204. How do you plan a retreat?
Ever wonder how to organize a retreat? 🧳 This episode uncovers it all! Our co-host Lauren shares the ins and outs of organizing her first-ever reading retreat, including sales, venues, and creating an irresistible offering. Learn from Lauren’s insights in this can’t-miss episode!
Episode transcription
Phil
Brand Therapy. That's the name of this podcast. My new intro!
Lauren
God. And it's only Tuesday.
Phil
Well, let me tell you why I'm excited for this particular episode. Because I don't have to actually talk. I'm gonna ask questions, because you're right. It's Tuesday, at the time of recording this episode, way later than we should have. Thank you, Igor, special shout out to our podcast editor for turning this around quickly so we could publish literally 48 hours later. Speaking of 48 hours, that was 48 hours in the future, let's go 48 hours in the first 48 hours ago, you were in the depths of your very first book retreat. That's what this episode is all about. Because I, we've been busy, you got back to work. We haven't even had time to talk about it. I thought, let's save the catch up for a podcast episode. So everyone else can listen to it as well. How did it go?
Lauren
Oh, my God. It was honestly, one of the best weekend's of my life. And it shouldn't have been, I was organizing an event for 40 people, it should have been stressful. Things should have gone wrong. Should have been something knowing me that I'd never want to do again. But like I frickin loved it. I loved every second of it.
Phil
I checked in multiple times, and you weren't stressed at any point. I asked you at one point, what was the worst thing that had gone wrong? And you had said, and I quote, the wrong size of vase was ordered for the tables. They were like thimbles.
Lauren
There was actually another another size related thing that went wrong. And both the thimble and the gift bag situation happened in the same thing.
Phil
It was a classic kind of Amazon mini instead of normal sized incident. Yeah, that's happened to me before.
Lauren
I think the person who had ordered them. And I mean, this happens is it it ended up being totally fine. But I think the person who ordered them potentially confused like centimeters with inches because these things were like meant for mice, like they were these gift bags that were supposed to be fitting blankets and tote bags, and it was like the size of a greeting card.
Phil
But you were able to make a work?
Lauren
Yeah, I've done a lot of Marie Kondo inspired folding in my life, and it really paid off for this.
phil
We didn't even we just assumed the listener knew what was happening is because I was excited to ask, but maybe we should tell them. What actually happened. What is this reading retreat that has transpired?
Lauren
Yes. So I'll give a little bit of history, a very brief overview, and then we can just get right into the specifics. So as the listener probably knows, I've been dabbling in Tik Tok for about 15 months, because Phil prompted me and I've been posting on Tik Tok about books. I have a degree in English literature. It's been great because I've been able to apply writing to my client work, but nothing has really been like literary and so I wanted it to be like a fun creative outlet. And in April of this year, I shared an idea on tick tock without really thinking twice about it for a book club weekend, where instead of the ongoing commitment every month of like having to leave your house and meet up with a book group, we would rent out a nice place and immerse in nature, focus on a book for the weekend, have wine, go to bed at a reasonable time, and then end it. And the post ended up going viral, it was shared over 18,000 times, liked almost 60,000 times and people were commenting I want this Can you please make this. So anyway, I ended up creating it. I have never done any kind of event planning before in this capacity with sold tickets. I was involved with like recruiting my sorority out where we do, you know, parties with like a $500 budget, but I organized it and I did all the sales, the venue rentals, all the creative choices, the gift bags, partnerships, everything. We had 40 attendees, and it was incredible. It was really, really awesome. I learned so much. I learned a lot of things that I wouldn't do again, there are a few little blips and errors related to the venue. I learned a lot on that front but it was a really, really awesome experience. And I'm so glad I did it.
Phil
Listener we're going to ask Lauren specifically so that we can all borrow from this. I'm actually wanting to plan a retreat in the Europe client retreat that you're probably going to be involved in Italy. Listener Brand Therapy episode 185 goes into more detail on Lauren's story on tick tock, so we won't repeat that story. But basically tick tock has become your platform for audience And those 40 spots in the retreat you sold out within 48 hours, wasn't it? Or 24 hours, almost, it was 37.
