You might not have known this, but we’re part of a team of 110 people across 24 cities (and you’re one of a million subscribers). The last time we got together, it was 2019, and we had 34 employees. It was time to have a retreat — and we just finished ours in Nashville, TN (hey, NASHtoday).

If your company is thinking about planning a retreat, we’re here to help. While it’s based on our experiences in Nashville, you’ll be able to take our itinerary and make it fit any city.

💡 Pick the perfect city.

We knew we wanted to plan our retreat in one of our local markets. We narrowed it down based on proximity of team members, climate and time of year, things to do, walkability, and professional connections we have in the area.

💡 Craft the ultimate itinerary.

Once you have your city, the fun begins. The focus of our retreat was team-building (versus training). We built our schedule out with that mission firmly in place – here’s how:

- Get feedback from your team. What do they want to do? Asking them for their input on the front end will not only make planning easier, they might also have connections at some of the places you want to visit.

Ask experts in the city. We got help planning from Visit Music City and the 21c Museum Hotel, where our team stayed.

A speaker sets the tone. Nashville local Rashad Rayford (“tha Poet”) kicked things off for us. Pro tip: Check out TedX and Creative Mornings chapters, which share all of their presenters online, to find amazing local speakers.

Plan your outings. We provided structured experiences for our team, including small group breakout itineraries based on their interests (they visited spots like the National Museum of African American Music, Frist Art Museum, the Nashville Farmers Market, Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, and Hatch Show Print).

Interested in making more memories? Do it here.