Product Tonic Retreat 2023: An Organizer’s Perspective

Retreat participants enjoying the clear waters near Napaling Reef!

I got the chance to co-organize the annual Product Tonic Retreat last April 13 to 15, 2023 with Yana and Michael and thought to share some of my takeaways from the experience. Product Tonic Retreat Bohol 2023 was a gathering of 42 product professionals from 7 different countries. The retreat aimed to foster a safe and open environment that allowed participants to learn from each other and reflect on how their roles in Product teams could best impact the people they serve.

#ProductTonic events have always been a grounding point for me in my Product journey. From participating in learning circles to being a regular attendee of their yearly Unconference, I’ve always been drawn towards how they did their events and how they fostered a sense of co-learning amongst both participants and mentors. It was amazing how connected I felt to this community despite being mostly an online participant (as there were no face-to-face activities in the area where I was based in). So when the opportunity to bring them to me came, I didn’t want to pass up the chance!

This blog post is written for future retreat organizers who are taking up similar roles as me in the organizing team to hopefully de-mystify the process and make it less overwhelming as you start out. I’ll be honest — it is indeed overwhelming. But as you reflect on the type of experiences you want your participants to engage in given the strengths of your locality, I guarantee that things will fall into place.

A tiki torch-lit dinner for our first meal together as retreat participants.

Identifying Experiences

We started off looking at the program flows from past retreats and identifying which activities we wanted to change or keep. We also made sure to solicit opinions and feedback from past retreat participants and potential participants to get a better idea of what they are looking forward to in the upcoming retreat. Also, if there was any new topic or workshop format we covered in #ProductTonic events in the past year, then we would consider including it in the retreat program.

Experience with the Locals

I appreciated Michael’s constant reminders on making sure that I am proactive at inviting locals for the retreat. Not only “Filipinos” but also making sure “Boholanos” are signing up as participants to the retreat. We were able to invite representatives from FabLab Bohol who were not only able to contribute to the three-day retreat but were also able to help participants navigate across the island as we explored it outside of the program hours.

Retreat supplies sourced from local businesses (except the MUJI pens!)

Aside from having local participants, I used the following touch points to give participants multiple opportunities to get to know the local community:

• Involve local businesses. A majority of the souvenirs prepared for the retreat are products of small businesses. Custom notebooks that participants used as journals throughout the event, bracelets made out of ocean plastic waste processed by local industrial designers, and even the complementary beer served during after-hours were from a local brewery.
• Choose uniquely local — but relevant — activities. We had the opportunity to have Bohol Bee Farm as one of our venues throughout the retreat. During Open Space, participants had the option of going on their production tour where they showcased how they produced their signature local ice cream and how they used local materials to weave baskets, bags, and other home decor. We were also able to work with Dalareich Chocolate House to offer a “chocolate farm tour” as an optional activity after the closing day of the retreat to showcase the farm-to-table process of Boholano chocolates.

Experience with the Surroundings

Noting that planning for participants’ experiences and planning on which venue to pick go hand-in-hand as the latter determines the quality of how we can do the former. In our case, we were in a resort island so it was a non-negotiable (at least in my perspective) that the participants would have the presence of nature and the ocean throughout their stay with us since that’s a local’s reality when they live in a place like Bohol.

• Dinner by the beach. This activity was personally one of my favorites because, as an organizer, I did not only see how the participants enjoyed the activity but also the local staff! Close to our “hub” resort was a public beach where we set up tiki torches and a long table where participants were seated after they filled their plates with local food prepared (and grilled fresh!) by the staff. Not only did I see and hear the joy of participants experiencing a tiki torch-lit dinner by the beach but also the delight of the staff as they joked and teased each other while cooking the food, serving the drinks, and interacting with participants throughout the evening. (It was the staff’s first time accommodating such a big group and they admitted at it being both exciting and nerve-wracking!)
• Swimming by the reef. On the last day of the retreat, we chose a venue that was located right beside a world-famous and protected coral sanctuary that allowed for people to get in the water and snorkel around to view the corals. The retreat participants who were also locals led the experience as people cautiously dove into the reef (it was jellyfish season), experiencing clear waters and nature under their feet. This spot is enjoyed often by both locals and visitors!
• Yoga by the beach. We have a meditation and yoga center in Bohol and it is run by yoga teachers who practice yoga as a lifestyle rather than just a physical practice. We invited them to do a session for us by the beach in the early morning and retreat participants got to learn more of their outreach and charity work in the island’s countryside while listening to nearby fishermen start their day.

Retreat participants getting messy on Day 3‘s closing activity.

Choosing the right Venue(s)

With Michael and Yana leading the program flow and participant management roles within the organizing team, it was up to me to identify potential venues for the retreat and to imagine how these spaces could be utilized by participants once we conduct our workshop activities.