Lauren
So I'm sure we'll get in very specifically to say 36, because it wasn't 36. But 24 of those hours, were only two people who had early access through my Patreon, which we can talk about in a little bit. But 37 hours from the first sales email going out to the exclusive group to a final ticket being sold from to the public.
Phil
So let's pick apart if someone was ever thinking about doing a retreat or a meet up or any kind of event, what are the things that went well, that you would do again?
Lauren
So overall, the sales process for me, I am so lucky, it went? Well, it went really, really well. I think that it would be really tough to create excitement about the event if mine hadn't sold out quickly, because then it's like, five tickets left or a limited time deal.
So I think the fact that it was sold out created a sense of urgency so that when I quickly planned the second retreat that hasn't happened yet, I could create like exclusivity and even more urgency by being like this first one sold out really quickly so I highly recommend being on your email in your inbox by this time, blah, blah, blah, blah.
So sales went really great. I was really lucky. Because through this idea that I had, I was able to quickly figure out what problem I wanted to solve. And I think for anyone who's doing a retreat, that's quite necessary, because it's not just about getting people together to like, learn something, you need to solve a problem. So in the case of my audience, the problem is one, they don't want to or don't have a local book club to join. The other problem is that they don't have friends, like in person or even online to talk about books with. And then the last problem is that every kind of event, typically, unless it's like a yoga retreat, or some kind of like meditation retreat, every event that's for introverts is always like very spiritually inclined. And for every event for other people, it's like not chill, it's like rubbing shoulders and so many activities and things like that. And so it was really important to me to communicate that I wanted this retreat to leave people more relaxed and more rejuvenated than when they arrived. So that went really, really well. The planning, and venue staff, I learned so much, do you want me to just like launch into what went well, from a planning standpoint.
Phil
I do, but let's pause and reflect on identifying the problem. That's interesting, because none of those problems are like hard hitting. Yeah, I sometimes get stumped at this idea of like, what's the problem? There aren't any problems. But what you describe, they're really specific things. And they're not like, urgent. Yeah, they see, you know, they're just, it's almost like savvy observations of an audience to you know, well, because you are in the audience. I think we can't overthink this idea of identifying the problem. And I love that you had three. And I think all three of those things worked really well together, and you were able to sell it so quickly. Also, we need to say, you were able to succeed at this because you had an audience. So I thought earlier, when you say I can't imagine doing this, I thought you were gonna say if I didn't have an audio, I
Lauren
No question. I should have said that. It's so obvious that I didn't even say that. Having the platform and having a mailing list was absolutely critical. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but if you've got 300 followers on Tiktok, I wouldn't advise selling something,
Phil
Or the idea of the weekend was liked, or reshard by 6000 people. And so relative to that 40 is not a lot of people to actually rip out their credit card. Obviously, would have been more than 40 if there were more seats, but that's the point of this. Right? You're trying to keep it exclusive and intimate. That's the point.
Lauren
Absolutely. So what I did after that first post went viral, which essentially validated the idea. I created a survey where people who are interested could fill it out and sign up for updates as they developed the retreat. And in that I got so much information like where they wanted it to be, what books they wanted to read, what activities they were most interested in, that weren't related to reading, and I had them vote and you know, check off as many as they wanted.
I asked how many nights they want it to be, how much they would pay, what concerns they had things like that. And it was so awesome because I could over 2400 people filled this out, and I could completely serve people exactly what they were asking for, which again, helped from a sales point, I think a lot of times we try to be mind reader's, and make a lot of assumptions about what people want what we're selling. But in this case, I knew what the budget was for people. I knew how many nights they wanted it to be. I knew where they wanted it. And while I didn't listen, and follow everything completely, to the data, it at least was helpful to have that information.
