Aug 22 2008
A Retreat To The Windy City
Sounds ironic to use the word retreat and the Windy City of Chicago in the same statement. The Windy City elicits thoughts of a big city, tall buildings, restaurants, shopping, Lake Michigan, the Bears, snow and, of course, traffic.
A couple of weeks ago our company held a retreat in Chicago to get away from the phones and the distractions of the office. It was hard for me to imagine not being distracted in Chicago with all that is available in the city.
I now think of Chicago as a retreat city even though we were in the center of the city, two blocks from Michigan Avenue. For three days, we were tucked away in a meeting room in the Terry Student Center, which is part of the new residential community on the campus of Loyola University Chicago. The meeting room felt more like a study in an old home including stained glass and rich wood. So, we were away from the phones and the distractions of the office during the day. It was the most productive retreat we have had in years. We did retreat in Chicago.
I will confess that we did enjoy the amenities the Windy City has to offer during the evening.
Thank you to Mary Cashman, Tim McGuriman, Dana Owen & Judy Sunvold for the great accommodations, meeting facilities and customer service!
Tony McGuirt, Director of Marketing
I second your thoughts! Loyola University Chicago is a gem sitting right in the middle of downtown Chicago. Great staff, great accommodations, great service. Kudos to Tim McGuriman and his team.
Kudos to those folks who take the much needed time to “take a break” and re-energize by conducting an annual staff retreat. Many times in our industry we are the care givers for our clients and guests we host on campus and we forget to step back and take the time to reinvest in ourselves and our staff and take care of ourselves. Unfortunately, we do not have the budget to head to the larger cities to enjoy a staff retreat but I have worked with colleagues at other local universities and we are going on our First Annual Conference Services Staff Retreat at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine and it overlooks the beautiful Sebago Lake. Forming these collaborative low cost partnerships with other colleagues in the area is a win/win for both universities and our staff; most importantedly, it’s a day away from phones and the daily grind that we all go through. Rest, relaxation, team building, brainstorming and a water view!!!!