The Trend: Higher ed industry leaders are signing up for intimate experience-driven retreats that create lasting community, provide a safe space to troubleshoot professional pain points, and weave in wellness treatments and farm-to-table meals. Participants claim a balm to burnout and increased clarity.
Exhibit A: Self-declared “conference junkie” Ashley Budd (nonprofit consultant and former marketing director at Cornell University) and higher ed consultant Mallory Willsea (of Enrollify) piloted their first cohort for Let’s Go Upstate, a four-day retreat billed as “a curated experience for higher education thought leaders, offering time for connection and stillness.” The group came together for an off-the-record, open-ended agenda including sound baths, group therapy, participant-led panel discussions and time for independent content-creation projects.
The Pros: “Higher ed conferences are full of higher ed people saying really smart things. That’s not the problem,” Willsea says. The issue is that executive-level leaders glean more from rushed networking in the halls between sessions than they do inside the sessions. The duo invented Let’s Go Upstate to give execs the chance to expand hallway networking into a replenishing experience that leads to more “aha!” moments – and the community, reflection and self-care they crave. The retreat took place at Saratoga Arms Hotel, a luxury boutique inn in Saratoga Springs, New York.
The Cons: The first iteration of Let’s Go Upstate was free to its 30 participants (all of them college marketers) with all expenses other than transportation covered by sponsors. Invites went out privately to some, while other participants were handpicked from applications following an interview. For those already attending big-box conferences (which can cost thousands of dollars per ticket), it may be hard to get paid time off approved for a retreat without a clear, achievable goal.
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Reality Check: “It’s not conferences versus retreats,” Willsea clarifies, but Let’s Go Upstate packs in all of the things that a big-box conference isn’t built for: sound baths, group therapy, exercise, wholesome meals. “When you build smaller cohorts and time for people to unlock their brains and bodies in different ways, it leads to deeper relationships and conversations.”
The Upshot: Shane Baglini, executive director of marketing and branding at William & Mary, attended Let’s Go Upstate because he admired his fellow attendees as thought leaders and already followed them, listened to them on podcasts or had read their books. The cohort broke the ice while lying on the floor in a breathwork session. Afterward, it was profound for Baglini to be able to “bounce things off of them and be vulnerable, knowing that it was a safe place.” Now, they keep in touch over a private WhatsApp group for brainstorming, venting and sharing questions.
Danna Lorch is a Boston-based higher education writer and strategist.
