2026 Company Retreat
Bash Creative’s 2026 Company Retreat
Client:
Bash Creative
Industry:
Connection Curators
Services:
Event and Experience Production
The Challenge
Bash Creative’s annual retreat is an opportunity to connect our fully remote team, foster personal and professional growth, and create lasting memories together. This year’s retreat had a strategic goal of laying the foundation for the upcoming year by getting the entire team aligned and motivated. The evergreen goal of creating human-to-human connection and this year’s strategic goal needed to be equally balanced and felt.
In 2026, that team was about twice the size it was at our 2024 retreat. Our team has doubled in two years, which meant this retreat needed to bring together a multitude of people with different roles, skill sets, and personal interests, and unite them under mutual goals. Our north star for this retreat was focusing on company success, personal growth, and human-to-human connection.
Two intentional choices shaped the experience. For the first time, the retreat was alcohol-free. And we returned to Guerneville, CA, a wonderful, small, nature-heavy town, and stayed at the beautiful Dawn Ranch again. Coming back to a liked and familiar place helped returning team members feel at ease and gave our newest teammates a warm place to land.
The Solution
The 2026 theme was True North: Charting Our Strategic Advantage. Our vision for the four days, in our own words: “Looking at our schedule, the vision for 2026 is clear. We are mapping our coordinates and charting our course for the year ahead. We are intentionally balancing this high-level work with organic connection. By having a scavenger hunt, giving back with our annual Bash Gives Back initiative, and embracing our celestial theme through guided forest meditation, we want the team to leave Guerneville entirely aligned, grounded, and navigating by the same map.”
To lead the trainings, we brought in professionals. Rachel Ramirez and Giles Fabris facilitated every session, from a Scale Team leadership day to three days of all-team continuing education. Rachel is a dynamic leader known for driving organizational growth and excellence, with over 26 years in organizational development and a master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Giles is a seasoned CEO mentor and growth strategist with over 32 years of coaching experience who has supported hundreds of CEOs in achieving meaningful business growth.
We achieved balancing the high-level work and organic connection with a Starlight Welcome Toast & Dinner, Zero Gravity morning yoga, The Nebula Workshop with sound meditation, afternoon art and river exploration, 1:1 team breakfast dates, and a closing game night. And lastly, through our cherished Bash Gives Back initiative. Surrounded by the stunning redwoods at Armstrong Woods, we paused to reflect on our retreat learnings, our North Star, and all that we’re grateful for. From there, we turned that gratitude outward by writing letters of encouragement, offering words of care, hope, and connection, to two different nonprofits.
- Senior Hope – Project SMILE (Sending Meaningful Inspiration, Love and Encouragement): works to impact and improve the lives of low-income seniors experiencing a crisis or hardship. The letters help reduce loneliness and bring comfort to older adults.
- Children International: connects people around the world in the fight to end poverty. The letters offer motivation, support, and a reminder that someone is rooting for them.
Outcome
What was the impact of intentional experience design? Here is some of the feedback we received:
- “Bash’s care and consideration for the success of the business and team are evident. Thank you for bringing us together.”
- “Overall, I’m incredibly grateful for the retreat and the opportunity to spend intentional time together as a team!”
- “What a thoughtfully-planned, informative, actionable adventure!”
- “This retreat was well curated and thoughtful at every moment. Each day felt paced well and intentional. The training sessions were insightful, and we were given the opportunity to bond and connect as a team. I appreciated the changes based on feedback from last year’s retreat (breakfast implemented, yoga and meditation added, etc.). The swag items given are useful and create excitement and appreciation. So grateful overall for such a meaningful and insightful retreat!”
When we asked the team how they left the retreat feeling, the answers were: proud of the team, connected, energized, inspired, curious, confident, busy, grateful, and inquisitive. “Connected” was the most common answer.