Another thing that I did that I think went really right, is I asked for people to join my patreon to get early access to the tickets and also get a coupon that they could apply against their ticket.
Phil
This is interesting.
yes, the reason for this is because I was about to sign a really big contract with the venue I had found. And I was really like nervous to put down that much of a deposit and potentially have like, free people buy tickets. And so I wanted to basically call people out, like really hold them to task and see how interested they actually were. Ms. Is if you're willing to pay for Early Access, I'm pretty certain you would be seriously considering a ticket. So that was great. Because about, I think it was 70 people paid for the Patreon for early access.
Phil
And how much did they pay?
Lauren
It was a range from $10 a month to $25 a month. And depending on what you paid, you would get a bigger coupon and even earlier access.
phil
So why would 70 People join? If not all of them, were going to go on the retreat? Were there other benefits to the membership?
Lauren
Yes. So they would be put into a discord with other readers. So they could be just chatting about books, they would be able to weigh in on the event planning, like where it was and what activities we do. So they'd be the first and really only people to know until it was announced and finalized.
Phil
Why would you want to do that if you weren't actually going to go to the retreat?
Lauren
I don't know. And what's so bizarre is that only about 30% of the Patreon people who got early access ended up buying tickets, but they kept paying for the Patreon. And why? You know, I asked some of them, because I was wondering like, are you waiting for another one? Like, what's going on? A lot of them had date conflicts with the first one who did I, they ended up buying for the second one. But after people bought tickets, I said to them, I was like, Look, I appreciate you so much. But just so you know, like, I don't expect you to stay in the Patreon. Like you've gotten your ticket. You're amazing, like thank you, but they really want to support it, which is interesting. They just said they said, Oh, we know like I believe in this and I really want to support you however I can.
Phil
So I totally see that. I have three Patreon cons. One from my friend Jordan Ellis, who was on the podcast, he was on brand therapy talking about Patreon. The other two are DJs that I follow on YouTube or get hundreds of 1000s sometimes millions of views. And for less than $10 a month I actually have access to them. So they'll post little updates. One of them is a nomad, they post a nomad couple from Luxembourg, they post little updates on their travel, I just like seeing what they're doing. I like being able to comment, they'll sometimes ask which thumbnail for the YouTube video do you like better? I like being the way in even though people pay me for that advice. I like the access. And more than that I can afford and feel happy to pay them the equivalent of a latte per month, I would rather pay them than Starbucks for a coffee I'm not even going to enjoy I would rather pay to support creators whose content I consume. And so that's why they're still sticking around. I know because I've got that same thing in my own little world. It just makes me wonder if you need to do more with that Patreon. Or maybe you need to really turn it into an access community book club.
Lauren
It's funny, you say that. I actually did that last weekend. So what was happening is the two retreats sold. I think the second retreat tickets sold end of August. So it's been two months. And I've just gotten to a point where I'm like, I need a retreat to actually happen before I can sell a third one because I don't want people to think I'm like a con artist and I also not that I mean they they won't but I also wanted to genuinely see how the first one went so I could make decisions about the third like I might find that it 40 was too many people or 40 wasn't enough people or people wanted. I don't know, more of a luxurious experience. Like I don't know I wanted to experience at first. So I decided that I felt really weird, given that the purpose of the Patreon was for early access for retreats, it felt really strange to be seeing those dollars come in every month without really having like any, it was just a conflict. So then I decided I ran it past them, of course, but I said, look, I'm thinking about switching this into a virtual book club, because I have a lot of people on my mailing list who are international. And I want them to be able to get the book huddle experience, without necessarily requiring them to travel. Because people in the group are so awesome.
And then I said as well, retreats are really expensive to plan. And the tickets have to be expensive as well. I want to get to a point where I can get corporate sponsors to actually have scholarships that people can apply for anonymously. So all they have to do is get their ticket, and then the retreat is actually paid for. That's my dream. But until I'm at that point, there are financial barriers to be able to come to a retreat. And that really bothers me. It really, really, really bothers me.
