Bring one huge vexing problem and walk out with an unclouded head, new energy, and a clear plan of how to move your business forward.
Concept:
I love to recommend Pioneer Nation to freelancers, small business owners, and solopreneaurs who are serious about their shit and want to get ideas and energy from other people who are too.
But:
- (a) it’s always on the west coast
- (b) it’s not happening this year and we’re sad
- (c) there’s a lot of us who go to too many conferences and want to just hang out with those folks in a chill setting, and
- (d) there’s a lot of similar communities that have awesome folks that should crossover and get to know each other!
My husband and I accidentally bought a seven-bedroom house in the Catskills 1.5 hours from New York this spring, and we’ve spent the summer getting it ready for writing residences, retreats by folks with audiences, a CSA program (yes, seriously, farm shares!) and generally awesome weekends hanging out with friends.
But since so many of us need a great food, coffee, whiskey and fabulous person-filled fix this winter, I’m opening it up a little early to all you lovely folks.
Spots are a little first come first served, but we’re not trying to exclude people, we’re just tight on space (okay, we have a mini farm and mini forest and pub, but there are only so many beds). Without too much room sharing, we can have 15 folks; if people are cool with or jazzed about sharing a large room with other awesome folks, we can take it up to 25.
Bring your life partner, bring your business partner, bring your whole mastermind group, or just bunk up with a cool new friend (there are two rooms available for one person or couple only).
If you are protectionist/scarcity-mindset driven in terms of sharing resources, this is probably not the space for you. We’re focusing on bringing together folks who will freely say:
This is the book you need to read; want to borrow mine?
Or:
I have a *great* ghostwriter; let me connect you.
Features:
- all food and alcohol included
- beautiful mid century space with custom furniture and great views
- sauna
- fire pit
- seven bedrooms and camping options
- ping pong, croquet, bocce, crazy waterslide hill and all the best board games
- amazing hikes, beer tasting, apple and pumpkin piking and wineries within 10-20 minutes
- 1000+ square foot pub with movie projector
Benefits:
- recharge your business mojo in a calming, inspiring mature retreat atmosphere…with bathrooms, high speed internet, great coffee and espresso, and, of course fantastic whiskey
- get answers to the burning questions about what’s killing your energy and sucking the joy out of your business from other people who have been ther
- refresh your body and mind with tasty, healthy food and good, old-fashioned fun and games (which are now scientifically proven to be the anecdote for many ails of the modern computer driven life) before the relentless march of the holiday season
We ran some numbers on food, alcohol provisions and clean up costs, and we are super happy to offer awesomeness, unlimited healthy food and great drinks, and lodging for $95 person for Friday through Sunday (or Monday if folks are interested).
Questions? Email gabi [at] gabilogan [dot] com.
We look forward to seeing you at the retreat!
This event is full. We look forward to seeing you at the next one!
FAQ
What is the schedule for the weekend?
It depends on the interests of the folks who are coming, and the weather, but for our fall mastermind retreat, this was the schedule:
Friday:
- Morning and afternoon: Free time to work in the house or make use of the library with serve-yourself meals when desired
- 5:00 pm on: Guests arrive, tour the house and amenities; reception with cocktails and snacks
- 8:00 pm:Dinner, introductions, talk about what’s coming this weekend and where we’re all coming from
Saturday:
- 8:00 am on: Light breakfast and coffee laid out for early risers
- 10:00 am:Brunch
- 11:30 am: First batch of mini talks
- Learning sideways
- The meandering path of problem solving
- Resilience
- 12:30 pm: Hike for folks interested in hike
- 2:00 pm: Lunch (BBQ if weather permits)
- 3:30 pm: Wine or beer tasting excursion or lawn games
- 5:30 pm: First poster session
- 7:00 pm: Dinner
- 9:00 pm: Bonfire (if weather permits) and spirits tasting
Sunday
- 8:00 am on: Light breakfast and coffee laid out for early risers
- 10:00 am:Brunch
- 11:30 am: Second batch of mini talks
- The power of storytelling
- Risk
- 12:30 pm: Second poster session
- 2:00 pm: Lunch
- 3:30 pm: Wine or beer tasting excursion or lawn games
- 5:30 pm: Guests leaving Sunday depart, rides to train station as needed
- 7:00 pm: Dinner
- 9:00 pm: Whiskey tasting
Monday
- 7:00 am on: Light breakfast and coffee laid out for early risers
- 9:00 am:Breakfast
- 10:00 am on: Time to work on one’s own in the house
- 12:00 pm: Lunch
- 1-2pm: recommended departure time for guests staying through Monday
How do I get there?
You can arrive with your own car from New York City (Manhattan 1:45; Brooklyn 2:15 without traffic, ~3 at rush hour) or hop in a carpool if available, but you can also reach the retreat house directly on your own with public transit via the Coach USA bus from Port Authority to Ellenville, NY (2:30; the Friday evening bus departs 5:30). We try to match up as many people with car pools as we can.
What kind of beer?
There are a lot of great New York State breweries that we love to stock, and one new one–New Paltz Brewing–down the street that offers great growlers that we’re very excited to serve.
Where is the food coming from?
I (Gabi) have a food background (my first blog was around 30-minute dinner parties and featured recipes from all over the world) and have often catered events in the 100-200s over the years. Expect everything to be healthy, primarily gluten- and dairy-free so we can all enjoy the same great food with lots of vegetarian options and many vegetables from our own mini-farm or other farms right in our village.
What does the inside of the house look like?
We don’t have the pro shots of the interior with the new furniture ready for you quite yet, because we’re still getting the furnishings finalized, but you can check out the listing and get a sense of the house from what it looked like with there previous owners here.
More to come as questions arise!