At work, the notion of a traditional 9-to-5 is gone. The shift to hybrid and remote work has fundamentally changed how companies operate - and no one has all the answers yet. Seasoned people leaders and executives are still figuring out what works, and the playbook is being rewritten in real time.
At Marco, we've had a front-row seat to this transformation. Through hundreds of offsites and retreats, we've seen what separates companies with strong cultures from those still searching. And the answer almost always comes back to intentional investment in your people.
Why Investing in Culture Matters More Than Ever
The data on employee engagement and retention paints a clear picture. According to Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace report, only 23% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. The cost of disengagement is staggering: Gallup estimates it at $8.8 trillion in lost productivity globally.
Meanwhile, the competition for talent hasn't slowed down. With hybrid work making it easier than ever for employees to switch jobs without relocating, companies that don't invest in culture risk losing their best people to organizations that do.
This isn't abstract - it's the reality we hear from our clients every week. The companies that plan regular offsites and team gatherings consistently report higher engagement scores, better retention, and stronger cross-team collaboration than those that don't.
Marco's Mission
We bring people together through extraordinary experiences.
It's a simple statement, but it drives everything we do. Every venue we curate, every itinerary we design, every guest experience portal we build is in service of creating moments where teams connect authentically - not performatively, not because HR mandated it, but because the experience itself creates genuine connection.
Our Values
When the Marco team sat down to define our values, we wanted them to be honest - not aspirational corporate-speak, but actual principles we hold each other to. Here's what we came up with:
Build Community Through Intentional Experiences
Whether it's for our clients, our partners, or our own team, we strive to build community through extraordinary experiences. Client experiences should be best-in-class. We enable our venue and activity partners to deliver exceptional group experiences. And our own team should come to Marco to have some of the most meaningful professional experiences of their careers.
Own It
Everyone at Marco is an owner. We rely on each other, and nobody's immediate role should limit what they do or learn. Stay curious, stay humble, and take responsibility for outcomes - not just tasks.
Don't Make "Perfect" the Enemy of "Good"
We aspire for greatness and we strive for action. Rather than not doing something because it can't be done perfectly, we have a bias toward shipping - then iterating to make it excellent. The first version of Marco was a PDF. The first retreat we planned was scrappy. Both were good enough to start, and we made them great over time.
Play Bigger
Define a new way to solve a problem, or find a new problem that people didn't know they had. We seek different, not just better - at both the company and individual level. Marco started as a virtual experiences marketplace. We could have optimized that forever. Instead, we asked: what's the bigger problem we can solve?
Trust Is Bi-Directional
We trust our team and assume positive intent. But trust flows both ways - someone on the team is trusting you with their work, their time, and their professional growth. That trust is yours to lose.
Embrace Transparency
We embrace transparency in how we run the business and how we give feedback. As a company, we're clear about where we are and where we're going. As teammates, we provide honest, thoughtful feedback to help each other become the best version of ourselves.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Values are only meaningful if they show up in behavior. Here's how ours manifest:
- We plan our own retreats seriously. We don't just tell clients to invest in offsites - we do it ourselves. Every Marco retreat is an opportunity to test new ideas, refine our process, and practice what we preach.
- We share our learnings openly. Through Marco Labs, our podcast, and our blog, we share the insights we gain from planning hundreds of offsites. We'd rather build trust by giving away knowledge than hoard it behind a sales call.
- We obsess over the details. A good retreat is one where everything went according to plan. A great retreat is one where the organizer was free to be present because every logistical detail was handled. That's what we aim for.
Join the Mission
We're a small but mighty team, and we're growing. If you believe that how teams gather matters - that the experiences people share at work shape the culture they build - we'd love to hear from you.
Looking to plan your next offsite? Start with our retreat quiz and we'll help you create an experience your team remembers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many offsites has Marco planned?
Marco has planned over 500 offsites and retreats for companies ranging from 10-person startups to Fortune 500 enterprises. Our experience spans every major destination in the U.S. and select international locations.
What makes Marco different from other retreat planning companies?
Three things: our curated network of 3,000+ properties with negotiated group rates, our tech-enabled guest experience portal that handles attendee logistics, and our team's deep expertise in designing experiences that drive real business outcomes - not just fun activities.
How do Marco's values translate to the client experience?
"Own It" means your Marco planner takes full responsibility for your retreat's success. "Don't Make Perfect the Enemy of Good" means we move fast and iterate with you rather than disappearing for weeks. "Embrace Transparency" means you always know where your budget is going and what's been booked.
Does Marco practice what it preaches about company retreats?
Absolutely. The Marco team holds regular offsites where we test new venues, activities, and formats. Many of our best ideas for client retreats originated from our own team gatherings. It's how we stay sharp and keep improving.
Our Mission and Core Values
Our mission is simple and powerful: we bring people together through extraordinary experiences. Every offsite, retreat, and team gathering we plan is designed to foster authentic human connection - the kind that builds trust, sparks creativity, and makes people genuinely excited to work together.