Phil
But that's life.
lauren
I know, I know. But I just think that for something that's about enjoying books, which is a medium that really anyone with a library card can partake in and connecting with other people. I don't want it to be limited to rich white middle aged women. I don't. And so until I can get to that point with scholarships that are sponsored, I want people to still be able to connect with the community. So anyway, long story short, I'm actually phasing out the Patreon and I've made it a virtual book club. I've already passed, and I'm really Patreon or not on Patreon on Squarespace. Then everyone's all my retreat tickets are sold through Squarespace, too. So everyone has a profile that has all of their payments in one place. Anyway, I talked about that for quite a while. I know we're talking about retreats, specifically. But I'm very excited about the virtual book club.
Phil
That's great. Yeah, the things that you would do differently? I don't think we've touched on those.
Lauren
That's a good question.
Phil
Even if you have like one or two thing, yeah.
Lauren
So most of the things that I would do differently are actually related to what happened at the retreat, particularly on day one. So check in time was at 4pm. And I knew this in my gut, but I really didn't listen to it, that people were really, really excited. And this is a type A group, and they're probably going to come early. And they did. Someone arrived five hours early. And most people arrived an hour early, which is bananas. And they were in the lobby, like waiting. And I underestimated how long it would take to write thank you cards. And so I was scrambling, writing these thank you cards until like six minutes before and ran upstairs. So that like I wish that I had gone in actually a day earlier. So things weren't as like, scrambled for me and frantic.
The other thing that I feel like I should have learned with the venue, or at least I'll apply this to my learning lessons with the venue is that five of the rooms weren't ready for the guests, even though check in was at four. Hmm, why? I don't know. And I complained about it. Because that's, I think, a really crappy first impression that directly affects me and my potential sales. And if the venue is saying for 40 people to check in for I expect the rooms to be ready. So either they gave away the rooms to other guests, or they just weren't ready for cleaning. Either way, not fair to me not fair to my attendees, especially since multiple people had flown cross country that day, and couldn't get to their rooms. That wasn't great.
The other thing, so we did an off site at a winery, we actually went to two wineries. It was such a blast, like it was really, really fun. But if I were going to be doing it again, I don't think I would do an off site because it just it unless someone else was fully paying for it. Because it does add a lot of logistics. I had to get a 56 person coach boss to take everyone. I had to coordinate coupons and figure out which of the wineries we'd go to people we had to shuttle like going back and forth between the winery area and the actual hotel. And people were a little confused about the shuttle times and things like that. So it ended up being a blast, like everyone loved it, but if I could do it again, I don't think I would do an off site because it just added like a lot.
Phil
But good lessons.
Lauren
Yeah, totally. So I think that what I would do is I would confirm with the venue. I would I know it seems redundant but I would 100% Confirm and make sure in advance that you expect all the rooms to be ready at check in. So that would be one of them. The other thing that doesn't
Phil
I feel like it should not be your responsibility. It is a good point because it represents you.
Lauren
I'm actually hoping for a discount on the final bill I like literally just complained about it this morning.
Phil
That comes to my final question. Were you able to make money in this the first time you did it, no, it was the first time you ran a retreat?
Lauren
This was definitely breakeven.
Phil
That's great. explain why that's great. I think just so people understand. So the cost of
Lauren
This retreat for 40 people, probably I still have to do my final tallying. But between the cost of the venue food, the wineries, I had a friend like actually helping me manage the people. I got a photographer, I got a brand, it was definitely over $55,000 US the whole venture. Got it. And it's a lot of money. I also got merch for every single guest two different types of merch that they could like wear like a blanket, and also a tote bag. Now I sold $56,000 worth of tickets. us I believe that's how much the the tickets were. And then people are also paying the Patreon on top of that. So it's not, I am making some money. But for this first one, I actually wanted it to be breakeven because I really wanted to invest every penny into the experience so that I could get advocates and also so that I could have proof of concept that I can now take to businesses to sponsor.
