We just returned from our 4th annual Punchpass team retreat! Over the course of 5 days in sunny Phoenix AZ we met as team to plan out the coming year, spend time together, and of course eat great tacos 🌮. Here’s how the retreat came together, what we did, what we learned, and how it all happened.
This Year, for something different….
Our last 3 retreats followed a very similar gameplan – bring the team to a town we know. The first two were held in Burlington VT, as that’s where the founder and his business partner live. We know the town, we had access to an amazing coworking facility, and it kept costs down as two of us didn’t need to travel or have hotel rooms. Other team members could drive to Burlington, which also reduced costs. This was a great way to ease into the team retreat and I’d highly recommend the strategy of “bring people to your hometown” as a way to get started.
Our third retreat was similar, but we held it in Portland Maine – home of our amazing Head of Support. More of us had to travel and stay at a hotel, but we had a super knowledgeable local to plan everything. (Thank you again Victoria!) It was great to head somewhere different – we rented a room at a local coworking space for a work ‘basecamp’, and because Portland is so walkable we didn’t need to worry about transportation.
This year we decided to step it up a notch and change things up for a couple of reasons. First, we had recently hired someone in New Zealand to expand our support team’s worldwide coverage, so that meant we had two people flying a REALLY long way (NZ and Australia.) We thought meeting on the West coast would make it a bit easier for them.
Second, we wanted to try to change the feel of the retreat by renting a big house and all staying together, vs hotel rooms. That meant finding a big house with enough private space for all 8 of us. (We like to be together…but we also like our space! 🙂) Feedback from the previous retreats was that they felt a bit too scheduled – we hoped that all staying in one big home would reduce that feeling.
Putting It All Together….
After many, many hours hours spent on AirBnb and VRBO, we narrowed down a list of potential houses, finally settling on this fantastic property in Phoenix AZ. It checked all the boxes – plenty of space for everyone, and only 15 minutes from the Phoenix airport, and easy access for all the team members. We booked it and got to planning!
We had settled on a pretty good schedule based on the previous retreats, and just wanted to make a few changes based on feedback from the team. The main buckets are: spend time working together (debate new features, internal workflows, etc), spend some time volunteering, spend some time outside, and spend time bonding over great meals. Claire built up a schedule in Notion and began looking through various options.
There are a lot of details to sweat, and I want to give a HUGE thank you to Claire for handling all the details. What restaurants to go to, what meals to eat at the house, where we should volunteer, hiking/outdoor options, tracking everyone’s flights and arrival/departure times…..it adds up. Everything got dropped in a Notion doc, debated in Slack on our Whereby calls, and a final shared version for the whole team made things easy when we were there.
Enough with the Planning – What did you do?
The retreat officially started on a Monday afternoon (we couldn’t check into the house until 4pm.) Because of some different travel schedules, a number of people arrived on Sunday. This gave us the chance to catch up a bit earlier, gave the AUS/NZ travelers some more time to fight the jet lag, and gave us time to shop for groceries, etc before checking in. We ordered takeout to make Monday night easy, and handed out the swag we had made for the retreat! T-Shirts, hoodies, hats, and Goodr sunglasses. Whether the choice was Swedish Meatball Hangover, Look Ma No Hands, Donkey Goggles, or Kitty Hawkers’ Ray Blockers, we were ready for the Arizona sun. 😎
On Tuesday, we spent the morning working – both as a larger team and then in smaller groups. Then, we headed to the southern edge of Phoenix for one of the longer events we had organized – volunteering at EmpoweRanch. EmpoweRanch provides “educational and therapeutic outdoor recreation to improve the quality of life for underserved communities in the Phoenix metro area.” The founder Jessi met us there and gave us a history of the organization, as well as an overview of their goals for the future. She gave us a tour, and then we got to work!
Duties included:
- Cleaning / raking / watering the main barn walkway
- Cleaning out and re-organizing the horse trailer
- Recreating their portable sign for events
One of our concerns heading into the retreat was that it was HOT that week – we had expected late October to be cooler…but the crazy heat that Phoenix has experienced all summer persisted into the fall. (More than 100 days above 100 degrees!!) But the folks at EmpoweRanch were great and made sure there was shade, and adjusted activities so we could stay cool(ish!). I know it’s a dry heat, but 🥵
Part of the volunteer experience was a dinner they hosted for us just as the sun went down. Magical views watching the sun set against the saguaro cacti on the South Ridge mountains!
Wednesday most of the crew got up for an early ‘beat the heat’ hike, and were rewarded with great views of the wider Phoenix metro area. This day was mostly a work day – we spent time together discussing a number of potential new features in the app. So much easier to do this type of planning in person! We aren’t going to drop any teasers here 😄 (maybe in future blog posts!) but we’re all excited for what’s to come.
We headed to downtown Scottsdale for lunch and a little shopping, then back to the house for more work sessions.
That evening we went out to dinner, and then to this awesome “first person arcade” experience called Bam Kazam. A new concept from the creator of the escape room, Bam Kazam was a series of interactive challenges. Kinda hard to explain…but highly recommended if you find yourself in Phoenix!!
Thursday was our final full day. We started off by spending the morning at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens – amazing! Then two of us paid our respects to our incoming robot overlords, and took a Waymo self driving car to pickup lunch. 🤖🚗 The afternoon was spent with a bit more work discussions, and then downtime on the back patio and pool. It had been a great but long week, so we opted for pizza at the house for the last night. Claire & Victoria surprised the group with a Punchpass Kahoot! Emma crushed us all for the win!
Friday was a quick house cleanup, and then a number of early flights. Already thinking about next year!
Final Verdict?
I was a bit nervous going in about how the house dynamic was going to work – and even though there are lots of pictures in the listing you don’t really know until you get there. But the house was perfect. TONS of room to spread out, but with great spots to just hang out as a team instead of just all retreating to our hotel rooms. From Victoria cooking pancakes for everyone in the morning, to hanging out on the back patio playing Telestrations, to chilling by the pool, a lot of memories and team bonding occurred. That’s where the house really shined.
For a remote team that spans the globe, getting together in person can be so helpful. Getting clarity on on mission, what we are (and are not!) going to work on in the coming year, and the state of the business are all so much easier to do in person. We’re back at work and excited with what’s to come for 2025.
