A Group Retreat Case Study
What Happens When Connection Is the Strategy
When Les Mills, a global fitness company, began rethinking their client events, the team realized the model they had relied on for years was no longer delivering what they needed. “We really needed a change in the direction our events had been going,” says Rachel Wever, Marketing Lead of Events at Les Mills. “We were doing things because we’d always done them, but we weren’t getting the return we needed anymore. We thought — what if we shifted into something created specifically for the people we needed to be in front of?”
Rather than defaulting to another traditional corporate summit, the goal became about deeper impact and more intentional connection. That shift changed how Les Mills went about choosing a location entirely.
When Rachel arrived at CIVANA, the difference was immediate. “There’s nowhere else that has the same feeling,” she says. “You get to CIVANA and it’s a breath of fresh air. It’s not just the property. It’s the people. It’s the way you’re treated. It’s a whole experience.”
From the beginning, the planning was designed to feel different. “This wasn’t ‘here’s what we sell,'” Rachel shares. “This was ‘we’re right here with you and we want to facilitate something good for you.'” Instead of leading with pitches or performance metrics, CIVANA and Les Mills focused on creating space for reflection, conversation, and connection.
“We connected with the attendees’ emotions and allowed them to connect with each other. That emotional resonance became the true payoff. That isn’t a tactical ROI, it was something you can’t touch. They’ll remember that experience forever.”
CIVANA’s programming and bespoke event development played a key role in making that possible. “For programming, it wasn’t the same script I’ve heard over and over,” she says. “It was someone speaking to them authentically. The events team at CIVANA really helped me imagine what was possible.”
For Les Mills, the impact extended well beyond the retreat itself. “The connection wasn’t just between us and our guests,” Rachel says. “It was between our guests and each other.” As those relationships deepened, so did loyalty. “We’ve seen increased loyalty because they’re more open to hearing what we have to say now because we connected with them on a human level. That relationship stronghold is there and it’s continuing.”
“The results we got out of this were 100 percent five-star across the board. We didn’t have any negative comments — not from logistics, not from location, not from the agenda. Everything was top notch. There’s no other location that would have done for us what CIVANA did.”
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