Marco is a small but mighty company. We are trying to live up to what we sell - building culture for companies. To achieve that, we need to have a best-in-class culture ourselves. As part of that commitment, we defined a mission and a set of values with input from our entire team.
Build Community Through Intentional Experiences
Whether it is for our customers, our venue partners, or our own team, we strive to build community through extraordinary experiences. Customer experiences should be best-in-class. We enable our venue partners to showcase their most unique offerings. And our team members should come to Marco to have the most meaningful professional experiences of their careers. As a corporate retreat planning company, intentionality is not optional - it is our foundation.
Own It
Everyone at Marco is an owner. Our team relies on each other, and we do not let immediate roles limit what we do or learn. Stay curious, stay humble, and take initiative. When something needs doing, we step up - whether it is in our job description or not. That ownership mentality is what allows us to deliver exceptional results for every client.
Don't Make "Perfect" the Enemy of "Good"
We aspire for greatness, and we also strive for action. Rather than not do something in favor of ensuring it is done perfectly, we have a bias toward action. Do the simple things first, then iterate and improve to achieve greatness. This philosophy lets us move fast for our clients while continuously raising the bar on quality.
Play Bigger
We define new ways to solve problems, and we find problems that people did not know they had. Group travel was stuck in the 1990s - still running on emails, PDFs, and phone calls - and companies routinely overpaid by 30%. We built a modern, AI-powered platform to change that. Whether on a company or individual level, we seek different, not just better.
Trust Is Bi-Directional
We trust our team and assume positive intent. But we also know that someone on the team is trusting us in return, and that trust is ours to lose. This principle extends to our client relationships as well - we earn trust through transparency, reliability, and consistent follow-through on every commitment we make.
Embrace Transparency
We embrace transparency within our business and as team members. As a business, we are clear about where we are and where we are going. As team members, we provide transparent feedback - thoughtful in nature and delivery - to help one another become the best version of ourselves. Our clients benefit from this same transparency through clear pricing, honest venue recommendations, and straightforward communication throughout the planning process.
What Makes Marco Different
Most corporate event planning still relies on fragmented, manual processes. Finding venues means endless Google searches, emailing properties one by one, and comparing proposals that all look different. Marco eliminates that friction entirely.
Our platform lets you explore, compare, and book curated venues in minutes instead of months. AI-powered recommendations match your team size, budget, and goals to the right properties. Real-time availability and transparent pricing mean no more back-and-forth negotiations. And our dedicated planning team handles the details - from catering to team activities - so you can focus on what matters: your people.
We have built this from the ground up because we felt the pain firsthand. Every feature, every integration, and every venue partnership exists because it solves a real problem that real teams face when trying to get together.
Our Approach to Team Connection
We do not just book spaces - we design gatherings with purpose. Our approach is rooted in the belief that investing in authentic culture is what separates good companies from great ones. The era of "The Great Resignation" proved that employees will leave if they do not feel fulfilled, and research from Microsoft found that 41% of employees have considered leaving their current employers.
The antidote is intentional connection. When teams come together in person with thoughtfully designed programming, they build the trust and camaraderie that sustain them through months of remote collaboration. Marco makes that possible by handling the logistics so that leaders can focus on the human element - the conversations, the shared meals, the unexpected moments of discovery that turn colleagues into genuine teammates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Marco do as a corporate retreat planning company?
Marco is an AI-powered platform that helps companies plan, book, and execute team offsites and corporate retreats. We provide access to 3,000+ curated venues, handle group hotel bookings, coordinate activities and catering, and offer dedicated planning support - all through a modern platform that replaces the traditional email-and-spreadsheet approach to group travel.
What types of companies use Marco for retreat planning?
We work with organizations of all sizes, from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies like Apple, Netflix, and Meta. Whether you are planning a leadership retreat for 10 people or a company-wide offsite for 500, our platform and team scale to meet your needs.
How does Marco save companies money on corporate retreats?
Companies routinely overpay by 30% when booking group travel through traditional channels. Marco's platform provides transparent, pre-negotiated pricing with our venue partners, eliminates the hidden markups common in the industry, and uses AI to match teams with properties that fit their actual budget and requirements - not just the ones with the biggest commission.
What destinations does Marco offer for corporate retreats?
Marco's curated network spans top destinations across the United States and beyond, including popular retreat locations in California, New York, Texas, Florida, Colorado, and many more. Our venue partners range from boutique hotels and private estates to resort properties and unique experiential spaces - ensuring there is a perfect fit for every team and every occasion.
Build Something Worth Gathering For
We started Marco because we believe that the best companies are built on genuine human connection - and that connection requires intentional investment. Every retreat we help plan, every venue we curate, and every experience we design is in service of that belief.
If you are ready to bring your team together in a way that actually matters, book a consultation with our team. We will help you find the right venue, design the right programming, and create an experience your team will talk about long after they return to their desks.