this kind of list work. Your part is the content of the sessions.

  1. Step 1: Goal and group

    • You tell us why you're going, how many people and roughly when.
  2. Step 2: Places and a quote

    • We send venue options with a first plan and the price.
  3. Step 3: Book the venue

    • Contracts, room blocks and meeting space.
  4. Step 4: Build the agenda

    • Sessions, breaks, activities and evenings, hour by hour.
  5. Step 5: Prepare the room

    • AV, power, setup times and insurance papers agreed with the venue.
  6. Step 6: Run the retreat

    • Our team sets up, runs sessions and activities, and packs up.

Who runs your retreat on site

The same people plan the retreat and run it, so nothing gets lost in a handoff.

Your event lead is your contact from the first call and runs the schedule on site. An AV technician sets up sound and screens and cues each presenter. Activity hosts run the stations and games in the free hours. At Capital Group's summer social, that meant four activity operators and one AV technician for one afternoon.

Company retreat activities

For a mixed group, pick a racing relay, a flight landing challenge, VR sports or a photo booth with your branding. For activities in the open air, see outdoor team building.

An event lead and AV technician check the room before a retreat session

Retreats near your office or across the country

Pick the place for your team. We'll bring the rest, including the surf simulator and AV. We have two bases, Los Angeles and Orlando, and work across the U.S. Our Orlando office and warehouse is at 310 N Orange Ave.

Two bases

Los Angeles and Orlando

West CoastEast CoastAll 50 states

A retreat a short drive from the office saves a travel day. In Florida that can mean a resort in Orlando or a hotel on the Gulf Coast. In Southern California it can mean Palm Springs or Santa Barbara. Elsewhere it might be the Hill Country outside Austin or the mountains near Denver. Send us your office city, and we'll shortlist places near your team.

Orlando office: 310 N Orange Ave, STE. 201, Orlando, FL 32801

Corporate retreat questions

What is a company retreat?

A company retreat takes a team away from the office for one or more days to plan, decide and spend time together. People also call it an offsite, a team offsite, a staff retreat or a business retreat.

How much does a corporate retreat cost?

It depends on group size, days, place, travel and what the venue includes. We don't use a price list, so you get a quote for your plan.

Are corporate retreats still a thing?

Yes, and more so for teams that work remotely. A few days together cover what months of video calls don't.

Do you plan all inclusive corporate retreats?

We can take on venue, agenda, AV, activities and ground logistics as one package. Tell us which parts you already have.

How is a corporate retreat planning company different from a venue?

A venue sells rooms and food. A planning company works for you across venues and vendors, and we also bring our own activities.

What are the best corporate retreat locations?

The ones your team can reach in half a day with a meeting room that works. A place a short flight from most of your people beats a famous resort with two connections.

What are good corporate retreat ideas?

Pick activities that get everyone involved: a team racing challenge, a flight landing contest, a themed evening with a photo booth. They work best when there's a score and a prize.

What does a one-day offsite look like?

A morning strategy session, a hosted lunch and an afternoon contest. This plan fits a venue close to the office.

Can you plan a corporate wellness retreat?

Yes. A corporate wellness retreat swaps late evenings for morning movement and quieter activities. We plan the schedule and the venue around it.

Do you run a virtual offsite?

Yes, for teams that can't travel. A virtual corporate retreat runs as hosted online sessions and games in short blocks.

What about an executive offsite?

For a small leadership group, see our executive summit page.

How soon can you start?

Right away. We reply right away and send a quote in minutes. For an activity alone, we've booked a surf simulator two days before an event.

Tell us about your retreat

Send the group size, rough dates and the region you have in mind. We'll come back with places, a plan and one quote for all of it. Tell us the event type, dates, region, number of people and budget. Add the goal of the retreat and whether you need travel arranged. Or call +1 213 912 1010