Phil
Exactly that was the answer I was hoping for. Like, you might think, Oh, my God, it was so much time and work. No, I think about it. They always say first, usually two or three years of business. Don't expect to break even. I don't know that. I agree with that. I think with the right advice. You can breakeven.
Lauren
But this was not the time for me to like, say, like, I'm fortunate, because I have other I've, you know, from artwork, I have money coming in. So I didn't have to profit.
Phil
Yeah, it was kind of the goal, breakeven, but it's just if you price things right then and now you know, you have a solid reference future on how much things are going to cost.
Can I tell you one other lesson I learned that might be controversial?
Phil
Yes. Tell the listener.
Lauren
I would say don't hire an event planner. Oh, I hired one. And I ended up hiring her at the beginning and did it myself?
Did you have to pay her?
Lauren
$500 but she did scouting and she found the venue we ended up being at so it was $500. well spent. Okay. Yeah, yeah. But I would not hire an event planner, because it's an added cost. And most hotels, if you're going to be doing it at a hotel, they have a dedicated salesperson that you get who acts as the event planner. So we had a representative who literally ordered the linens for us to the furniture rentals guided us on choosing for meals and things like that. And so I didn't realize that hotels have that when, because I haven't had a wedding before. I had previously thought that you needed to have like a wedding planner for the hotel, but you actually don't need that. So that was interesting.
Phil
Genius. There's so much packed into this. And we're going to send this to clients anytime they're wanting to plan something. Oh, well, I'm gonna listen back because I think there's a good little tidbits in here. Yeah, I plan something in person.
It will be totally good for us, because I actually know how much things cost now.
phil
And also, I don't know where you found the time to pull this off, in addition to client demands, which we have a fair number of but I guess, I mean, you just do it. It's important to you. So you do it.
Lauren
I don't know. Honestly, the whole thing was really effortless for me. I also used chat GPT to help me with a lot of things. Like, I ran people's dietary restrictions and eating preferences through chat GPT. And then I shared with it the menu.
Phil
How did you do it? And just tell us quickly?
Lauren
I had everyone fill in who bought tickets fill in a survey that had a bunch of different questions. And one of them was about, you know, allergies, and other was dietary preferences, things like that. I copy and paste that information. And I put it as a chat JBT. And then what I did is I copied and pasted the menu from the venue for breakfast, for example. And I'd be like, Okay, well, we're we've got 48 people, they it's recommended that we spend the equivalent of blah, blah, blah per person, or it's recommended to get like two smaller things and an entree, whatever it was. And then I would say, please use the guest list to tell me what to order with. And also please note any dietary restrictions or meal replacements, ingredient replacements that we need to like comply with people. And so it was amazing because it would be like, you should order this much of this not much of this. These people don't like mushrooms so we don't recognize don't recommend the mushroom dish and things like that. So it was like it would have taken so frickin long to go through it if I didn't have chat TBT so that was really fun.
Phil
Great insights. Listener, I hope you found this interesting. I genuinely found this interesting. Oh, yeah, leave us a review. Five Star five star Lauren gets it this time. That helps other people discover Are those podcasts and we work hard to create for you. I'm sure we'll be having more conversations about this. You've got another retreat coming up. We would plug it except it's already sold out. So you can't go lessener there. You can't go
Lauren
But I'm gonna be doing a third one in May on the east coast.
Phil
Okay, there we go. Yeah, plug that one. Where can people learn more about Book Huddle?
Lauren
They can follow me on TikTok @bookhuddle. And I just launched an Instagram account for the brand of like last week. I was so pissed book huddle was taken by someone who hasn't posted for two years. Don't even get me started. But it's letsbookhuddle on Instagram.
Phil
There you go. Check it out. Go have a look at how great this first retreat was. And thanks for listening. We'll see you back for a brand new episode next week. See you next.
Lauren
Thanks for letting me talk.
