The most unproductive retreat I’ve ever run - and why it worked

Why throwing strangers into tents creates better business relationships than LinkedIn

Jun 19, 2025

I'm writing this after co-hosting my first ticketed retreat, exhausted but giddy, having just wrapped up the first "Red Carpet Campout."

My jaw aches from three days of non-stop laughter.

Also, I'm slightly hungover.

Which wasn't exactly part of the agenda, but when you're in front of a fireplace with great people, great conversations, and bottles of wine that deserve proper attention... well, some things just unravel…

The "Red Carpet Campout" is a three-day business retreat I co-hosted with Steve Demedio at a stunning property 90 minutes west of Brisbane.

Nine strangers walked into tents and hung out at campfires, and what emerged was the most transformative professional development experience I've ever been part of.

But by every traditional business metric, this retreat was a complete failure. No one left with a single action item. Just nine people sitting around fires talking about life.

This article is my behind-the-scenes look at what it's actually like to host a completely different type of business retreat – one that prioritises:

Human connection > information transfer.
Vulnerability > networking.
Presence > productivity.

Not sure what the collective noun is for a group of legendary consultants? But here’s a photo of what that looks like.

Most business retreats get it wrong

I'm so sick of conferences that are just back-to-back talk-at-you fests.

We pack schedules with keynote speakers who deliver the same TED talk they've given 47 times before. We create networking mixers that feel more like speed dating than relationship building.

We measure success by how many business cards we collect, how many LinkedIn connections we make, how many "actionable insights" we scribble in our notebooks.

It’s 2025, dammit!

If I wanted to consume content passively, I'd stay home and binge Gary Vee on YouTube, with Quincey, my sausage dog on my lap. Bliss!

It’s all wrong.

If you've ever wondered whether there's a better way to bring people together professionally, or if you're considering hosting your own unconventional gathering, here are 6 ideas that made our retreat unforgettable.

Why the best retreat invitations should repel 90% of people

One consultant read my retreat invitation and told me she wouldn't come because “I don't like the outdoor component. I want to stay in a nice hotel that has room service in a nice spot, not a cabin in the woods”.

Perfect.

I was delighted she was repulsed by it.

You can't create meaningful experiences by trying to appeal to everyone. The magic happens when you get laser-focused on the exact type of person who would thrive in what you're creating – and you make it easy for everyone else to self-select out.

But six months ago, I was lying awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering if anyone would actually show up to our Red Carpet Campout.

Would successful business owners want to put down their phones and sit around a fire? Was I just projecting my own frustration with traditional networking onto other people?

So yeah, I have to say, I was a little terrified of putting myself out there with something so different.

But that’s the value of collaborating with someone as enthusiastic as Steve Demedio from Mind and Body Group. He organised all the logistics, pitched the idea to collaborate, and we worked on this together.

And I’m SO thrilled we created this opportunity, because it was the best time ever.

How strangers became a community before we even met

Who joined us?

We had leadership facilitators, creative consultants, a boutique law firm owner, a professional speaker, an occupational therapy practice owner.

Oh and a film-maker who’s interviewed Elon Musk, and slightly humiliated himself in front of Sir Edmund Hilary.

We also had the host of a NZ rock show at the campout. A contestant who made it to the final round of Channel Nine’s Millionaire Hot Seat.

And a guy who invented a washer/dryer/ironing machine when he was 20, going on to run a team of engineers to build the product.

How did we get these stories? Through a terrific question Jason Knight asked us, “What’s your 15 mins of fame story?”

So, I wrote that we entered the retreat as strangers but that’s not exactly what happened.

The magic started weeks before we arrived.

We created a WhatsApp group for everyone, which immediately lit up with puns and banter. It was a good sign. When people are naturally funny in a group chat, there's a decent chance they'll be fun in person too.

Then I asked everyone to contribute to a Spotify playlist. Just songs that represented who they are or what they were feeling about the retreat. The playlist became this weird, wonderful mix of everyone's personalities in musical form.