I cannot stress the importance of choosing the right venue. In our case, I decided that multiple venues were a best fit given our needs for each date. These were the facts that I had to check against whenever I did ocular visits for the different potential venues:

• We needed a place to ourselves where participants could feel like they could hang out and be themselves as they seek to spend quality time with others in our group.
• We needed an open and comfortable space where we could conduct group activities, move around, and express through body language.
• We needed a space that would allow for materials we used in workshops to be left untouched overnight so participants could pick up where they left off the day before.
• It was highly preferable that the venue had its own staff so that the organizing team could focus on the program flow rather than worrying about food and other basics.
• It was highly preferable that the venue and its surrounding area was interesting as travel and the shared sense of discovery heightened the emphasis on co-learning.
• And lastly, we needed a space that was accessible and affordable to make sure that the experience was inclusive and we could attract a variety of perspectives.

As you can tell, there wasn’t one place in the central areas of Bohol that fit everything we needed so I had to improvise. I chose three different resorts that were less than 30 minutes drive away from each other but they were all situated within the same resort island called Panglao. This made transportation slightly more complicated in my organizing journey but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Based on the program flow that was inspired from the flow of events in previous retreats, I put together this list of qualities for each venue depending on which day of the retreat. Again, best case is that one venue has as many, if not all, of these qualities:

DAY 1 VENUE

• This venue acts as the main “hub” where people could gather for after-hours activities.

Ideally, this venue has a room that can store both things and people.

For the latter, let’s just say that most of #ProductTonic community members are children at heart with adult money. And I say this with as much fondness as possible.

• The venue has to be easy to navigate to and has multiple accommodation options surrounding it in case it gets full.
• This venue should either be exclusive (best case) or whose rooms were majority booked by retreat participants (this was what happened in our case).
• This venue has a large room that’s protected enough from the elements where we could conduct an opening activity with all of the participants.

DAY 2 VENUE

• This venue has a large room as well and ideally this room has clean floors where participants feel comfortable walking barefoot for certain sensing workshops.

Ideally, this venue also has various seating options (chairs, couches, floor mats, etc.) where participants can find their own space during activities that require individual introspection.

DAY 3 VENUE

• This venue has a large room where we could do a closing activity and optionally get a little messy with paint and other materials.

We didn’t expect the common room to be so hot at this time for Day 1’s opening program!

Personal Takeaways and Fumbles

As you can imagine, with all these moving parts, there were some failures that I wish I could have identified sooner. The main takeaways is to always have at least two organizers focused on on-site logistics. In my case, I was alone in handling all the orders and bookings that needed to be ready by the first day of the retreat so it was natural for me to have let some things slip.

• When doing oculars, take note of the time you are visiting. One of the first shared experience of pain we had at the retreat was how hot the main gathering hall was on the first day of the retreat. I visited the site in the past to see what it would be like to have 40+ people in the space and we solved most of the seating problem but what we didn’t expect was that the sun was beaming right at the venue for most of the gathering period. During my past visits, I was present in the space in the morning rather than the afternoon so I didn’t realize the heat problem on the day of the event.
• There were pros and cons with multiple venues but having a good budget and a reliable contact goes a long way. Ferrying people between three different venues each day would have been tiring if not for the vans for hire we commissioned. The rides were generally short and we were even able to book the vans on short notice when people wanted to stay out late after-hours. It was good that we got someone who was on call and responsive given it was hard to travel around the island without your own mode of transportation.
• Beer is good but beer by the beach is better. I wouldn’t consider this a fumble but this was something I ended up reflecting on. We had local beers prepared on the day of the tiki-torch beach dinner but we didn’t serve the beers at the beach, only after when people went back to the resort. At the time, I was torn between serving the beers or not but ultimately decided against it as I didn’t want to have a stray bottle left on the beach due to our activities considering we were on a public beach. In hindsight, I should have prepared for this with the staff better so everyone could have a better time on the beach front. This was one of the first few moments that I realized that I should have made more of an effort to either involve my co-organizers in the logistics given they were already on-site, or I should have involved another local in helping me organize everything so I had someone to bounce the decision against.

Day 3’s venue allowed us to be more comfortable and go barefoot, if we felt like it.

Additional Resources

All that I’ve covered so far mostly involves the mindset of the organizer responsible for logistics. Naturally, the other roles are just as important in bringing the entire experience together and so I encourage you to exchange notes and meet frequently. Even though it may feel like there is a lot of overlap across your scope of responsibility, make an effort to communicate well with your co-organizers just like you would your Product team.

It also helps to have a clear communication line with your participants. On top of creating a group chat where we could keep them updated in the organizing journey as it happened in real-time, we made the effort of putting this slide deck together to introduce the event basics and created this detailed FAQ that participants could visit whenever they had any questions about the retreat. Michael also made sure there were regular online check-ins and Yana facilitated some FAQ sessions to get people warmed up (and well-informed) for the long trip to Bohol.

Work with your peers and enjoy the ride! Remember, you’re not just bringing together brilliant product/design/technical/community professionals to your home court (as I assume those responsible for logistics are also locals), but you’re also helping create core memories for participants for years to come. Take pride in being a part of their growth journey!

Originally published at http://ashleyuy.com on January 19, 2024.