Convening & Retreat Operations

Your team leads the room. We run everything around it.

We handle the planning, logistics, and on-the-ground troubleshooting, so your team can focus on the content and the people in the room.

Start a scoping conversation See the results →
Results at a glance
91%program satisfaction on a 120-person retreat, up from 71%, at 16.9% lower costClient engagement
15,000attendees at a national summit, running discrete operational workstreamsPrior role
$1.5Min budgets and contracts across six high-impact events in one yearPrior role
Sound familiar?

Four signs the gathering has outgrown how it is run.

  1. 01Costs keep climbing and nobody can say which line items earn their keep.
  2. 02Planning lands on people whose actual jobs are something else.
  3. 03Last year worked, but nothing was written down, so this year starts over.
  4. 04You want proof it produced something, not just that attendance was high.
Long tables set in a bright hall before guests arrive
Here's the thing

A convening is an operations problem with a hard deadline.

It needs decision rules, a financial structure, and ownership settled well before the week of. Designed that way, what it produces is not luck.

Results
Springboard Collaborative · Client engagement

Organization-wide retreat for 120 people

16.9%cost reduction
Program satisfaction71 → 91
Operations satisfaction88 → 98
BeforeAfter
Client engagement
92%

participation in a post-reorganization alignment initiative with 104 staff, with 87% goal clarity and a further 7.1% in cost savings.

Springboard Collaborative
Prior roles
15%

saved through an ROI analysis across a $1M annual event portfolio, with no reduction in program impact.

Teach For America
$1.5M

in budgets, vendor sourcing, and contract negotiation across six high-impact events in one year.

Teach For America
15,000

attendees at the 25th Anniversary Summit, running discrete operational workstreams including on-the-ground logistics.

Teach For America
15+

standardized decision points, templates, and training, used across the organization for in-person and virtual programs.

Teach For America

The Springboard Collaborative work was delivered under Madrid Operations Group. The Teach For America work predates the practice and was delivered in senior operating roles there.

A registration table
Arrival, run to a plan
A table number card beside a plant
Rooms set before anyone arrives
Markers laid out on a table
Sessions, ready to start on time
How it works
  1. 01

    Scoping conversation

    An in-depth look at the event, the budget, and what is still open. No cost, no obligation.

  2. 02

    Estimate with options

    Priced to scope, not hours, so you choose the level of support that fits.

  3. 03

    Statement of work

    Confirmed scope, who decides what, and the dates your team needs to lock.

  4. 04

    Plan and build

    Milestone plan, budget model, vendors, and a cadence that holds every owner to a date.

  5. 05

    On site

    Both principals on the floor from setup through final departures.

  6. 06

    Close out

    Final reconciliation, a close-out report, and a playbook for next time.

Two ways to work with us
Option 01

Build & Run

We design the operating structure and stay through execution and evaluation.

Option 02

Build & Hand Off

We design the same structure and build the playbook your team runs next year.

How we work with your team

You decide. We execute and own the vendor relationship.

Your team keeps
  • Agenda
  • Content
  • Speakers
  • Final decisions
We carry
  • Venue
  • Vendors
  • Milestones
  • Money
Priced to scopeA fixed fee, not an hourly meter. Event week is included in full.
No markup on event costsYou hold vendor contracts and pay vendors directly.
Two principals on siteNo single point of failure, from planning through final departures.
Start with a scoping conversation

Bring the gathering that keeps landing on one person.

For convenings of 50 people or more, or budgets from $100K, single events or full portfolios. We take on three to four a year.

Start a scoping conversation