And because I'm slightly extra, for our opening ceremony Zoom call, I created an AI video of all of us sitting around a campfire.

Was it cheesy? Absolutely. Did it work? Yes.

By the time we arrived, we'd established a tone of playfulness and authenticity before anyone set foot on the retreat property.

(You might be wondering who I got to hang out with? Check out their work: Steve Demedio, Jason Knight, Melissa Langton, Sarah Stoddart, Danielle Skelton, Julian Mather, Jade Miller and Steve Hodgson.)

Your venue is doing 80% of your job (or ruining it completely)

Steve was smart and intentionally allocated different environments on the property for different types of conversations.

We had a conference tent for structured discussions. A lodge area that felt like a living room. An outdoor space around the campfire. We took walks through nature.

The best type of sundowner: Campfire, sunset, canapes.

Each environment became a stage for different types of human interaction:

The tent conversations were focused and purposeful
The lodge chats felt casual and meandering
The campfire talks went deep
The walking conversations opened up unexpected tangents

Most business events stick you in the same sterile conference room for 8 hours. We're social creatures – we need variety in our environments to unlock the full spectrum of who we are.

As a host, you don’t need to do all the heavy lifting. Let the space + environment help create the outcome you want.

Stop trying to be TED and start being human

We deliberately kept structured content lean. We used frameworks that immediately showed people where they stood and sparked conversations about gaps.

I ran a session on life dreams and how business can support them – not another "find your why" exercise, but practical frameworks that helped people see their current reality clearly.

Steve ran a mindfulness session that grounded everyone in presence.

And here's what made it work: we didn't try to cram everything into presentations. We created space for the frameworks to breathe, for people to challenge each other, for conversations to emerge organically.

Rely on the intelligence of your group!

All of our guests are smart, accomplished people who could easily push each other intellectually. But that only happened because we gave them room to think.

By the end, some people realised they needed to make major changes in their business. Others gained clarity that they were already on the right track. Both outcomes were equally valuable.

One guest shared, "Running a business by yourself typically... it's lonely, and you never allow yourself the time to just decompress and find out what the deeper, important things are because you never give them the opportunity, the time to do that." He called the experience "necessary" – and he was right.

Oh, I did bring in one simple rule though:

After reading

Andrew Hollo

‘s article last week, I banned the word “Awesome” from the campout. It’s a word that's lost all meaning through overuse. I wanted us to find more specific ways to describe our experiences.

How to create space for magic moments (without forcing them)

Gosh, too many. But Jade and I talk about this special moment on my podcast today.

It’s when we were all sitting in the lounge room and John Farnham's "That’s Freedom" came on our Spotify playlist.

When we hit the chorus – "That's freedom!" – we didn't just sing along. We shouted it like something we desperately needed to claim.

We'd spent the day talking about autonomy in business, about the gap between where we are and where we want to be.

Suddenly, a cheesy 80s anthem became a battle cry for the professional lives we actually want to live. Try creating that moment at your next networking mixer. (Good luck! You can't manufacture it. It emerges from genuine connection.. and maybe a few drinks.)

Why 9 people is the perfect retreat group size

Here's what I learned about group dynamics:

Nine people seems to be a magic number. Small enough that everyone gets heard. Large enough for interesting sub-conversations to emerge. The right size for both intimate campfire chats and energetic group activities. And easy to break into 3 groups of 3.

As I finish writing this, I'm struck by how different this feels from my usual post-conference reflection.

Usually, I'm thinking about action items and follow-ups.

Today, I'm reflecting on how strangers can become great mates in such a short time.

Maybe the most "unproductive" retreat was actually the most productive thing any of us did for our businesses all year.

What's your experience been with business retreats and networking events? Have you ever experienced the kind of connection I'm describing, or does it all feel transactional?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or hit the heart 💙 if this article resonated with you.