Panelist: Pari Marsh, group sales manager at Riverwalk Resort at Loon Mountain in Lincoln
Pari Marsh, who helps businesses and organizations plan meetings, retreats and conferences in the White Mountains, explains why planning down time during your company’s next offsite meeting is just as important as mapping out your speaker schedule.
Q: I’ve been asked to plan our company’s next offsite. Where do I start?
A: Start with the “why,” not the “where.”
Is this about strategy, celebrating a big year, or finally getting a hybrid team in the same room? Once you know what success looks like, every other decision (agenda, space, menu, even the season) gets easier. Share your goals with your venue before your headcount.
Q: How far ahead should we book?
A: For conferences and larger events, 9 to 12 months is ideal, especially if you have your heart set on peak foliage or ski season. A smaller leadership retreat can come together in 3 to 6 months. If your dates are flexible, ask about midweek and shoulder-season availability. You’ll often find more options and better value.
Q: Does the setting really make a difference, or is that just marketing?
A: It makes a measurable difference.
Researchers at the Universities of Utah and Kansas found that people who spent four days in nature, unplugged from their devices, scored 50 percent better on a creative problem-solving test.
A Stanford study found that simply walking raised creative output by about 60 percent compared with sitting. We’re two hours from Boston, straight up I-93, yet surrounded by 750,000 acres of national forest. That walk along the river between sessions isn’t a break from the work. It’s often where the work gets done.
Q: What’s the advantage of having everything on one property?
A: Momentum. When a group has to pile into vans for dinner, energy drops and conversations scatter. At the resort, the ballroom, two restaurants, Seven Birches Winery, Solstice North Day Spa and our fitness studio are steps apart. A morning session can roll into lunch at Rhythm Tap and Grille, an afternoon tasting in the winery, dinner at La Vista Italian Cuisine and a nightcap by the poolside fire pit without anyone checking a map.
Planners have less to coordinate and attendees never have to stop talking. It’s ideal for building memorable group activities and keeping attendees engaged throughout their stay.
Q: Can a large event still have smaller, more personal moments?
A: That’s where RiverWalk really stands apart. Our suites live like homes, with full kitchens, open living and dining areas, fireplaces and balconies, and our presidential and penthouse suites each top 2,000 square feet. That opens up events within your event: a leadership team working through strategy around a dining table instead of a boardroom, a catered dinner for your top clients, or a working session where the coffee is brewing 10 feet away. People speak up differently on a couch than in rows facing a screen.
As a food and beverage enthusiast, I’d add that the meals matter, too. A Cornell study found that firefighting crews who regularly ate together performed better as teams. Sharing a table builds trust that carries back into the meeting room. Allow our culinary team to work with you to create a customized menu package for your group.
Q: How do you keep people engaged after a long day of sessions?
A: Schedule downtime as deliberately as you schedule speakers. A sunrise yoga class, a guided hike, a bocce tournament or a cider tasting before dinner keeps energy up and gets people talking outside their usual departments. And honestly? Some of the best conversations happen later around the fire pit or over a drink at the Rhythm Tap & Grille’s indoor-outdoor bar, with the White Mountains as the backdrop.
Q: What detail do planners most often overlook?
A: Flow. Where do people register?
Where do breakouts happen? Has the tech been tested before your CEO takes the stage?
Our Grand Ballroom hosts groups from 10 to 400 and divides into three separate rooms, with a pre-function space and built-in bar.
A general session can become breakouts, then a reception, without anyone feeling shuffled around. And, the expansive foyer can be used for food service, exhibits or merely as additional space for team work sessions.
Pari Marsh, who helps businesses and organizations plan meetings, retreats and conferences in the White Mountains, explains why planning down time during your company’s next offsite meeting is just as important as mapping out your speaker schedule.
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