Corporate retreats got off to a modest start for online invoicing service Freshbooks when its entire work force - all three of them - headed to founder Mike McDerment's family cottage.
By the fourth year, the retreat had expanded to 26 people, compelling Mr. McDerment to borrow a cousin's cottage across the lake to accommodate everyone.
And as the Toronto-based company expanded, so, too, did the retreat, moving to resorts and summer camps.
Mr. McDerment (one of my partners on the mesh conferences) says that enjoying time together is the biggest reason why FreshBooks does a corporate retreat.
"On top of that, we have seven values at FreshBooks: honesty, ownership, passion, fun, empathy, strive and trust. That spells HOPFEST and that is, in fact, the name of our weekend getaway," he said.
"It's a chance to live our values, and for the weekend, I'd say fun leads the way."
Mr. McDerment said the company's goal in having a retreat is simple: for staff to have a great time and get to know each other outside the office.
Unlike many companies that may include strategic planning or brainstorming sessions, Freshbooks' retreat is 100 per cent fun, Mr. McDerment says, with no scheduled activities - other than a fishing derby.
As to what makes for a successful retreat, "I guess it depends on your goals," he said.
"As founder and CEO, success for me is putting people in an environment where folks just hang out and get to know each other and their significant others, the net result being building tighter bonds among the team," he added.
"I really see HOPFEST [as]FreshBooks providing a rented cottage for the weekend for everyone to get out of the city, a nice perk when many folks don't have a cottage to go to. This year, we rented Camp Winnebagoe. There were all kinds of physical activities (tennis, basketball, baseball, ping pong, swimming…etc.) and non-physical activities (cards, book reading, lounging on the dock). We have an active group, and playing games together is a great way to build bonds."
So how does Mr. McDerment determine whether he's held a winning retreat?
"On Monday morning, are people burned out from all the fun and sun? If so, that's success," he said.
Special to The Globe and Mail
Mark Evans is the principal with ME Consulting, a communications and marketing strategic consultancy that works with startups and fast-growing companies to create compelling and effective messaging to drive their sales and marketing activities. Mark has worked with four startups - Blanketware, b5Media, PlanetEye and Sysomos. He was a technology reporter for more than a decade with The Globe and Mail, Bloomberg News and the Financial Post. Mark is also one of the co-organizers of the mesh, meshmarketing and meshwest conferences.
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