Challenge

When you plan an offsite, the pressure’s on: It’s a high-spend, high-stakes undertaking with the lofty goal of making your people bond. Cameron Smith-Price, Recruiting & People Operations Lead at Medium, felt that pressure firsthand as he began planning the company’s offsites. He felt three pain points acutely:
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1. Cameron only had a few weeks to plan and execute their next offsite. He needed a partner to chip in.
2. The Medium team had very specific goals for the event and needed the locations and activities to match them.
3. Most event planners only offered one-size-fits-all ideas — as opposed to the custom experience Cameron hoped to create.

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When Cameron discovered Marco, our approach solved all three of these hurdles (and more) — and felt like a breath of fresh air for this people-ops lead.

Solution

When Cameron first engaged with Marco, he loved how responsive and considerate the team was from the get-go. Where other providers he’d spoken to focused on ticking boxes for locations, activities, and so on, Marco prioritized relationship-building. In Cameron’s words:

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“The Marco experience is very customized to what we need at each unique point in time and emphasizes building a relationship. I know several people at Marco really well. As a result, I really do trust them.”

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Whether he’s planning an event to connect a community or facilitate heads-down, focused work, Cameron knows he can trust Marco to deliver on memorable experiences thanks to our three-step process.

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1. Hand-selecting unique venues

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• When Cameron was planning a Medium offsite to help coworkers unplug and engage as a team, Marco offered a one-of-a-kind location: AutoCamp Catskills, a collection of modern Airstreams in the beautiful Catskill Mountains. In contrast to the usual corporate environment, Marco’s thoughtful suggestion helped the team feel like they were at summer camp, letting colleagues feel more relaxed, present, and focused on enjoying time together as a team.

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2. ‍Focusing on the goal of the offsite — not just the checklist

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• Brittany Jezouit, Chief of Staff at Medium, supports Cameron in planning and executing events. For one event, the team requested an offsite for deep, intentional work. She and Cameron began crafting sessions and agendas to achieve that goal, but that didn’t leave much time to handle logistical details. “That’s where the Marco team came in,” says Brittany. Marco managed everything (from the spaces they’d work in to where and what they’d eat) with expert skill, while the Medium team could simply focus on getting to the right place at the right time.

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3. ‍Pivoting whenever necessary

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• No two corporate teams are the same, and Cameron and Brittany both loved how Marco kept this top of mind while planning and executing the company’s offsites. The Marco team brought professional insights to the planning process, adapted flexibly while executing the day of, and kept everything relevant to the “vibe” of the offsite.

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“During an offsite, Marco even planned an impromptu karaoke night for us. That was a testament to how well they understood our team. It was a really lovely way to end the event, and it wouldn’t have happened if we’d handled it solo.” - Brittany Jezouit, Chief of Staff at Medium