Retreat Insider

One of All About Retreats’ long time loyal (and happy!) Members, United Camps, Conferences and Retreats, based in northern California, is blessed with a wise marketing director, Tina Sue Heck. UCCR now manages 13 properties, two of which are new acquisitions made during this roller coaster ride of an economy!

Tina and I visit on the telephone periodically and this year, we spoke about the nature of their business and the effects of the flagging US economy. Tina shared that she recently attended a big meeting of their site directors, many of whom have been in this business for over 25 years. Curious how they were riding the recession, I inquired and this is what I learned:

• UCCR properties are mostly camp type properties that are well managed, reasonably priced and serve a variety of non-profit and church type groups. These tend to ride recessionary economies really well.
• Their “portfolio” of properties is diversified by location, type and style, so they tend to be appealing to the larger retreat and group meeting hospitality market all the time

The images on the right side of this page are 2 of the 13 retreat venues that have gotten excellent referral and conversion traffic from All About Retreats over the past several years. We have just added three more properties to our California pages. The photo below right is one of them.

UCCR publishes an eNewsletter on a regular basis. It helps their business to keep in touch with customer groups and provide them with some food for thought. Here are excerpts from a recent edition.

Team Building: Retreat Opportunities & Ideas For Your Organization Your OrganizationThe Top Five Reasons to Take Your Group On Retreat

1. Disconnect: For us 21st-century folks, unplugging from the TV, computer, phone, and fax machines is necessary for creating a healthy, happy life. It has become an imperative to the pursuit of the inner, creative life to disconnect periodically.

2. Connect: Retreats provide an opportunity to connect with one’s self and with one another. In fact, it is most likely the first comment people will make about their group’s retreat…”I really got to know the others in my group.”

3. Community & Team Building: If team building is one of your community’s goals, going on retreat together can really help make it happen. Eating meals together, walking and playing together, singing and sharing a space with one another helps create deeper relationships among your group members.

4. Accomplish Goals: Being on retreat allows your group to be free of typical distractions in order to focus more fully on the tasks at hand. Be intentional about your time together to achieve your objectives.

5. Rest & Relaxation: Make sure to allow for some real R & R during your retreat. It’s easy to over-schedule participants. Give extra time after lunch for a walk in the woods or a game of volleyball. If you really want to spoil them, give them a nap time… we all really appreciate the permission to rest body and mind!

So, there you have it … plant seeds now, harvest fruit later! It works!